Surveyor was drunk during survey - What do I do?

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by BlueH2Obound

I understand what you said above, but a common problem is "How do you find a GOOD surveyor?" Word of mouth isn't always good, as another person's idea of good is "Cheap", or "didn't find anything wrong". The person charging the most isn't necessarily the best, or possibly, even good at ALL!

Boatpoker, you are intimately involved in surveying, and sound like you are a good surveyor, but you've got to see it from the other side. Many people don't buy a lot of boats, so they don't have a track record of working with surveyors, and knowing who the good ones are, and who to avoid.

The guy who surveyed a boat for me in Hawaii was THOROUGH!!! He found LOTS of items that I hadn't seen, or had seen, but didn't realize were a problem. He spent two days on the boat, one in water, one after pulled, and then during sea trial. WELL WORTH the time and money! The other two surveyors I've used . . . . well, not so much . . . Their surveys met the requirement to get the boats insured, but not much more than that.

When I vet a surveyor, (and I am by no means an expert, nor have I hired a large number of surveyors), I ask a lot of questions, and I ask for previous reports . . . however, sometimes the surveyor being vetted is GREAT at putting on a good face, and sends you the one and only thorough, in-depth survey he's ever done, and after you hire him, he surveys your boat, and the survey he provides doesn't even remotely hold a candle to the sample survey report(s) he sent you . . . and after receiving the survey, you have to point out that:

• the draft of the boat is NOT 15.5', but rather 5.5'
• and the beam is NOT 5.5', but rather 16.5'
• and the wing engine control panel, with hour meter clearly visible that he states was not found, was in fact in the pictures he included with the survey, as well as being pointed out during the survey.
• and the boat systems were in fact 12v, with a 24v start system, and NOT 32 volt
• and the main house battery bank was AGM, and NOT FLA
• and that it is kind of coincidental that the surveyed value is exactly the advertised price
• and that exhaust for the hydraunic heat that is a PROBLEM because it is not insulated, but rather has a wire screen protecting it is installed exactly in accordance with the manufacturers instructions, and NOT a violation of ABYC standards (reference please?)

Sometimes (not necessarily the case in the OP's case), the buyer does his due diligence, and asks everyone he can who they recommend, and asks for references, and doesn't go with the lowest price, and asks all the right questions, and STILL gets a piss poor, rubber stamp of a survey that is full of all sorts of inaccuracies, totally lacking in any attention to detail whatsoever, that basically says: "Nice Boat"!

That was my issue with a survey that I had done. The surveyor I chose came highly recommended, wasn't the most expensive, but wasn't the cheapest either. His sample survey report was excellent. The survey report provided was full of inaccuracies. As I stated, I am by no means an expert, but the surveyor only found two minor issues that I hadn't already found, and I disagreed with one of them, for which he couldn't even provide a reference. He DID find a corroded fitting that I hadn't found, but that was the only item that he found that I hadn't already known about.

When confronted with the inaccuracies, he changed a few, but stated that if I wanted him to rewrite the survey (ie; correct ALL the inaccuracies) there would be an additional charge. So I STILL have a survey stating that the boat has a 32v electrical system, among other things . . .

THAT is a big problem that many people are experiencing when it comes to choosing a surveyor.

I understand it's tough to choose .... here are a few suggestions ...
Choosing a Marine Surveyor

[sagablu]

With all due respect to surveyors who are expert in their craft and provide a valuable service, it is unfortunate that many are taken by those who are less than expert. So since everyone else is chiming in, I'll add my very recent personal experience. I just sold my boat. The buyer wanted an out of the water survey and the surveyor missed the following issues that I was aware of.

The strut was bent about 10°
The plate that holds the sheaves under the pedestal is significantly corroded.
The AC wiring is a joke, hence I never used it.
The port in the head is leaking
Alternator output was checked with a voltmeter and then proclaimed to be working. This while connected to the solar panel!
No mention of the fuel filter / separator, operational but sad looking and in need of replacement.

I priced the boat knowing of these conditions, fairly I believe. All known conditions were disclosed prior. Gave him another thousand off just to be done with it.

This was all really obvious stuff, how it was missed was beyond me.

[Russian007]

Originally Posted by sagablu

With all due respect to surveyors who are expert in their craft and provide a valuable service, it is unfortunate that many are taken by those who are less than expert. So since everyone else is chiming in, I'll add my very recent personal experience. I just sold my boat. The buyer wanted an out of the water survey and the surveyor missed the following issues that I was aware of.

The strut was bent about 10°
The plate that holds the sheaves under the pedestal is significantly corroded.
The AC wiring is a joke, hence I never used it.
The port in the head is leaking
Alternator output was checked with a voltmeter and then proclaimed to be working. This while connected to the solar panel!
No mention of the fuel filter / separator, operational but sad looking and in need of replacement.

I priced the boat knowing of these conditions, fairly I believe. All known conditions were disclosed prior. Gave him another thousand off just to be done with it.

This was all really obvious stuff, how it was missed was beyond me.

Thing is, yacht brokers have incentive to recommend surveyors who Pass every boat. If I was buying a boat now, I'd probably grab the cheapest surveyor. But then I'd get friends I know who KNOW boats to look at it on the hard. They aren't surveyors but tremendously knowledgeable and will give unvarnished truth. I have ZERO confidence in surveyors-- I undertand there are great ones, but I don't know where to find them and chances are someone else has flown them to Tahiti to asses a Nordy or whatever.

[BlueH2Obound]

Originally Posted by boatpoker

I understand it's tough to choose .... here are a few suggestions ...
Choosing a Marine Surveyor

All good suggestions in the link! I did pretty much all of them except local mechanics recommendations. Still ended up with a surveyor who missed a LOT of stuff, which I pointed out at the end of the survey . . . .