Why Should You Use An Independent Boat Surveyor?

So you believe that you have found the ideal sailing yacht of your dreams?

The next idea to decide is whether you should have a boat survey?

Unless your Insurer
insists to see a current independent survey then that decision will rest with you.

Do you really need to spend your hard earned cash on a marine survey report when the current owner says that it has been maintained regardless of cost. Another very common statement that you hear is "This motor sailor is so well maintained that it spends six months of every year out of the water standing in the boat yard". The truth would be that it spends that time deteriorating.

If the owner or broker states that this sailing yacht has had hardly any use over the last few years I would be rather concerned.These type of explanations start to ring many alarm bells.

The plain truth is that most motor cruisers are very rarely maintained correctly. Even more so when they are not regularly sailed. Lack of use is the worst thing that you can do to the engine and running gear. Where a yacht has had minimal use over the last few years, this simply means that this sailing yacht has had no proper interest and therefore has not had proper maintenance.

A boat with poor maintenance will almost certainly go wrong when you first start to use her. If the broker or owner have a survey report but it is not up to date what has occured to the boat since the report was commissioned? It could well have been damaged, sunk or all manner of things could have arisen, so trust on an out of date report at your own risk.

So how do you choose a marine surveyor? You should find out what experience this surveyor has in yacht repairs,maintenance and ownership? Is he a qualified marine engineer and how long has he been working with boats of this size and type?

There are some boat surveyors who have come into this profession following retirement and if this is the case
you should ask them how long they have been in practice and what did they use to do before.

Ask your intended surveyor if he will be able to let you have a comprehensive report on the condition of the Engine/s and the related equipment and machinery?

Many can not do this because they are not Marine Engineers and so you are not having a full boat survey no matter what they may say.

Now what is it that a top marine surveyor should be looking for in a boat?
We will assume for this example that the boat in question is out of the water, located in the boat yard, and is of a GRP construction. Firstly he may look at the topsides and examine for signs of damage such as scratches,cracks,filler and evidence of repairs? Has it been repainted and if so why?

A boat under 10 years old should not need to have been painted and if it has it may be to hide signs of repairs.

If there are indentations in the surface this could occur because the rigging is far to
rigid and the resulting strain has pulled the topsides in.

It is a fact that any material which is left for long periods in the sea will
suffer from some decay, steel rusts, wood rots GRP may suffer from Osmosis. GRP is fine glass strands which are woven into a matt which when impregnated with a resinwill harden and form the hull mould.

The colour finish of a sailing yacht is contained in the Gel coat pigment, usually this is white but can be any colour which goes on the glass fibre matting.

So what is it that does go wrong with this strong material?

Water may overtime pass through the outer pigment and then pass into the glass tubes which then react with the chemicals and blisters start to form.

Often osmosis will start as a rash and then over time become larger. I have seen them as large as 50p pieces.

When they break the fluid contained inside smells sour.

You can also come across Wicking which is where the strands of glass fibre protrude from the hull of the yacht and the strands of glass are exposed to the sea.

In this case water may be drawn into the glass fibres by capillary action therby commencing the Osmosis process.

Having a survey may be a very good value investment as it may save a lot of money by identifying any serious problems.

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<!-- You have permission to republish this article for free providing the "Author Resource" information is included in its entirety. --> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC '-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN' 'http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd'><html><head><title>ArticleCoop | Why Should You Use An Independent Boat Surveyor?</title></head><body><h3>Why Should You Use An Independent Boat Surveyor?</h3><br><br> By: Peter Jones<br><br><p><p /><p />So you believe that you have found the ideal sailing yacht of your dreams? <p />The next idea to decide is whether you should have a boat survey?<p /> Unless your Insurer<br>insists to see a current independent survey then that decision will rest with you.<p /><p /> Do you really need to spend your hard earned cash on a marine survey report when the current owner says that it has been maintained regardless of cost. Another very common statement that you hear is "This motor sailor is so well maintained that it spends six months of every year out of the water standing in the boat yard". The truth would be that it spends that time deteriorating.<p /><p /><p /><p /><p />If the owner or broker states that this sailing yacht has had hardly any use over the last few years I would be rather concerned.These type of explanations start to ring many alarm bells. <p /><p /><p /><p />The plain truth is that most motor cruisers are very rarely maintained correctly. Even more so when they are not regularly sailed. Lack of use is the worst thing that you can do to the engine and running gear. Where a yacht has had minimal use over the last few years, this simply means that this sailing yacht has had no proper interest and therefore has not had proper maintenance.<p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /> A boat with poor maintenance will almost certainly go wrong when you first start to use her. If the broker or owner have a survey report but it is not up to date what has occured to the boat since the report was commissioned? It could well have been damaged, sunk or all manner of things could have arisen, so trust on an out of date report at your own risk.<p /> So how do you choose a marine surveyor? You should find out what experience this surveyor has in yacht repairs,maintenance and ownership? Is he a qualified marine engineer and how long has he been working with boats of this size and type?<p />There are some boat surveyors who have come into this profession following retirement and if this is the case<br>you should ask them how long they have been in practice and what did they use to do before.<p /> Ask your intended surveyor if he will be able to let you have a comprehensive report on the condition of the Engine/s and the related equipment and machinery?<p />Many can not do this because they are not Marine Engineers and so you are not having a full boat survey no matter what they may say.<p />Now what is it that a top marine surveyor should be looking for in a boat?<br>We will assume for this example that the boat in question is out of the water, located in the boat yard, and is of a GRP construction. Firstly he may look at the topsides and examine for signs of damage such as scratches,cracks,filler and evidence of repairs? Has it been repainted and if so why?<p />A boat under 10 years old should not need to have been painted and if it has it may be to hide signs of repairs.<p />If there are indentations in the surface this could occur because the rigging is far to<br>rigid and the resulting strain has pulled the topsides in.<p /><p />It is a fact that any material which is left for long periods in the sea will<br>suffer from some decay, steel rusts, wood rots GRP may suffer from Osmosis. GRP is fine glass strands which are woven into a matt which when impregnated with a resinwill harden and form the hull mould.<p />The colour finish of a sailing yacht is contained in the Gel coat pigment, usually this is white but can be any colour which goes on the glass fibre matting.<p />So what is it that does go wrong with this strong material?<p />Water may overtime pass through the outer pigment and then pass into the glass tubes which then react with the chemicals and blisters start to form.<p />Often osmosis will start as a rash and then over time become larger. I have seen them as large as 50p pieces.<p />When they break the fluid contained inside smells sour.<p />You can also come across Wicking which is where the strands of glass fibre protrude from the hull of the yacht and the strands of glass are exposed to the sea.<p />In this case water may be drawn into the glass fibres by capillary action therby commencing the Osmosis process.<p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p />Having a survey may be a very good value investment as it may save a lot of money by identifying any serious problems.<p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><p /><br></P> <br><br> <b>Author Resource: </b>  The Author writes various articles on Marine and related boating topics and for more information please go to <a href="http://www.northstarmarinesurveyors.co.uk" target="_self">Marine Surveyor</a><br><br><b>Article From</b> <a href='http://www.articlecoop.com/'>ArticleCoop</a><br></body></html>