Survey Essentials

[TwinRudders]

I've just had a survey on a Moody
The pre-report chat I've had with my surveyor has revealed that he was unable to check the condition of all the keel bolts as the floorboards were screwed down. Plus for some the saloon table would need to be moved. Apparently the owners permission would be also needed to unscrew the floorboards?

Is that normal - given that keel bolts are something I would really want pro advice on. Or at least a call to say - can I or what do you want to do about the keel bolts I can't get to?

Maybe it's just the way things are done? But to me it seems a bit pointless.


J

 

[Saddletramp]

Contact the Mooody owners ass to find out if it is a major issue on the model you are looking at. You can then make an informed decision on your next step.

 

[alan006]

I think its a problem for surveyors now that their insurance companies don't like them to dismantle anything on a boat they inspect. I think that is correct.
I think that in general surveyors are quite closely controlled by their insurance now as to what they can do.

 

[BIG_PLANS]

Hi,

The problem being what if the surveyor breaks something, you could of course ask the vendor to remove the floorboards.

Mike

 

[ToMo]

When seeking to have a survey done is it beyond reasonable to ask what will be checked so that agreement can be reached with the current owner regarding accessability?

 

[john_morris_uk]

The last survey we had done, I atteneded a good part of it and unscrewed the floorboards myself. Mind you the boat was in poor cosmetic condition and I wasn't going to break anything unscrewing a few floorboards. It was most instructive, and the surveyor talked me through his thinking about a few issues.

 

[BIG_PLANS]

To be honest with something as simple as floorboard and as important as keel bolts a quick phone from the surveyor or purchaser to the vendor to ask permission to lift the boards wouldnt have been out of the way. But it is an issue that comes up reasonably regularly as the surveyor nor the purchaser own the boat in question and some vendors are not happy when you start taking the boat apart.

Mike

 

[Pete7]

Which model? the water tank would have to come out on our 31 b/k to inspect. However the port side ones and rear most starboard are visable. Moody Owners Asso are the guys to ask specific questions under "Info Exchange" Also our table would have to come out to inspect the foot of the mast support. However with a dusty dry bilge I was happy enough to carry on with the purchase.

http://www.moodyowners.net/

Pete

 

[Marmalade]

On our M44 it looks as though you need to move the saloon table...but you actually don't - there's a knack - which model moody?

Simon

 

[ashanta]

They generally know if there is a problem when inspecting the hull externally. It is a big job to extract a keel boat during a 2 hour survey.
A manufacturer of yachts said to me many years ago to leave the keel bolts alone (GRP boats) if they look OK and there is now visible signs of keel movement.

 

[Skyva_2]

As above, it should be appparent at the keel joint if the bolts need tightening; what model and year is the boat?

There are posts about rust protection of keel bolts on the MOA board but no one has ever mentioned replacing them. One owner did pull a few bolts but there was no problem found.

 

[wotayottie]

Boat surveys like house surveys are mainly on the basis of what can be seen without disturbing things too much. A house surveyor doesnt lift the carpets, let alone the floor boards. A boat surveyor wouldnt lift the floor boards routinely. Any more than he would go up the mast or run the engine.

In the case of my Moody, you would need to take the saloon table to bits before you could even unscrew the floor boards (great design eh?) which would take about an hour. And all you could see then would be the nuts - not the state of the studs themselves. So it would be a bit pointless anyway.

 

[michael_w]

Two hour survey? The best surveyors I've used have taken eight hours at least; that's before they've sat down and written the report. Boats ranged in size from 30' to 37'.

Not to unscrew the sole boards is inexcusable IMHO.

 

[graham]

Even if he had lifted the cabin sole I dont think a routine prepurchase or Insurance survey includes removing or XRaying the keel bolts. Just looking at the nuts probably wouldnt tell him much.

 

[TwinRudders]

It's a Moody 336. Surveyor kindly went back to inspect them - and yes it's a difficult job as the saloon table has to be split and moved aside. However 5 nuts and plates were found to have corroded badly and need replacing. Condition of the studs will be better seen when they start work to replace the b/plates and nuts.

 

[MacMan]

[ QUOTE ]
Boat surveys like house surveys are mainly on the basis of what can be seen without disturbing things too much. A house surveyor doesnt lift the carpets, let alone the floor boards. A boat surveyor wouldnt lift the floor boards routinely. Any more than he would go up the mast or run the engine.



[/ QUOTE ]

I asked my surveyor to run the engine and he said this was part of his standard practice. He even ran the heater for me (I wasn't there) but expect the report to say - turned heater on, some heat came out and no more. I haven't go the report itself back yet but I would expect him to go up the mast.