Surveyors

[Pwh4788]

I'm in the throes of purchasing a 35ft Westerly in Portsmouth. Can anyone recommend a surveyor please?

Paul

 

[AllanG]

I’ve used Simon May twice, and was very pleased with his work:-

https://www.boatcareyachtsurveys.co.uk/

 

[rszemeti]

Same advice I give to everyone ... even if you are having a survey done, spend half a day crawling from stem to stern externally, inspecting to *your own satisfaction* every item ... then repeat the process internally.

I made the mistake of relying on a survey as I considered myself inexperienced at the time ... my surveyor missed numerous major faults, from a disintegratign gooseneck, broken and seized winches, dangerous gas locker, rusted keel bolts, 90m of anchor chain in a singular rusted mass etc etc ...

He came recommended and with multiple sets of letters after his name. Trust no one but yourself. By all means get a survey as well, but ... don't make the mistake I did of relying on it.

 

[Iain C]

Same advice I give to everyone ... even if you are having a survey done, spend half a day crawling from stem to stern externally, inspecting to *your own satisfaction* every item ... then repeat the process internally.

I made the mistake of relying on a survey as I considered myself inexperienced at the time ... my surveyor missed numerous major faults, from a disintegratign gooseneck, broken and seized winches, dangerous gas locker, rusted keel bolts, 90m of anchor chain in a singular rusted mass etc etc ...

He came recommended and with multiple sets of letters after his name. Trust no one but yourself. By all means get a survey as well, but ... don't make the mistake I did of relying on it.

^This

I inherited my previous boat from a deceased family member. He had had a survey done many years previously, and whilst the surveyor was borderline neurotic on a couple of localised tiny blisters in the hull with paragraphs written about how to fix it, he'd totally missed that both port and starboard chainplates were bolted to the internal bulkhead with tiny bolts that I probably would not trust to hold a grab rail on with. He's also missed the fact that although the rudder shaft was s/s, the tangs were mild steel, and had in fact broken away from the shaft in one place.

Sure, a surveyor won't open up a rudder to check, but it's an easy check with a compass (giving deflection around the mild steel bits).

Crucially, I would contact and join the owner's association before you buy or view the boat. A typical OA will cost you £20 a year to join, and typically give you access to either a technical forum or an owners handbook, usually put together over the years by lots of experienced owners. This will usually point out the weak bits and how owners have modified or improved the design over time.

 

[jaypea]

I can unreservedly recommend Nic Fieldhouse based in Chichester who has undertaken two boat purchase surveys for me, the last one in France!
https://fieldhouse-yacht-surveys.com/
He posts some interesting stuff on his Facebook page.
Good luck with the purchase

 

[James W]

I would say that it depends on the price of the boat. Under £10K? Then trust yourself and spend a day looking at everything, taking notes and photography it all.

£10K + then go for a survey. I haven’t seen his work but I had cause to chat to Simon May in the week and he came across as a thoroughly decent chap and gave me some good advice for free. Came well recommended too.

 

[Pwh4788]

Thanks for all the good advice. I've had a good look once at the boat already, but want someone that knows what they are talking about rather than just trusting my own judgement. I deal a lot with property and I'm of the view that it makes more sense to get one person to give an overview and then get the relevant experts in for specific items, such as the furling mast etc. You can't be an expert in everything. Would be interested to hear about otyher peoples experiences though and still looking for the surveyor.

 

[[176172]]

Same advice I give to everyone ... even if you are having a survey done, spend half a day crawling from stem to stern externally, inspecting to *your own satisfaction* every item ... then repeat the process internally.

I made the mistake of relying on a survey as I considered myself inexperienced at the time ... my surveyor missed numerous major faults, from a disintegratign gooseneck, broken and seized winches, dangerous gas locker, rusted keel bolts, 90m of anchor chain in a singular rusted mass etc etc ...

He came recommended and with multiple sets of letters after his name. Trust no one but yourself. By all means get a survey as well, but ... don't make the mistake I did of relying on it.

Second that.