Yacht survey - technical + legal question

[Aja]

[ QUOTE ]
For us the surveyor is there basically to tell us if (in his opinion) the boat is sound using skills and experience beyond ours.


[/ QUOTE ]

Maybe so. Another way of looking at it would be:

I would hope that the surveyor is there to report on any faults in the boat, giving an indication on the severity.

It is then up to the person who commissioned the survey to come to a conclusion whether the boat is worth the price requested from the vendor. A good surveyor will usually give an overall condition on the survey report usually with an estimated value.

If I was buying a brand new boat I would get this done. there's no point assuming that its new therefore perfect.

Donald

 

[scoops]

I am the friend that Quiet Flight referred to. I have been busy making arrangements for another survey on another Seahawk but here are my comments. An interesting response to the keel/rudder story. I doubt that I will ever get to the bottom of the issue. Of course, the whole point of a survey is to find problems such as these and my disappointment was enormous because above the water line she was in very good condition and well kitted out which is why I put in an offer and arranged for a survey. I have looked at 6 Seahawks in total and have not seen a displaced keel such as this. Coupled with obvious serious damage to the rudder and “stiff” steering my offer is withdrawn as I do not want to lower the keel to establish why the front edge is displaced, or remove the rudder and stock (the stock may be bent) with the possibility of having to replace the rudder blade. The suggestion of ‘a beer, a good swear and move on ’ is a good one and that is what I shall do (only in my case, a large glass of wine will do it!). I have however, put in an offer on another Seahawk , which has been accepted, and which was also on the top of my list and whilst she is not any where near as well kitted out, she is on the hard, I have viewed her 3 times and my last viewing lasted over 3 hours and my friend and I turned her inside out. She looks in good condition and I have arranged for a survey and engine check to be done next week. There is a lot to be said for viewing boats that are out of the water! A sad experience but a learning curve, and I look forward to hopefully a good survey report and having some fun in the Solent. For those of you who may remember my post of a few weeks ago - don’t get me onto brokers!!!!

 

[Aja]

Wish you best of luck with this one.

Regards

Donald

 

[rhumlady]

Was it obvious if the keel had been like that for some time or not? ie had it been anti fouled with the keel in the current state.

 

[Koeketiene]

I'm not a great lover of brokers, but in this case I completely agree with you.

The survey found defects and buyer rejected on survey. End of.
That's what a survey is for.

In this partucular case it does not seem to me that £600 was wasted, but that £thousands were saved.

Litigation seems to be the new British disease /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[Major Catastrophe]

[ QUOTE ]
Litigation seems to be the new British disease

[/ QUOTE ]

That is why I support the reintroduction of duelling.

 

[fireball]

[ QUOTE ]
Litigation seems to be the new British disease

[/ QUOTE ]

Can you give me £600 then?

There is a very valid feeling of being "had" when significant user detectable faults are found. I'm not saying that in these cases information was deliberatly withheld buy the vendor and/or broker, but it is very easy to feel that perhaps the vendor is trying to pull a fast one ... hoping perhaps that as you have already gone to the expense of a surveyor and lift out (which is no small amount! - about the cost of a Mobo fuel tank fill! /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif) then you'll be reluctant to loose that money and enter negotiations ... whereas if they had declared the faults you might not have pursued that vessel.

When we looked for our boat 4 years ago we saw a Dufour 30 (ashore) ... we were reasonably happy with it, although the layout wasn't quite what we were after and the owner had screwed a GPS holder into the top of the chart table ... then there was iron filings in the engine oil ... and when we got off the boat we noticed that one of the supports had made a depression in the hull (along with associated gelcoat crazing) ... luckily we were reasonably thorough when looking over this boat and were able to walk away having only wasted a tank of fuel (only £30 - we went in a car!)... we'd've been less reluctant to walk away if we'd payed for a surveyor ....

 

[jonic]

Scoops

I'm glad you gave us all such a detailed post. Thanks.

I wish you the very best with your purchase. I took a Westerly Corsair across the Atlantic and beyond and loved her to bits. Safe solid and always looked after us. (Sadly lost ashore in hurricane Ivan). When I first surveyed her, to my and her owners surprise she had rudder damage and early signs of osmosis, but we agreed a fair reduction.

When I chose her replacement I had surveyed a Dufour 38 classic which I had to reject after evidence of hard grounding and cracking was found. The owner didn't know and nor did the broker............I know because he was my boss at the time! But I considered the survey money well spent and went on to buy my Moody.

I'm currently part way through a world trip and trained as a broker because I knew I would enjoy the people and the whole process. But I'd also come across some really crap ones when I was buying and wanted to make a difference. Now I've been involved for a number of years I can assure you there are some crap ones, but also many highly experienced, knowledgeable guys (and girls) who love what they do and take great pride in their work.

Fair winds with your new purchase.

(If Guapa agrees with me it must be a good day /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif)