rangerrick63

I've been reading the thread about the guy that hired a surveyor to survey his purchase, & it turned out to have a bad floor.....anyway, I didn't want to hi-jack his thread, but it has me wondering a few things.....
I'm working on a deal to buy a used boat, the deal isn't going to close for a few months, & the boat is wayyyyy up North. I do plan on a survey, but a couple of questions I have about this process.....
1. How do I find a "Good" repitiable surveyor? Do I ask for refrences, or is there a site that has a list of surveyors that work certain regions?
2. What should I expect the surveryor to inspect, hull, engine, drives? Will the surveyor do a water test?
3. Should I make a point to be there while this is being done?

This will be a major purchase for me, & with my last boat (first performance boat), I felt that I knew what to look for, so I just handled it myself. Boy, was that a mistake, I spent the entire winter, & most of the summer, working & tinkering on the boat, to get it right. I definitly, do not want to go thru that again.
I would appreciate any advice on this survey thing.

wet_rat

Well, glad you didn't high jack so here is my opinion on what I have learned from my friends experience. Try this link, this should get you in the right direction. I absolutely think you should drive the boat and be present when the sutvey is done. My friend was able to point out things of concern to get the surveyors opinion. The surveyor should inspect EVERY aspect of the boat, drives, motors, hull, electronics, EVERYTHING!!!

http://www.marinesurveyor.com/
Most of the info you should need will be there. Others will chime in though. Make sure you look for Ed Cozzi on here to get advice about the correct way to survey a performance boat--he is very willing to help.

Jigsaw89

Good advice from wet_rat. I'd also consider hiring Ed Cozzi direct & pay for all expenses since it's possible that he can save you 100x your weight.

rangerrick63

Thanks for the input, looks like a ton of info on that site. I will do my homework on this, I want to cover every aspect that I can.
I've seen Ed's name posted here on several occasions, I'll have to drop him a line, maybe he can offer some suggested surveryors for that area, unless he goes up that far. I did notice that he seems to work out of the Southeast. Thanks again.

CigDaze

#1: Hire an accredited surveyor, either SAMS or NAMS. This is no guarantee (obviously - see what happened to wet-rat's friend), but it reduces the risk a bit with regards to their credibility.

But above all else, be there, and be very involved. Be the second set of eyes, look at everything, flip every switch, etc.

Educate yourself!!!
Spend some time on this site: http://www.yachtsurvey.com/articleslist.htm
It's one of the most informative resources I've ever come across. It's not high-performance oriented, but nonetheless it's an excellent source of information.