What to do if you can't find a surveyor?

[oddients]

Or, how does one find a surveyor in the midwest, in the winter? I'm living in the middle of Illinois, but I'm from Minneapolis, Minnesota and I go back there every month or two. This 1978 Cherubini Hunter 27 in Afton, Minnesota caught my eye as a potential first boat for me:

Yachtworld

Hooper's Yachts


Does anyone know of a surveyor in that area? It's 30 miles from Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota.What would all y'all do if you were interested in this boat and couldn't find a surveyor? I know that I don't know enough to be able to inspect it myself.

[River Cruiser]

Go to BoatUS website, they have a list of surveyors for different areas. That's where I found one to survey my boat in Iowa before I bought it, I'am very happy with the job he did. Good luck

[ctl411]

Have you seen the boat in person? Check it over yourself or with a friend. Make a offer pending sea trial in spring.

[sweetsailing]

Hi there,

I live in the Minneapolis area and connected to the local sailing community. I don't know who does surveys directly, however I do have a couple of contacts for you to call and they will know who can help you, if they can't do it themselves.

Joe Marz - Joe's Marine Services 651-260-7672. Joe has done work on both our current boat and our previous boat and he knows what he is doing. He may not be a certified surveyor and you likely will not find a certified surveyor in this area, however Joe knows boats well enough to give you a qualified opinion.

You might ask Reeve at Crow's Nest Yachts in St Paul if he knows any surveyors in the area.

[Kettlewell]

On a boat that size I would survey her myself. It isn't rocket science if you are modestly mechanically adept. Basically, you just want to spend a lot of time crawling all over the boat, peering into every space you can, making notes of what things are bad and/or might need further investigation. A lot of boat surveying is just making long lists of lots of general information, that I personally don't find very useful, and can often be somewhat inaccurate. Do you have a friend who is an experienced boat owner who could work with you on this? I doubt you are planning on taking long voyages offshore in this boat, so mainly you want to make sure the water stays out, the mast will stay up, the engine appears to be working and clean, and most of the equipment is either functional, fixable, or replaceable. Get a copy of This Old Boat by Don Casey to help you with the projects.

[JoanK]

We also live in Illinois and looking for our second boat for 2013. We like to look in MN too. We are interested in surveys also for MN and Il/ Iowa. Have ypu found one?

[Capt.Alex]

Membership Roster for Minnesota

[sweetsailing]

I looked at the list in the provided link. The problem in Minnesota is, I would ask any of those listed surveyors if they have done surveys on sailboats. My guess is that those 4 surveyors listed primarily do work on larger powerboats, not sailboats. Worth asking at least.

[CaptLinda6pack]

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

On a boat that size I would survey her myself. It isn't rocket science if you are modestly mechanically adept. Basically, you just want to spend a lot of time crawling all over the boat, peering into every space you can, making notes of what things are bad and/or might need further investigation. A lot of boat surveying is just making long lists of lots of general information, that I personally don't find very useful, and can often be somewhat inaccurate. Do you have a friend who is an experienced boat owner who could work with you on this? I doubt you are planning on taking long voyages offshore in this boat, so mainly you want to make sure the water stays out, the mast will stay up, the engine appears to be working and clean, and most of the equipment is either functional, fixable, or replaceable. Get a copy of This Old Boat by Don Casey to help you with the projects.

Kettlewell !! Right on there. My hubby and I have spent months and months and surveyor's after surveyor to find the right boat and deal. After reading and reading still more, and yes talking to and questions to, and above all doing allot of "listening"too. We found our perfect sailboat for US. However; It was the surveyor's that helped make it so. In our quest to find the right boat I've learned that there are some owner's of a vessel that will not disclose problems and it's only after the $sale$ you here "Well it was fine to me!" or Hum, "I wasn't aware of that!" That's after you spent the money. There are TWO best times in a boat owners life. #1. Is when they buy a boat #2. Is when they SELL it off "AS-IS". Now you got to ask yourself? Why do you think they came up with this statement in the first place!! Unless you have real personnel knowledge of the boat construction and electrical and pluming and engine maintenance and lastly be OBJECTIVE. You need to hire a surveyor to protect your interests here. You have one shot and one shot only at this.. so put it to your advantage. Enough said! Hope this helps. Best wishes.. Linda

[denverd0n]

I have to agree with Kettlewell, for a boat with an asking price of only $5k, do your own survey. First, buy this book: Surveying Fiberglass Sailboats: A Step-by-Step Guide for Buyers and Owners: Henry Mustin: 9780070442481: Amazon.com: Books Then read this website: Marine Survey 101, how to do your own marine survey Then do a web search and find out as much as you can about that particular model of boat, paying special attention to any common problems.

After that, go out and look the boat over, and do your own survey.

Now, if you STILL don't feel comfortable with the purchase, if you are afraid that you don't know enough about boats and might have missed something important, then okay, maybe you need to hire a surveyor.

But I would at least take a shot at looking it over yourself first. If for no other reason than the fact that you might find something that's a deal-breaker, and then you'll have saved yourself the price of the survey.

In fact, I would advise any buyer, of any boat, of any cost, to do some research and perform their own "survey" of the boat before hiring a professional surveyor. Again, for the simple reason that you may very well find things yourself that make it unnecessary to spend the money on a survey.

Good luck, whatever you do.