Surveyor, Victoria, BC

[Jd1]

I am looking for recommendations for a surveyor that is familiar with a Catalina 36.
Any help would be appreciated.

[SuenosAzules]

I am a marine surveyor and am familiar with the Catalina 36.. Unfortunately I live in a much lower latitude.. Here in South Florida. What year is the Catalina?

[Jd1]

<chuckle> ... yes, that would be just a tad of a long way to travel It is a 2005 Catalina 36 Mrk II

[mitiempo]

Ken Rorison
250-655-3425

Kenneth W. Rorison Marine Surveyors Ltd.

[Ian McD]

Ken is known as Dr Death. He doesn't seem to miss a thing. Depends on whether you're buying or selling. He surveyed my boat and found things I didn't know existed. Very good.

[Jd1]

Thanks for the referrals to Ken. I have inquired with him to see if he is available to do the survey and to find out what all he does as part of it. If it turns out that he does not do standing rigging inspection, is there somebody in the Victoria BC area that is recommended ?

[Cheechako]

Often surveyors refer rigging insp to riggers and engine to engine people.

[hummingway]

Blanchard up in Saanich is pretty respected as a rigger. It's said his bedside manner isn't the best but he's good.

Ken Rorison is a legend. The couple of other fellows I've used I won't recommend. I've had two surveys done in this area and one mechanical. None of them found the real problems. If the goal is to get insurance I guess it's one thing but if you want to know the real deal I think you want a guy like Rorison.

[Elysium]

Hi Hummingway,
Blanchard is actually under new management. Johnathan and his poor bedside manners moved up island. I believe one of his employees took over. Can't say whether the quality is still there or not, but it sure is nice to be at Westport Marina where it's all under one roof so to speak. Any time I do my haul outs it is there. Chandlery, engine repair, machinist, canvasworkers and riggers.....plus a tidy, clean yard.

OP - Ditto on the riggers to check rigging and mechanics for engines. Not to discount surveyors, some are awesome and it looks like you have had a good recommendation already. But in my past experiences they tend to be more 'generalists', catching things that need to then be looked at by the specialists.

[mitiempo]

Another good rigger is Serge at Mainstay Yachttech | Rigging Spars Fabrication | Sidney BC

[IslandAnne]

Hello! I'm sorry to dredge up an old thread. I'm new here and jumping in with a question right away. I have an accepted offer on a boat (my first one) and I have been told that Ken is the best surveyor for pre-purchase. This thread reinforced what I was told. The seller's broker is strongly discouraging me from using him because he said the boat will never pass inspection if Ken does the survey. Is there such a thing as being too tough for a pre-purchase survey? It is an older boat, so you can't expect everything to be perfect right? Will this have serious implications for insurance? Or is it more likely that the broker just doesn't want the surveyor to find issues that would cause the deal to fall through? Thanks for any advice - I'm new to all of this!

[cwyckham]

Sounds like the perfect surveyor. You can use his findings to bargain down the price or at least understand the strengths and weaknesses of what you are buying.

I don't think insurance will be a big problem. He will give you a list of safety items to fix. All else is optional.

Make sure you pay to lift the boat. If you get the last slot before lunch, they will leave it hanging in the skins while they go for lunch and charge you less because they didn't need to block it.

[IslandAnne]

Thanks, that's what I was thinking. I mostly just want to be sure of what I'm getting into. I think I'm getting a fair deal on the boat from what I've seen of it.

And thanks for the tip on getting it hauled right before lunch!

[robert sailor]

The name Dr. Death was coined by local brokers. Ken is just very precise with how he carries out a survey. There are none better and I personally have used him 3 times, actually the only one I would recommend.

[mitiempo]

There is no such thing as too tough of a surveyor when buying. Ken Rorison the best choice.