Quote:
Originally Posted by cooper1991
My gut feel is that most surveyors will have close relationship with the agents and sailing community, so choosing a surveyor would be taking a punt in the first place.
First off, how do I find a list of surveyors? Secondly, how much can surveyors be trusted and lastly, is Langkawi a good place to buy in the first place |
I'm currently not a million miles from Langkawi. I've not used a surveyor on Langkawi nor have I bought or
sold a vessel in Langkawi.
That out of the way ...
0. I think almost all surveyors operating in Langkawi are familiar with the brokers who represent boats in Langkawi.
That does not mean I think they have a 'close relationship' with the brokers, any more than surveyors and brokers have 'close relationships' in the US, Aus, UK, etc.
Surveyors are always aware that they can be the subjects of litigation based on their written surveys. Surveyors are always aware that, even without litigation, their reputations can be damaged or enhanced by their
work with clients.
1. I'd suggest starting by searching for surveyors operating in Langkawi, using the
internet. I know of no up-to-date list of surveyors.
I am reluctant to name any of the two or three surveyors I know who have worked on boats on Langkawi - I don't know where they currently are or whether they are still working after a year of Covid. They all show up in
internet searches.
Be aware that interstate travel is, at the time of writing, not allowed in
Malaysia because of Covid-19. Langkawi and the state of Kedah, of which Langkawi is part, have been little infected to date.
Intra-state travel between the counties [daerah] of the state of Kedah has been allowed again since 5 March 2021 (i.e. yesterday as I write).
Pre-Covid, surveyors were known to attend yachts at Langkawi from Langkawi itself, from outside Malaysia (e.g. from
Thailand,
Singapore, and Australia), and from elsewhere in Malaysia.
Should you continue down the road, I'd suggest you establish a relationship with one or more surveyors who have worked on boats in Langkawi using all the means (voice and date comms) available to you.
2. A surveyor who issued a written
survey is liable to be litigated for negligence. That's why surveyors usually hold professional
insurance and write their reports the way they do. Short of you developing a personal relationship with a surveyor, that is what underpins 'commercial trust'. The surveyor should be your trusted eyes, ears, and hands.
Whether you (presumably in metropolitan country X) could litigate a surveyor who might be resident in Malaysia temporarily or permanently, is another question. For that, you might want to check to which professional association the surveyor belongs.
Assuming that you live in a metropolitan country, the question is: which is more efficient (in terms of
money and time): for you to travel to Langkawi yourself armed with a hammer and probe, and spend a few days working over the
boat in question or, to hire a surveyor to do the job for you?
Were Malaysia to open to tourists again, you will find some jolly pleasant places on Langkawi that would be v happy to host you while you inspected a
boat and took it for sea trials.
After all, if you were to decide to buy the boat, you would likely travel to Langkawi to take
delivery. So it might make sense to see Langkawi and learn what hurdles (and delights) you might face re-commissioning a vessel there,
provisioning her, and then charting a course to a
destination of your choice.
Of course, you also have alternatives such as finding and paying some one willing to deliver the boat to you on its own
hull, or to decommission and ship the boat to you via sea or air.
3. Langkawi is often regarded as a good place to buy precisely because, as you wrote, most all of the cruisers
for sale there arrived there on their own bottoms. So they were operational to get to Langkawi.
Of course, whether their
electronics still
work after exposure to the tropics, whether the
electronics and
gear are up to date some years after the Previous Owner left some metropolitan port on their way to somewhere via Langkawi, and whether the sojourn in Langkawi has left the boat in tip top condition, are other questions best left to you and your surveyor.
Why do cruisers who have left a metropolitan port and sailed to Langkawi, presumably on their way elsewhere, decide to sell their cruiser in Langkawi?
Circumstances change.
But consider that for a west-about cruiser from, say,
Japan,
Philippines, or
Australia, the next steps after Langkawi (or Phuket) involve crossing the Indian O and rounding Cape Good Hope, or transiting the Suez C into the
Med. For many, living in SE
Asia is jolly comfortable, until it isn't. And the challenges of the Indian O or the
passage to the Suez C are ahead. Not a few choose to sail E rather than continue a west-about circum-nav.
Whatever the circumstance, a smart buyer can find a bargain in Langkawi.
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