Conference unifix::sailing

Try Ralph Kershaw in Manchester, MA. 

I'd try Charlie Powers in Newburyport. I had a bad experience with kershaw..

I'd try Marine Survey Group from Braintree.I think the guy's name is Dave 
Williams. He did a great job on our boat.

Here is a note from somebody who sent me another reccommendation on MAIL
************************************************************************

From:	SPRITE::SPENCER "John K Spencer.FPO/A5.DTN 283-7424"  2-AUG-1985 16:15
To:	PUNDIT::MCWILLIAMS,SPENCER     
Subj:	marine surveyor

You asked a while ago, but here's an inexpensive but very conscientious and 
knowledgeable guy:  Capt. Tom Brown
		    Gloucester, MA 01930  (current street address unknown,
					   as he recently returned from 
					   two years in Maine managing a 
					   boatyard.)
		    617-281-4448	  (The other Gloucester exchange is
					   283-, and I *might* have it wrong.)

I've known Tom a long time, and am sure you'd get a fair price and thorough
survey.  He's recently back in town again, and hasn't advertised in Mass.
recently.
	    John. 

I thought after having asked the question I should let you know who I chose
and how things went.

I ended up choosing Charlie Powers out of Newburyport on the basis of
reccomendations of two boatyard owners one of whom gave me the following
endorsement;

   If you want a sellers survey, go to anybody. If you want a buyer's
   survey go to Charlie ( Powers ) he's a nit-picker (well actually
   the word used was a little cruder than nit-picker but the meaning
   is the same).

Well his price was $200 minimum or $?? per foot (since the boat was only
25' I was at the minimum). We spent about 3.5 hours on a Friday afternoon 
crawling over the boat, and he was nice enough to answer all my questions 
on "if I should/how I should" fix things that were noticed on the boat.
He also offered editorial comments on on the builder's choices for
equipment (.. well if I had built the boat I would have ...) that were
enlightening. I also found out that one should never ask him to survey
a Hunter, he doesn't tend to have a high opinion of Hunter's strength
or workmanship.

The upshot of it was that we found two problems in the orginal building
of the boat, that two previous surveyors had missed. I know since I
had in my hand the results of the two previous surveys from the soon
to be former owner.


All in all I was very pleased with the choice, and his performance.

/jim

    This is the first time I use Notes, so I hope this comes out okay.
    My husband and I are just about to buy a 30' Oday and want to get
    it surveyed. We plan to keep it down around Naragannset Bay - does
    anyone know of any good surveyors in that area? 
    If not, are there any surveyors who would be willing to travel 
    down there? And finally, about what do you think this will cost
    us?
    
    Thanks for any help,
    Kathy
    

    
    
    
    	Contact BOAT/US 1-800-336-0226.
    
    	They have a list of people certified when
    	getting insurance with them.

    
    	richard

    Both of these guys are terrific:
    
    1.  Bob Daigle - 401-295-8061
    
    2.  Dick Learned - 401-294-9232
    
    Of the two, I'd give the nod to Bob Daigle since he was once a dealer
    for O'Day and knows the complaints that came back to him.
    
    You're probably talking in the neighborhood of $10 a foot - good
    insurance.

    Thanks for the responses in the last couple notes. We were able
    to set up an appt. with Bob Daigle for next Tuesday. ($7/foot).
    
    
    Kathy
    

    Re: .8 (CSSE::COUTURE)
    
    Just wanted to say that Bob Daigle was a good recommendation. He
    spent two hours going through the boat and uncovered a couple things
    which a previous survey (supplied to us by the owner) had missed.
    
    He also took the time to tell us how we might address some of the
    issues. A very worthwhile $210, because after reading note 946
    I was beginning to feel bad about choosing an O'Day. But now I am
    happy with our choice. It seems like everyone has a preference and
    what one person wants in a boat is quite different from the next
    guy. We know we are not getting the rolls royce of boats - more
    like a chevy. But we plan to have fun with it.
    
    Thanks again for your recommendation,
    Kathy
    

    As an FYI.   I would not let Dick Learned survey a Dyer Dink.  
    
    He is always unavailable, prefers to survey things without you
    and has an annoying personality.   During hurricane gloria I
    told my insurance company (who hired him) that I refused to deal
    with him after the first two attempts.  
    
    Once I drove 100 miles from Chelmsford to N. Kingstown, RI (where he
    lives) to do a survey and got handed a piece of paper by him as he
    went out the door.  He told me to write what I wanted checked on
    it and slide it under the screen.
    
    Skip him.
    
    Rick
     

Does anybody have any experience with either of the following surveyors?
(They are on the Boat U.S. list.)

Henry Mustin        508 768-6164

Clark-Wichert, Inc. 617 631-4527

Charlie Powers has retired. His wife suggested I post this tidbit of info,
so they won't get quite so many calls from strangers...

--RS

    Henry Mustin surveyed my boat before I bought it.  He found a lot of
    the stuff a surveyor should find.
    
    His reputation is pretty good.  I wasn't impressed.
    
    djc

    I had a Surveyor that I was quite impressed with. His name is Dick
    Learned from Kingstown R.I. (401)294-9232. He "saved me" from a deal
    for a Tartan 30 which had many problems. I was able to withdraw from
    the deal without any forfeit because he pronounced the boat
    unseaworthy. As I recall, he did about an eight page comprehensive
    report on that boat and also on the Sabre 28 which I now own.
    	Dick's rate was about $10/ft, which I found cheap after the Tartan
    30 experience.
    
    Good Luck,
    John

My husband is very interested in marine surveying and has looked for courses
on the subject. He found a place in Fort Myers, FL called NavTech that
supposedly teaches marine surveying for a price of $300 (it's a correspondence
course). He received their informational package last night, but as we were
looking through it we began to wonder if it's sort of a scam. It sounds like
they send you a book that tells you how to go about getting into the business
and also send you copies of coast guard material on boat regulations, etc.

This leads me to 3 questions:

1. Does anyone have any experience with this NavTech organization?

2. Do you know of any other place offering training in marine surveying?

3. Finally, it doesn't seem that  marine surveyors are subjet to any type
   of required certification. It seems like if you've got knowledge about
   boat construction and enough confidence, you can pass yourself off as
   a surveyor. Scary thought if true. Does anyone know if it is?



*Kathy*

    	As I understand it you can pass yourself off as a surveyor and not
    violate any laws.  The professional surveyors are trying to fix this
    without bring government into the picture.  If he is real interested in
    getting into surveying have him contact one of the reputable surveyors. 
    They can tell him what is required to pass their certification process. 

    	If I were looking at getting into surveying I would as a minimum 
    want to work as an apprentice with a good surveyor. Even though I have
    a degree in Naval Architecture and worked as a boat builder in the
    past.  A good surveyor not only needs to know the rules and regulations
    they need a good eye, sense of smell, and sixth sense when looking at a
    boat.  They also need a sense of what it costs in todays market to get
    things made right....


    Forrest

>>    	As I understand it you can pass yourself off as a surveyor and not
>>     violate any laws.  The professional surveyors are trying to fix this
>>    without bring government into the picture.  If he is real interested in
>>    getting into surveying have him contact one of the reputable surveyors. 


Forrest, thanks for the response. I agree completely that a good surveyor
needs to know more than the rules. 

And the idea you state above to contact a reputable surveyor is also a
good one - it's just a matter of finding someone truly reputable. When
we bought our boat we used two surveyors who came highly recommended in this
notesfile. Yet only a few months after launching our boat we had an
accident in which we nearly lost the boat because of some very poor
construction which any surveyor should apparently have questioned.

>>    They can tell him what is required to pass their certification process. 

Whose certification process? I was under the impression that there is no
certification required (though I believe there should be).


Kathy

    
    	I remember reading a write up on surveying somewhere.  The problem
    I cannot remember where I read it.  Even if I rember I may not have
    kept it, I only keep about 5% of all I read.  With that I end up with
    more paper than I can keep.  Try calling the Boat U.S. information line
    and see if they can help you.
    
    	There is an organization of surveyors who are trying to certify 
    people in the business, and get more uniform quality.  It was their
    certification process I was refering to.
    
    
    Forrest

    There was a large article in Powerboat Reports (which is the power
    version of Practical Sailor - put out by the same people) about this.
    Don't remember when, but it was within the last year.  Send mail and
    I'll get it from home if you want.
    
    They in fact ran a sting where they invited several marine surveyors
    to inspect a boat which had had several problems artificially induced.
    They didn't do very well (and as I recall the problems weren't all that
    subtle, being things like leaky fuel pumps!).
    
    There was some rebuttal in the Letters column of subsequent issues
    which referred to the organization that Forrest mentioned and claimed
    that the magazine had damned the whoile business based on a few samples
    out of the yellow pages.