I think a lot of folks over analyze this.

You really need 2 surveys. One is a hull survey where the surveyor examines the boat in detail and tells you what he finds wrong, what is a potential problem and what the boat is worth. The second survey is a mechanical survey where the mechanic examines the engines, transmissions and does whatever testing you both deem necessary to determine the mechanical health of the engines. At a minumum you should require oil sampling of the lube oil, the transmission fluid and the coolant. If it were me I would also get permission from the seller to have the mechanic remove the risers and check them and the manifolds for excessive corrosion and do a compression check.

 

Agree wholeheartedly with Frank. Also, my preference is to find my own surveyor, not the one recommended by the selling broker. Ask for recommendations from folks on CSR.

 

Just over the CT border...this past June we purchased current boat in sig (30').
Called about 8 surveyors in the area, most seem to average about 25 bucks a foot for the basic boat survey. Two or so potential ones were from over the border on your side. So your boat may be from 750 bucks to 800 bucks.
From asking a lot of people...the name that came up the most for "best of the best of the best"...Johnson, in Mystic. Adrian and Ken Johnson. We didn't get them, they were booked out quite a bit. We ended up going with Chris Nebel...he's more central CT, not sure if he crosses into RI.

Not all surveyors do engine/mechanic surveys, which can also include hooking up diagnostic computers, compression tests, etc. They usually do a basic eyeball of the engine and mechanics during the initial survey which should include a sea trial where you run the engines WOT for a while (like 10 minutes). Typically..engines with issues will reveal issues during this period. Johnsons does full engine diags.

As for the debate of "don't need engine survey, a sea trial will reveal issues"....for our boat, I leaned towards "a sea trial will reveal issues". Certainly the bigger the boat, the higher the expense...I'd think it's smarter to have a full survey done. For less expensive boats, if you're more willing to take the risk...let the sea trial be a barometer of its health.

When we had our initial survey done, at WOT...one of the engines revealed problems..backfiring. I had the yard do a compression test on the problem engine to ensure no bad valves, and later fix the issue (was ignition related..rotor/distie cap) on their dime, not mine, since I was about to become a 10,000.00 per year customer if they fixed it. Had the second engine tuned up on my wallet.

 

Not all surveyors do engine/mechanic surveys, which can also include hooking up diagnostic computers, compression tests, etc. They usually do a basic eyeball of the engine and mechanics during the initial survey which should include a sea trial where you run the engines WOT for a while (like 10 minutes). Typically..engines with issues will reveal issues during this period. Johnsons does full engine diags.

10 minutes full throttle?? As an owner I wouldn't let this happen; in fact I'd have the boat returned to the dock, everyone off the boat then a conversation with the prospective buyer. Then a terse conversation with the surveyor on the side. Full throttle testing during a survey is to do three things: Ensure the engines achieve the full power rating, temperatures stay within range, and oil pressure is stable. This takes a minute or two. For diesel boats the high idle test also is tense but necessary; that is full throttle in neutral to make sure the high idle settings are good. Regarding who captains the boat during the trial - should be the owner's representative / broker. Personally, I'm stuck like glue to the surveyors through the entire process; they earned their money when we are done. With this boat I have now we started the survey at 8 in the morning and we didn't finish until close to 6PM. The haul-out and splash took over 3 hours.
Tom

 

I almost purchased a Regal. WOT and Sea trial went great. Engine survey was good, and extremely helpful, he stated the $30k expense for manifold/risers and out drive rebuild was ROUTINE MAINTENANCE for a 7 year old, lift rack stored, 30’ boat! Volvo engines. Oil analysis found sodium in the port engine, at way higher concentrations than starboard, not to mention the oil was changed within the last 3 months. That led me to back out of the deal.
Get a hull survey, and engine survey, and oil tests. Just my 2 cents.

 

I paid $700 for the survey and $300 for the marina to pull it.

Even with an inspection dont be afraid to dig through the boat. Check for signs of water present or past stains in the storage, closets, cabinet. Check the canvas for tears, zippers and snaps, clear isinglass, etc. Test the water heater, faucets, etc.

I did not do a mechanical inspection.

Find the temps, rpm and speed expected for the given engines and compare. Check oils, lubes, etc.

Its super easy to simply ask the owner “what doesnt work” too. Sometimes people are honest.

 

+1 for @fwebster, @Third Edition, and @YeOldeStonecat . Do both a hull survey and an engine survey, and the mot good surveyors won't say they do both. I might think differently about investing $2-3000 in a survey for a $10,000 boat, but you are probably in the $75-100k range, it's worth the investment.

I agree completely with @fwebster on the fluid analysis.

Interview the surveyor ahead of time and ask about the process they go through. Ask what they find and can't find. Ask what similar boats they have surveyed. You can also ask for a sample of a report that they prepared for a similar boat, to get an expectation of what to expect. You might not know what you are looking for until you talk to a couple of people, but once you start talking to them you will get a sense for who is thorough.

Also, the question will likely come up as to who will operate the boat during the sea trial. The owner may be willing to do it, which is good because the surveyor can ask them questions, but they may also start arguing with the surveyor's findings. It's harder to have a candid conversation about the condition with the owner on board. The selling broker may be willing to do it. Your surveyor probably won't, and you certainly don't want to. It's a good thing to write into the contract along with the survey clause, so that expectations are set up front.

 

The broker hired a neutral outsider Captain to take her out for the sea trial.

 

If the manifolds can't be removed for inspection, a camera probe in the sparkplug holes on a gas engine may surface important info on internal engine conditions.

 

Hi all and thank you for the feedback. After some research and hired Capt. Paul Shaw. He was good, took about 5 hours to do the systems survey, mechanical, took oil samples. he will go back and do the

the WOT was for few minutes and it hit 37.4 m/h and RPM was 4850 on both engines. Did a compression test before and numbers looked good. We spent about 30 minutes on the sea trial.

 

forgot to mention they will haul the boat out and complete the hull survey. 5 oil samples were collected.

 

Several minutes of WOT will be off the table when I sell my boat. It has been professionally maintained for its entire life and I am the original owner. I do run it at WOT every spring for maybe a minute to listen to it run and insure it reaches spec. Same thing just on the way to fall lay up to insure all is well. If someone says no deal because they are not allowed to abuse it on a sea trial I'm fine with that and it will be their loss. What if everyone who trialed a boat beat it up and then passed on the deal?