Marine Surveying and Marine Surveyors
Who are they and what do they do?
A Marine Surveyor usually starts his or her career as a self-employed professional Naval Architect, Mechanical or Marine Engineer or sometimes, boatbuilder – or sometimes all four rolled into one.
The marine surveying profession is probably one of the most arcane occupations in the maritime industry, the Surveyor’s days being spent in clambering in and out of very confined spaces, crawling about in evil smelling bilges and periodically, even nastier smelling river mud. A considerable amount of heaving about of sailbags, heavy boat equipment, seat cushions, outboard engines, dinghies, liferafts etc, not to mention anchors and chain are all in the day’s work for the Yacht Surveyor. However, the compensations are freedom from routine, an open air life and the occasional trip in an interesting yacht.
The Yacht Survey profession is predominatly a male preserve, although there are nowadays a few female members of the Marine Surveying fraternity. Kathleen Kilbey (AKA “The old bat in the little red hat”) can justly claim to be one of the first of these in the profession, having been in practice since the late 1980′s.
There are many good Marine Surveyors engaged in the Surveying of Yachts and Boats around the Yachting Centres and Harbours of the World. Most Yacht Surveyors are members of professional engineering institutions such as The Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA) or “trade ” organisations such as the Y.B.D.S.A.
Some Boat Surveyors specialise in surveying timber yachts and classic boats (as do both Kathleen Kilbey and her mentor and colleague George Reohorn, although they both have long experience of surveys on other types of yacht hull). However, a good Yacht Surveyor will be competent to survey yachts and boats constructed from Aluminium, GRP (fibreglass) Steel, ferro-cement and Wood and sometimes, exotic combinations of these materials. Marine Surveyors often specialise in, for example, timber boats, or maybe steel yachts, whilst other Surveyors may concentrate on GRP (fibreglass) sailboats.
Wooden boats and classic wooden yachts come in all shapes and sizes; some are cold-moulded, some are clinker built (lapstrake), some are carvel with caulking between the plank edges, some are Colin-Archer type “double-ender” cruising yachts and some may be classic racing yachts with a counter-stern and long-keel, such as the famous J class boats like Velsheda and Endeavour.
There are many different kinds of Yacht Survey, some Marine Surveyors will carry out a Pre Purchase Survey and include a Valuation for Marine Insurance, whilst others quote for a Hull-Survey and will carry out a Survey of Rigging and Sails as a separate item. A Full Condition Survey generally means an inspection of the yacht from the masthead to the ballast keel, and from stem to stern, covering all of the boat’s hull, deck, machinery, navigation equipment, rigging and sails.
It is the Boat-Owner’s (or the client commissioning the boat survey) responsibility to arrange for the yacht to be lifted out at a Marina or Boat Yard, then safely chocked off and the hull pressure-washed to remove all marine growth from the boat’s bottom. The yacht (in-theory anyway!) should be completely cleared out by the client, prior to the survey; however, more often than not this just doesn’t happen and the surveyor finds him or herself heaving the contents of the yacht from one side to the other, or from one end to the other in order to examine the hull fully. If a sailing trial is to be conducted by the yacht surveyor, this is usually carried out before lifting the boat out of the water for the survey.
You will find lots more information about other aspects of the Marine Surveyor’s profession on our other pages and many interesting and unique pictures of Modern Yachts and Classic Boats, so please click on the page links at the top of this page and enjoy your visit to our Marine Surveying site.
Kathleen Kilbey has always been a keen sailor having owned a Buchanan 38 Timber Ocean-racer for 14 years and competed in most of the major RORC races including the Fastnet race in 1989. click here for pdf downloadable presentation. Sinbad’s Fastnet 1989
If you have any questions please email us at info@classicboatsurveys.com or telephone 44 (0) 845 680 1989 for a chat about Marine Surveying.
Come and see us again soon
Kathleen J. Kilbey I.Eng MRINA & Associates
Naval Architects, Marine Surveyors and Consultants
Based United Kingdom South Coast (Solent) and Midlands (Gloucester)
Telephone: +44 (0) 845 680 1989 Cellphone: +44 (0) 7799 686 979
Fax: +44 (0) 700 580 1821 skype: kathleenkilbey
email us; info@classicboatsurveys.com
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