Looking for a Tough Surveyor in PNW Washington State

Hello, I'm new to the forum and am currently looking at switching out from sailing to a President 37. The boat is in Everett Washington and I'm looking for recommendations for a good tough surveyor with trawler expertise and also marine mechanic. The boat's broker is also in Everett so I'm guessing there will be an ongoing business relationship with any brokers in that immediate area so I want to steer clear of that issue if possible.

Thanks
Frank

Greetings,
Welcome aboard.

Frank P said:

Hello, I'm new to the forum and am currently looking at switching out from sailing to a President 37. The boat is in Everett Washington and I'm looking for recommendations for a good tough surveyor with trawler expertise and also marine mechanic. The boat's broker is also in Everett so I'm guessing there will be an ongoing business relationship with any brokers in that immediate area so I want to steer clear of that issue if possible.

Thanks
Frank

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I used Steve Berg (360-301-6879) to do my survey last spring in Everett and Hatten Marine (206-283-5501) to do the engine survey. I was pleased with both of them.

You mentioned you wanted a "tough" surveyor. I am not sure I understand what you are looking for. There are several reasons for having a survey done. You want to get a good overall picture of the boats conditions and that of its systems. This will help you as you decide what you want to pay for the boat. It is also used to give a value for the boat that a lender will use. Likewise they are used by insurers to decide is they want to insure the boat and for how much.

Given all that, I tend to want a survey that is more thorough than tough.

Welcome aboard. Glad you finally decided to come over to the trawler side and do your part for global warming. We also go by the nick name of "Stink Pots" which we are proud.


Can't help you with a surveyor, but if you PM "Pau Hana" he may give you a few.

Thanks for the info I will look them up. Tough and thorough is what I was thinking of as one in the same. I've paid for a few surveys in my time and so far can't say I've been impressed at all. They have either missed things that were in place or didn't catch some pretty obvious things that weren't. I think a lot of times they don't want to get a rep for being overly thorough and killing sales because the broker will stop sending referrals their way.

By tough you mean thorough and meticulous. Matt Harris of Bellingham.

Mike McGlenn out of Bellingham is worth talking to.

McGlenn is retired..

Mike Mcglenn is retired and he did an insurance survey on my boat as one of his last. He would fit your bill as a tough surveyor without a doubt. So tough that he was hired as a post - production QA inspector for a boat builder prominently represented at this site which I won't name. I think the job description was to kick ass and take names due to quality lapses and heavy warranty costs. Ironically, Mike isn't into boats much.......horses and Harleys ring his chimes.

We also used Steve Berg. He is thorough and knows trawlers.

78puget-trawler said:

By tough you mean thorough and meticulous. Matt Harris of Bellingham.

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I have not used Matt but he was the first person I hoped to use on the purchase of my boat. He was unavailable for me but I have heard good things about him. I was very happy with Steve Berg however.

Definitely Steve Berg. We used him for three recent surveys. He really saved us a lot of grief by carefully pointing out reasons to reject two sure thing deals. And when the right boat came along he assured us this was the right boat.

I would recommend Berg also. He did a fantastic job a few years ago for us

S41 said:

I would recommend Berg also. He did a fantastic job a few years ago for us

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Besides, he has a nice boat card as well.