Accredited Marine Surveyor — Independent
No dealership ties. No brokerage kickbacks. I climb into the bilge, pull the sole panels, meter the transom, sound the deck core, and write you a report you can actually use at the closing table.
Working the coast from the Down East reaches through Buzzards Bay, Long Island Sound, and the Jersey shore. Accredited through SAMS. Report format accepted by the major hull underwriters.
Full condition & value survey. Out-of-water, sea trial, moisture map, valuation.
Condition and valuation reports formatted for the major hull underwriters.
Post-grounding, allision, storm, fire, and lightning. Cause-and-origin when scope allows.
Fair-market valuations for estates, donations, financing, and disputes.
A bound PDF report, usually 40 to 80 pages, delivered within five business days of the haul-out. It reads the way a surveyor ought to write: findings first, opinions last, photographs throughout, and a clear recommendations list organized by priority — Category A (safety, continued use restricted), Category B (deficiencies to correct in the near term), and Category C (maintenance items and notes).
If the report says the stringers are wet, you'll see the Tramex readings, the percussion-test notes, the photographs of the suspect areas, and where on the hull I took them — keyed to a deck plan. No hedge words. No "appears to be serviceable" language that means nothing to an underwriter and less to a buyer.
Sample boilerplate you will not see in my reports: subject vessel presented in average condition for her age
. That sentence has cost buyers real money, and it's a coward's hedge.
Names withheld, hulls described. Representative of a typical quarter.
Single diesel. Buyer from inland. Found wet core in the foredeck port of the windlass and a soft spot at the starboard coaming. Deal renegotiated, vessel repaired at yard before closing.
Hit a charted ledge off the approach to a familiar harbor. Keel stub displaced 3/8" to port. Floors cracked at frames 5 and 6. Report supported a constructive total loss finding.
Renewal survey. Wiring in the engine box below current standard — non-tinned, undersized for the alternator. Owner rewired over the winter; re-inspection cleared.
No condition dispute. Three arm's-length comparables within 180 days. Valuation delivered in eight pages, accepted without challenge by the probate attorney.
"The job is to tell you what's wrong with the boat. If that costs me the thank-you card from the broker, so be it."