T&T: Annapolis surveyor

[Jim Healy]

We used Hartoft Marine in the summer of 2004.  If you use Peter, you will
find him to be "intense, diligent and methodical;" he will identify every
possible nitty gritty marginal item there is or ever could be.  Like all
surveyors, he runs a canned checklist.  Rather than reporting, "no
significant findings," he will have a comment on virtually every item on his
list.  Some of his observations are - well - irrelevant personal opinion,
unrelated to usability, serviceability and/or seaworthiness.  His verbal
report to me at the end of the sea trial focused on important things and
their approximate repair costs, but when I received his written report, with
26 pages of findings, I really had difficulty separating the wheat from the
chaff.  More importantly, so did insurance companies to whom I subsequently
submitted that survey.  It's not so much that he was wrong, although he was
on several items; the bulk of his findings skewed the impression one got of
what in reality was a fundamentally sound but 16 yr old boat.  
 
His contract stated - at least  in 2004 - that if you were not satisfied
with the report, you did not have to pay for it.  If I were to use him
again, I would insist on the right to work with him to edit the content of
the final report to focus only on things we could mutually agree would be
ethically necessary to report to an insurance company.  It's fine for you to
understand all the cosmetic and non-seaworthiness stuff that you might care
about as a buyer/owner, but the insurance company does not need all that.
What you need to be satisfied with is what you'll want for submission to get
insurance, because the insurance company will ask you to fix all significant
findings, usually within 30 days.  For me, the sheer volume his report
included was an unpleasant and unnecessary surprise.  (Yes, I suppose I was
a virgin at the time....)
 
Also, at least a couple of years ago, Peter was not a member of SAMS.  Check
that out if it's important to your situation.  
 
Peg and Jim Healy aboard Sanctuary,
currently at Punta Gorda, FL