OF LIONS AND TIGERS

Steve D’antonio’s article “Surveying the Surveyors” (May) is right-on, but I would like to add two to bits of advice based on 77 years in the marine-insurance business and talking to surveyors, negotiating repair payments as a result of damage, and reading survey reports. Every really good surveyor I have known agrees with my statement: “By the time a surveyor has become really good and has seen failures of all types, he is approaching or has passed retirement age.” § When looking for a surveyor, look for an old toothless lion rather than a young tiger. Find the surveyor who knows and understands the construction of the boat you plan to buy. If you are contemplating buying a 1954 Nevin-built Sparkman & Stephens-designed wooden yawl that went through a major refit a few years earlier, the young tiger who was born and raised in the fiberglass age is not the surveyor you want. Look for the old lion who knows and understands wood construction. Then you might want a second survey by a young tiger who knows and understands all the systems and ABYC regulations.