Just a heads up for readers. I will be in Athens and the surrounding area from the 28th of July 2021. If you have your eye on a Yacht in this location drop me a quick request at steventruss1@aol.com

I am a long established independent English Marine Surveyor based in Greece, specializing in the field of yacht surveying and consultation. I have been Surveying boats since 1995. By 2021 I have completed over 3700 surveys, which includes 100's of types of sail and power boats. I carry professional indemnity insurance cover. We have been Members of the International Institute of Marine Surveying for over 20 years. The IIMS is recognised as the leading worldwide professional body for marine surveyors and has a membership of around 1,000 professionals in over 100 countries. 

With many years experience representing the interests of both Purchaser and Vendor, and the problems which may arise in the process of purchasing a Yacht are fully understood. I am well placed to bring this process to a successful conclusion.

Latest assignments Yacht Surveys Greece

Just a quickie for readers. We will be in Leros in the Aegean Islands from the 10/6/2021 to 17/6/2021 Surveying a number of Cruisers. 

Any one looking at Yachts in this area please message me to see if I can help you. 

Leros Island

Fountaine Pajot 48 Catamaran Survey - Sea Trial and Review

Todays assignment was in Lefkada and a Pre- Purchase Survey and Sea trial on this Fountaine Pajot 48 Catamaran

Its worth watching the video below to see how they build their hulls. We used the same technology in New Zealand when we were building light weight racers. 

 

Some video of the sea trials. An hours fast sail from Preveza to Lefkada for the 'Haul Out' and then an hour back. 

Sea trials were conducted to measure the vessel's performance and general seaworthiness. Testing of the vessel's speed, manoeuvrability, equipment and safety features are also conducted. 

Beneteau 57 2004 for Survey

Todays assignment in Preveza was an Insurance Survey on this 2004 model Beneteau 57. She was fitted with every conceivable extra from air con to washing machine and maintained to a high standard.

With large fuel and water tank capacities she is ready to go long distance cruising anywhere in the world or around the Mediterranean.

The hull is solid GRP with balsa rib bands an a structural hull liner bonded and laminated to the hull.
Deck is balsa sandwich for rigidity, weight saving and thermal sound insulation.

Stripped out ready for Survey. 

Yanmar 4LHA  4 cylinder 4 stroke engine of 160 h.p. fitted with 2 alternators 1 x 24 volt 80 amp 1 X 12 volt 80 amp. 

 Folding Max Prop through a 40 mm stainless steel shaft.

 

List of Yacht Surveyors working in Athens, Lefkada, Preveza, Leros Greece

We will be in Preveza from then 20th May 2021 for 10 days carrying out a number of inspections and still have a few slots available. Please contact me at your earliest to discuss your requirements. #

Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 409 Pre - Purchase Marine Survey in Lefkada

Today I was at Lefkada Marina carrying out an 'In Water Survey'. Boat movement is down to a minimum at the moment in the Ionian because of the Pandemic. Saying this all the boatyards in Preveza and Lefkada are open and you can work with a permit. No seatrials are allowed at present.

Surprisingly I have been getting so many enquires for Surveys even during these strange times we are living in. Clients want lots of photographs and quick turn around 'Walk Through Surveys' and Video chats.

Notice the feature of a hard chine running from about amidships aft. Having gone many years without seeing a single crease in the hull of a new composite boat. I have noted Beneteau are also in on the act! 

Hull construction on this newish Jeanneau is no different from its elder siblings. Solid hand-laid fiberglass. The cored decks are resin-injected—a process that involves two moulds and produces two finished sides, inside and out. It’s more capital-intensive than hand layup, but it saves dozens of labour hours. 

The cast-iron keel comes in a 6-foot-10-inch standard version or a 5-foot-1-inch shoal version.

Until recently, all Jeanneaus were built in France, other models apparently are produced at the company’s production facility in Marion, South Carolina!

With many years experience representing the interests of both Purchaser and Vendor, and the problems which may arise in the process of purchasing a vessel are fully understood.

If you have your eye on a Yacht In Lefkada, Preveza, Athens, Leros or Samos drop me a message. I can help you. I travel to the Ionian every four to five weeks.

IS NOW A GOOD TIME TO BUY A YACHT IN GREECE?

The world has never been more uncertain, 2020 has been a washing machine of emotions and a mental earthquake that’s cracked our sense of safety, security, and freedom wide open. 

It’s all caused a bit of a stir.  Some people are experiencing an awakening and an invigorated motivation to make their dream life happen.  Others were well underway towards their goal and are now questioning if they should proceed forward.

At this point, if you’re not already living your dream lifestyle, you’re probably asking yourself “why not?”.  And if you aren’t, you should be because it seems good news is maybe on the way with Vaccine hopes, a Brexit deal and a new President in the US. 

Yes, travel and International travel are still heavily restricted, but over the next few months things should ease and you can start searching for your dream Yacht and embarking on your dream adventure of Cruising the Greek Islands and beyond.

If your thinking about buying a boat in Greece and you need help please do not hesitate to contact me. Check out my website for the different types of Surveys and Inspections I offer.

https://www.yachtsurveysgreece.com/

Otherwise just simply drop me a message at steventruss1@aol.com with your basic requirements and boat details and I will get back to you within a few hours with a cost and a timescale. 

Check out Leros Marina for Yachts Sales!

List of Yacht & Marine Surveyors working in Greece

We provide a range of Marine Surveys including Pre-Purchase Surveys, Hull Surveys, Systems Surveys, Sea Trials, Insurance Surveys, Damage Surveys, Valuation Reports and Finance Surveys.With many years of experience representing interests of both Purchaser and Vendor, we are fully aware of the problems which may arise in the process of purchasing a vessel.

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Greece Office: +30 6945 045 891

Email: info@yachtsurveysgreece.com

Avoid that sinking feeling and Carry out a Survey

We are heading back to Leros and Lakki Marina this weekend to Survey and Value this lovely old Wooden Gulet. You can still buy these older wooden Gulets for about £15,000. 

This one looks a a beauty, but would you be sailing away with a bargain or a never-ending drain on your bank balance?

Catch up with next weeks BLOG, images and information on this Inspection.

Surveying Wooden Boats

I have owned lots of wooden boats over the years, I can count atleast 20!! 

Gulets are very appealing to newbies to boating because for one reason they look like a real boat should, and also because of all the room that's available. The biggest reason buyers like them is the cost. You can quite easily find a six berth for under 10K.  

Lets start with the point that there are many Surveyors who are no longer in the business after performing pre purchase surveys on wooden boats. I almost gave them up myself years ago because surveying wood boats is fraught with risks.

Lets begin: Concealed areas within a hull are always a problem but, most wooden boats are constructed in such a way that not enough access is available to make a fair assessment. I always pull up all the floors and remove enough paneling that I can get a fairly good glimpse of the bottom and the lower sides. Carrying an electric screw gun is a must in order to do this quickly and effectively.

My biggest job is removing all the internal fittings. That means I have to move a lot of mattresses, bedding, carpets and empty out lockers, etc. Once the interior is opened up as best possible, Im ready to begin.

Three important tools are a slim light crow bar, the sort used for pulling nails. A light hammer and a standard blade screwdriver. I check the joints between planks and frames visually, looking for gaps or any sign that the plank is not tight against the frame. I then use the screw driver to test the wood for softness on both plank and frame near the mating surface. You should be very careful with your screwdriver or spike as they can be destructive! Many a Surveyor has got into serious trouble after the boat owner found thousands of spike holes in the bottom of his boat! 

I occasionally try to slip the crow bar under a frame and pry gently. If the frame moves, there is a fastener problem. I do this at every opportunity along the hog (internal keel) or chine area. Often the frame ends are split or soft, repairs are usually necessary.

Weepage is a process of very slow leakage, very often involving the capillary effect in addition to just water pressure from outside the hull. Weepage is not referred to as leakage because the rate is so slow that the water evaporates nearly as fast as it enters the interior. It can occur with no sign of wetness, but inevitably leaves some trace of its existence such as stains.

Certainly its not feasible to go through the entire hull testing all frames and planks in this manner, and fortunately it is not necessary except for the keel area where this needs to be done wherever possible. Further up from the keel, I can limit the physical testing by looking for signs of weepage. Anytime there is evidence of water migrating through seams, corrosion of fasteners has to be suspected. Weepage shows up in various ways, often depending on whether the wood is painted or bare, its age and so on.

Use the screwdriver for testing the hardness of the inner planking, particularly in the deep bilge or any place that is wet or looks suspect. The screwdriver blade is just the right tool, and if it goes into the wood, you know for sure that its deteriorated. Poking around like this is quick and easy so that most vulnerable areas can be quickly covered.

The two most common areas for sprung planks to occur is the garboard and the forefoot area. The forefoot planking is difficult to check because this is the point where the planks narrow into the stem. But, again, signs of weepage or leaking is usually present when fasteners are wasted and planks are loose. Use the screwdriver and insert the blade into the intersect of plank and stem and push hard. This should be done on both sides in every area that can be reached. Again, this does not take long if the area is accessible and will readily show up rot and looseness. Get inside the chain locker if possible or strip out the forward berth. I always want to get a good look at the inner stem and hog and where they are scarffed together. If the stem or hogs rotten then the front of the boat may have to be opened up! (major job!).

The intersect of bottom and side planking to the transom is yet another area where leakage and deterioration are prevalent. This area is also often difficult or impossible to reach, being obscured by fuel tanks and exhaust pipes and whatnot. On larger cruisers you can strip the aft berth out and get in, but on Yachts you may only be able to see the inner corners by using a mirror or camera, unless your very small and you can climb in through the transom hatch and around the rudder tube. If reachable, probe the wishbone transom frame from both above and below. Probe from the intersect of bottom planks and frames, and transom plank and frame. If the wood is at all soft, the problem is serious and needs further opening up and investigation. Examine the intersect all the way up to deck level. Is there water leaking in from above? If so, what is it doing to the wood and fasteners? Check from the exterior: are there open seams and signs of rot on the corners? If you see it above the waterline, what's going on below? Remember that open seams are allowing rain water in, and fresh water can be disastrous.

Keel bolts are always difficult to inspect or comment on. Check these major structural members for signs of working. Look for unevenness of scarf joints or any other signs of movement or working. Probe the keelson with the screwdriver for evidence of softness. Check the intersects of transverse frames for signs of rubbing or chaffing that indicates movement. Check visible bolts and bolt heads for corrosion. Also check for discoloration around the bolt heads. If the wood appears white and soft, this is an indication of weepage. Be careful about diagnosing this as "electrolysis." Its probably not. I always suggest the removal of at least two sample structural keel bolts for examination of the fastenings and adjacent timber material. This task is obviously difficult and sometimes impracticable and should be approached when convenient.

If there is water getting at the bolts, serious corrosion must be suspected. The only conclusion is to draw the bolts and inspect them. Don't rely on just tapping these bolts to see if they're loose. They may be tight now, but may go loose when the hull is working. Bear in mind the forces that operate on a hull while underway. Be wary of oily bilges and wood that can obscure this evidence. Poke around in the wood surrounding the bolt head. If its soft, you can be sure that there is weepage and the bolt is subject to corrosion.

Inaccessible Areas: These are the areas that almost invariably cause the surveyor his greatest problems for he can't get at them to check. Frequently, these are the areas where structural deterioration takes place because neither interior inspection or maintenance is possible.

·        Outboard and under fuel tanks

·        Behind large exhaust pipes and mufflers

·        Under refrigeration and freezers

·        Under shower pans

·        Under lined lockers

·        Behind hulls that have full hull side ceilings

There's one thing you'll notice about most of the above listed areas and that is the potential for condensation and lack of air flow in these obscured areas which is highly conducive to causing deterioration of wood and metals. These obscured areas should be viewed with extreme caution. The only acceptable conclusion is guilty until proven innocent. To prove soundness, fasteners or planks must be pulled.

Ventilation has a two-fold importance in wooden boats: removal of air saturated with moisture vapour, and introduction of unsaturated (dry) air to permit drying of moist woodwork. It is not easy to ensure that dry air circulates over all the woodwork in a boat. Whilst air may be circulated into a particular compartment it may not circulate through out the whole area unless points of entry and departure are correctly sited. Small areas are often partially or completely enclosed so that air circulation is impeded. These are the so called “dead-air” spaces in which pockets of stagnant moist air are trapped. Often by drilling a few well sited auger holes sufficient ventilation can be provided in what might otherwise be a small dead -air space.

Failed or improperly designed fuel and water tank foundations are a common cause of catastrophic hull failure. Because of the extreme weight of tanks, if supports fail, or were never properly designed in the first place, the planking or individual frames could end bearing a major part of the tank load. When this happens, hull failure usually results.

Be they cylindrical or square, tanks on saddles or on decks not fully supported by hull girders must be checked and the entire load bearing structure examined and evaluated. This is usually not as difficult as it might sound, for anyone with a good knowledge of proper construction can quickly size it up if the structure is accessible. If there is any doubt at all, particularly on aging structures, then other means of evaluation must be found.

If the surveyor has done a good job with the interior, then his work on the bottom is going to be the easiest part of the job. By this time, he already knows if there are loose planks, bad frames, deterioration, weepage or leakage and where all these things are located. Long before it comes out of the water, he has a pretty good idea of whether this is a sound hull, and in many cases he'll already know that it isn't, so there's no point in hauling.

Nailing hulls is the common method on Gulets. Nails cannot be pulled without causing much damage to the plank, if they can be gotten out at all. Inspecting the heads only tells one the condition of the head, not the rest of the nail. And tearing planks off means that they have to be renewed and the cost far too high. Nondestructive methods such as X-ray are both costly, difficult and not necessarily reliable.

Screw Fastened Vessels: Utilizing all the techniques outlined above, along with removal and inspection of fasteners, can provide a reasonable degree of certainty as to a hull's soundness. Moreover, screw fasteners can be replaced if they have good holding ground, meaning that planks and frames are not split or deteriorated.

To evaluate a screw-fastened bottom, first isolate the likely problem areas, including all of the garboards, under fuel tanks, and so on. One should not resort to the practice of laying out a pattern of evenly spaced points and pulling fasteners in this method as it is strictly hit or miss.

First examine for:

·        Cupped or warped planks

·        Open seams and weepage from interior after bottom is dry

·        Planks with split ends or splits anywhere

·        Loose seams

·        Sound planks with heavy hammer for sound of looseness.

·        Discoloration around screw heads

·        Special attention to butt ends

·        Under tanks and engines - stress from heavy loads

·        Damp environments like under water tanks,etc.

All of the above areas should be marked and targeted first, for it is here where the problems are likely to be. Then, if all these suspect areas prove out okay, you may not even need to pull fasteners in the non-suspect areas and this will reduce the work load greatly. The objective here is to determine whether the hull has a general condition of wasted fasteners or whether it is isolated due to the initiating factors discussed above.

Remember you need permission from the owner to pull fastenings. Tight fasteners should be hard or impossible to move. If it won't turn, don't bother trying to force it because its okay. Fasteners that just spin without backing out are bad and one needn't waste his time trying to get them out.

I will get back onto this subject of surveying wooden boats in the future, there are so many more areas left to discuss. Decks being one of them. Ive been chasing a leak on the decks on my boat for about 6 months and im still yet to find it! But hey, that's another story.

My services: For a wooden boat survey, the vessel should be blocked off ashore as it is not possible to carry out a useful assessment of the underwater hull during a one hour lift and hold in a travel hoist. The survey will often require some dismantling in order to access hidden areas. Here, the focus is on any decay or deterioration from rot, marine borers or electrolytic action, and on the condition of the fastenings. It is important that I carry out as thorough an examination as possible by getting good access to the hull and frames. The costs of repairs can easily be beyond the market value of the boat so it is vital for you to get the best possible idea of what you are buying from the outset.

Thinking of buying a Gulet and need help? info@yachtsurveysgreece.com

Beneteau 53 Yacht Survey and Sea Trial

Im heading off to the Greek Island of Leros in my own boat to Survey this Beneteau 53 Yacht. A rare model having five cabins and the pedestal steering. Leros Marina offers up to 220 berths with mooring lines, water supply and electricity and free high speed internet access for every berth!

Tonnage Survey

The tonnage measurement survey is a fundamental part of the yacht registration process under Part I of the British Register of Ships or any other credible register of title.

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The tonnage measurement survey results in the generation of a unique ‘Certificate of Tonnage and Measurement’ or ‘Tonnage Measurement Certificate’ for the yacht being registered.

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The certificate is submitted to the owner’s registry of choice to provide the registry with independent professional verification of the existence of the vessel and confirmation of its physical and technical characteristics.

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British Merchant Shipping Laws require all yachts registered under Part I of the British Register of Ships to have been surveyed by a recognised surveying authority or classification society prior to being registered.

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The tonnage survey report provides the registry with the tonnage, dimensions and engine specifications that will appear in the register and on the yacht’s Certificate of British Registry.

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The tonnage and dimensions of the yacht will determine the application of legislation such as safety and manning requirements, in addition to providing the basis for the calculation of fees or taxes affecting the vessel, such as mooring fees and harbour dues.

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A tonnage survey is necessary even for a yacht which may be one of a class or from a production line, (where measurements may have already been taken for a nearly identical vessel).

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This is because principal statistics can differ between production yachts and certain unique information will apply to a vessel, such as the Hull Identification Number (HIN), in addition to the engine identification numbers and specifications.

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Above all, it should be remembered that the survey is required on a production yacht to evidence the vessel’s existence. 

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Following the completion of the tonnage survey by us the survey report is sent to the respective survey authority who in turn issue the ‘Certificate of Tonnage and Measurement’ or ‘Tonnage Measurement Certificate’ to the owner’s registry of choice.

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​Tonnage Survey Pricing

At Yachtsurveysgreece.com our pricing is clear, transparent and fully inclusive.

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Our fixed fee includes:

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• Tonnage Measurement Survey onboard vessel
• Surveyor travel, subsistence and disbursements
• Calculations and Issue of Tonnage Survey Report
• Issue of Tonnage Certificate by survey or class society
• Survey or class society fee

Our fee is based on vessel location, the complexity of the survey and how soon the survey is required.

Contact: Yachtsurveysgreece.com