Yacht Surveys

The purchase of a second hand yacht can be a daunting affair and Yachts of Dartmouth will
assist with every stage of it. Principally, our role as Brokers is to ensure that the vendor has
full title to the yacht concerned and can pass it to you free of encumbrance. Before that,
however, you will need to agree a purchase price and have her surveyed.

Pre-purchase surveys:

A survey may often be a requirement of an insurance company or finance house, but is always
a good idea anyway. We have a qualified International Institute of Marine Surveyors (IIMS)
member surveyor in-house who can advise you on all aspects of a yachts structure and her
suitability for the uses you have in mind. Naturally, we can not survey boats that we are involved
with selling ourselves, but would be delighted to help with a vessel you are purchasing elsewhere

Yachts of Dartmouth image A full pre-purchase survey entails a thorough check of hull structure,
osmosis, steering, mooring and anchoring facilities, machinery, navigational equipment if fitted,
mast, spars, rig etc. Money spent at this stage of a purchase is an extremely wise investment, because with a boat, once a verbal agreement has been made over a sale, this is legal and binding. When purchasing, it is important to offer for the boat 'subject to survey and/or sea trial', which leaves the path clear for a buyer to re-negotiate, should 'material defects' be found during the survey.

Additionally, we can also offer an oil analysis sampling facility, especially useful for large, powerful engines, or perhaps older engines, where a thorough laboratory analysis of the oil sample is a good barometer of its internal state. Turnaround time is usually within three days. Ask us for more details.

Sea trials can form another important part of a survey. A professional sea trial will complement a shore based survey, and give the perfect opportunity to test all the systems in their normal environment.

We would be pleased to discuss any aspect of these services with you, tailoring a professional package of guidance, consultancy and/or analysis to suit your own particular needs and budget. Naturally all our work is fully insured, and we are bound to work within the guidelines of the INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MARINE SURVEYORS.