The trials and tribulations


of developing a second career as a marine surveyor


IIMS member, Geoff Bowker AssocIIMS, reflects on his transition from a long career with the Royal Navy to marine surveyor over the past couple of years. He shares his passion and inspiration from being around wooden boats, despite their potential challenges. Having undertaken some appropriate theoretical and practical studying Geoff is candid about some of the issues he has faced, including handling the development of a web presence, the bane of many a surveyor’s life!


BY GEOFFREY BOWKER ASSOCIIMS


34 | The Report • June 2017 • Issue 80


Having had a life around boats of all shapes and sizes and my Royal Navy (RN) career coming to its natural end after 35 years, I was seeking a second career. I came quickly and enthusiastically to the conclusion that yacht and small craft surveying was a very desirable direction in which to go. Before leaving the RN, I studied for the IIMS Diploma in Yacht & Small Craft Surveying followed by the Diploma in Marine Surveying Practice. The support from the training provider and IIMS at every stage of the qualifications was excellent, so I was all set for a future as a marine surveyor.


I had a lifelong passion for woodworking and using some of the Armed Forces resettlement package, I attended a one week Traditional Boatbuilding taster course at the Boat Building Academy (BBA) at Lyme Regis. This ignited a real spark and I subsequently found myself on the BBA flagship 38 week Boat Building, Maintenance and Support course from which I graduated in summer 2015, with a City and Guilds 2463 Level 3 Diploma in Marine Construction, Systems Engineering and Maintenance, as well as the industry wide recognised BBA Certificate. The BBA course was an extraordinary experience and one I recommend most strongly for anyone with a passion for wooden boats and woodworking.


On conclusion of the boat building course I had still not ruled out moving further into yacht and small craft surveying; while wood was covered in the surveying training to date, it was an area I would have avoided due to my limited experience of wooden boats and the huge potential for problems and issues hidden within the wood itself. I was much more comfortable with glassfibre vessels.


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