Q. When did you decide to set up business in Majorca and to make the island your home and what would you miss most if you moved?
A. I set up a yacht delivery and maintenance company in Palma in 1991 after meeting a young Spanish chica. I knew Palma and the Baleares from my time as a yacht skipper and thought it the place perfect for the business I had in mind and also an idyllic place to live. The chica became my wife. Another important factor was, and still is, that Majorca is a fantastic motor biking island. I am a very keen biker, now onto my bike number 19. It was only a few years ago I bought a car and that was to be able to move sails! Mallorca has great biking roads, especially in the mountains and lots of enthusiasts. I use my bike for work on a daily basis as the roads and marinas are simply too congested for me to get about otherwise.
Moving would be a shock and thinking about it I would probably miss the relatively low “crime” rate here which we take for granted. It is also a safe place to live and I would certainly miss the weather.
Q. Which one survey, or type of survey, over the years has given you the most pleasure and why?
A. One of the most satisfying was an insurance survey of a cargo vessel which had “lost steering” just before Christmas and had to be towed to anchor in Palma Bay. Fairly quickly it became obvious that the vessels rudder blade had fallen off. The vessel was then towed to the mainland and the stock and remains of the rudder removed. During the inspection of the remains I was joined by the Greek owner of the vessel. He and the vessel’s crew were absolute gentlemen and were very patient and understanding. The ship was well run, in order, and had just been relaunched after important docking works including revalidation of her class certification. The cause of rudder blade failure was important as the insurance would not cover the costs of all failure scenarios – cover may have been applicable - depending on the survey results. For the owner this was a very expensive incident and the he could not easily have afforded the repair costs. The costs would have also have implications for the crew too.
Inspection of the remains of the rudder blade was like reading a well written book. The how, when and where were obvious – serious mistakes had been made during the recent docking. There was an entity responsible for the failure and insurance would cover the repair costs in the first instance. There was tangible proof which meant that cover applied and the ship could continue operating normally. When I explained the cause of failure to the insurance agent (my client) on the telephone that same day, there was a pause then he said, “Yes, well done for that, but just write the cause of failure down as “corrosion” – it’s simpler for all involved you see”. A quandary!
It took a few days of hard work on the telephone before I was able to get a direct contact to the claims handler of the insurance company – without the agent as mediator and it was agreed that I should submit the insurance report directly to them. The insurance agreed to cover the repair costs as per contract, and also my survey fees… the agent and I were not best of friends by then.
This assignment for me was very satisfying – dealing with a very interesting problem which had an obvious cause if you knew how and where to look, many challenges from all manner of directions, nice people involved who all kept calm (except the agent) and understood their place in the procedure. And finally justice was done.
Q. What has been the most challenging situation you have had to face whilst on survey?
A. Being kicked off a 40m tri-deck motor yacht by the owner. During full-lock steering sea-trials the red wine storage cupboard opened above the marble topped bar, smashing bottles over the deep pile snowy white full size saloon carpet.
“WHY DID YOU MAKE MY CAPTAIN DO THAT”!!!! GET OFF MY BOAT!!!
72 | The Report • March 2018 • Issue 83
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