Moisture: If it is raining, or there is very high humidity, a moisture meter is not going to be usable on the deck and topsides. The phonolic hammer is used to listen and feel for any voids, but no matter how thorough a surveyor is, they cannot possibly tap every millimetre of the vessel. A hidden dime sized moisture spot on day of purchase can turn into a metre square area if the root leak isn’t found and sealed. On the other hand, when we’ve done surveys in the rain, it has been easier to look for those leaks! On one 30 year old classic boat we surveyed, it was storming outside, and the boat had at least a half dozen leaks dripping into various compartments. These were noted, and we warned them that we could not check for moisture in the rain, and considering the number of leaks, to expect intrusion in a variety of places. They bought the boat and after purchase, they found moisture under the teak foredeck and a few other places.
Bimini/Dodger: If it is not raining hard on survey day, there is no way for the surveyor to know if the bimini/dodger is still waterproof. We have seen Bimini/Dodger canvas that visually looked fine with no tears, etc, yet, when on the voyage home, it started to pour down rain, the waterproofing was shot.
Hidden Rigging: The parts of the rigging covered under spreader boots, or huge layers of tape, cannot be inspected, and this should be noted in the survey. We recommend in our survey that the buyer should cut away all of that and inspect those sections. Chain plates sections that are hidden. Where the chain plates pass through the deck, or if the base of the plate is hidden behind cabinetry (becoming very common) or fibre glassed into the boat. We can inspect the visible portions and look for leaks, and get a good sense of overall condition. But if they are old, or show “tells” we’ll recommend pulling all the chain plates for inspection and replace as needed. Yet, even younger chain plates, that are visually fine where one can see them, can fail from issues in the hidden areas. We once had the stem fitting fail on our 38’ from an internal latent defect in the original casting that would only have shown under an X-ray exam…and the boat was already eight years old! No way would that have been found in any small boat survey.
Electronic Communications: The SSB powered up fine and received, weakly, the WWV signal. This tells the surveyor that the SSB electronics unit itself is working. But the SSB is a system needing both a proper ground plane and antenna structure to fully operate. When we were voyaging this vessel a few weeks after the survey, we tried to transmit to a cruiser’s net. It was found that corrosion in the ground plane and antenna connections were preventing proper Transmit (Tx). Most of the time, many of the connections for these ground and antenna planes are so buried in the vessel, it is impossible for the surveyor to put eyes on all of them.
VHF Radio: Most Surveyors only power up, and maybe try a Weather (WX) channel to hear something. We always do a radio check AND note how far away the test station was. It is not uncommon for us to survey a vessel and where a radio check to the marina office came in loud and clear, but a check to a station 15nm away, that should have worked, got nothing. In one case, a radio test to another station 5nm came in, but barely audible. This radio had serious antenna issues and would not help the owners if offshore more than 5nm.
Cell Boosters: A surveyor can only check if the system powers up and the proper lights are shown. Cell boosters only become active in a specific range from cell towers. Too close, and the booster drops offline since the ambient cell signal is very strong. Too far away from cell towers and there is no signal to boost. Unless the vessel is in a band of around 8 to 15 miles from the nearest cell tower, this system cannot be tested “end-to-end”.
AIS proper operation: A surveyor can check power up, and can look to see if there are local returns showing. However, if the vessel is sitting in a remote location with no other traffic around, or if it is in a marina blocked by tall buildings, one may not see anything even though the system is working. It is also difficult to verify that the onboard AIS that is supposed to Transmit, is in fact transmitting, and doing so to the range it is supposed to. On a 50’ vessel we surveyed the new AIS showed returns, but none further than 2nm. A check of the Web Site
70 | ISSUE 107 | MAR 2024 | THE REPORT
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