The President’s Column Dear Member
Earlier this year I commented on the ongoing effects of Covid and spoke of my hopes that all will soon be over. Well, having spent my two-year term as President partially in lockdown, then with social distancing prohibiting face to face meetings, then suffering restricted travel, now my term is coming to an end, and we are almost back to where we were over two years ago! By default, I will probably be remembered as the President of Zoom (or is that the President of Doom) because having weathered Covid and Brexit we are now faced with a war in Europe, which whether we like it or not will affect all of us. I can only hope and pray that the effects on the rest of the world remain economic, although I appreciate that this is of little comfort for those caught up in the full reality and horror of conflict. The alternative is too awful to contemplate.
This has all meant that despite enjoying my time as President I have not had the privilege to visit any regional branches, attend any face-to-face meetings or training days. As a result, I suspect that those members who tend not to read The Report, our industry leading magazine, may not even be aware of my presence over the past two years. Well, it is what it is or at least it was what it was and this June I will be handing over the reins to our incoming President, Peter Broad. He is a long-time friend of mine and, as such, I know that we will have a good man at the top.
Peter’s appointment brings with it a certain balance. I have been involved in the large commercial shipping sector to a degree, but most of my attention, quite rightly, has been towards small craft. From June this year however, it will be the turn once again of the large commercial ship sector; but which ever area
of surveying holds your interest, we all have a very professional and experienced leader and I wish him all the best.
As the outgoing ‘small craft’ President, I am taking this, my last opportunity, to rattle the cage of yacht and small craft surveyors once again. As an Expert Witness instructed by both lawyers and insurers, I can pay testament to that old saying that “surveyors spend more time involved in legal action against other surveyors than they do surveying boats” - many a true word is spoken in jest!
Even as I write this column, I have several (too many) such cases on my desk. Most are the result of poor report writing where the surveyor has not specified clearly what he/she could inspect and what he/ she could not inspect. The next common issue is in regard to the surveyor’s advice given
The Report • June 2022 • Issue 100 | 5
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