Buyer beware – all that glistens is not gold!
Back in the 1970s I used to do a small amount of yacht surveying while working in a boat yard. Insurance companies in those days didn’t require qualifications or third-party liability cover other than for the surveyor to be ‘qualified by experience’.
I received a call from one of the insurance companies I dealt with, asking for a survey within the next four weeks on a new motoryacht, before they’d continue with insuring it. This was slightly irregular as insurance companies were fighting for new clients in this relatively new sector of their business. Few questions were asked about a new vessel; they were all too ready to accept your business!
When I saw it I understood why. I thought I’d seen it all as far as poor construction goes, but this was to be a real eye opener!
We’d actually recently launched the motorboat at the owner’s request. It had arrived by road and was a new-build, freshly completed by a
