I just went through this 5 months ago...
Steve has a good point. It is important that your insurance company "buys off" on any survey done. If you know who you will go with, ask them. I was going with BoatUS myself, and they had names & addresses for surveyors in the area who's work they had accepted. I ended up with one of those folks, but not before I called & spoke with several others. There are two organizations that most surveyors seem to belong to, and a simple web search will get you a list. Make sure you get a sample survey from the folks you speak to-it will give you a flavor of how they do their work. Make sure you are there for the survey-you will learn a lot. I suggest that you NOT use a recommendation from a broker-too much possibility for conflict of interest. Look the boat over yourself, first, so that you can ask the surveyor to look at anything "out of the ordinary" that you found. If the boat is large, expensive or old, I suggest that you get someone to look at the hull, a separate rig survey (up the mast & all) and possibly an engine survey. Some folks will do hull & rig with engine separate, some will do rig & engine, hull separate. Ask & you will find what is customary for your area. Get several quotes for the haul-out. Find out if there are any later discounts for work done at the yard. So, depending on how involved you want to be, it can either be expensive & informative, very expensive & not very informative or cheep & fantastic. You Pick! Cheers!
