Bunker A Hill Marine Surveyor

08/02/2026

Ok call me crazy….I have been working with enamel paints and marine varnishes for over 50 years. I am above average at but like any skill you must practice.

I was recently turned on to Pettit captains varnish and Pettit easypoxy in spray cans and the stuff is incredible.

Yes it has its limitations, but for small garage projects, cup holders, wood handle boat hooks and misc small bits often difficult to brush it is very effective and allows multiple build coats in a short time period.

I understand those reading this might think I am nuts…..rattlecan varnish ? All I can say is it is worth a try.

07/30/2026

07/30/2026

I am often asked how did I get into this business. It was not a difficult path. Being born and raised in a harbor town of Southern California with a Father in the marine business we were on the water a lot. I Sailed, water skied, marlin fished and bumped around the harbor constantly. Don't ask me to hit a baseball or catch a football, you did not learn those skills while holding onto a ski line or varnish brush.
But it was not just being on the water, it is the boats....Oh, the way they look, the way they sail, they way ride through the ocean or inland waters. I have attached few pictures of Boats my crazy father owned at one time or another. Maybe pictures are worth a thousand words. The one not here is the 16' Boston whaler he bought us. It was the first 16 Montauk sent to California. My job was to sit on trash can lid with the dirty close and laundry detergent in it while we water skied in Catalina. You have do your laundry some how.
Our job is not just a means to employment, it is not a hobby, it is pure passion. It runs through many in the family. We bring this to our job everyday. Maybe too much some days. But if a lifetime love of the water, boats and their care interest you, maybe give us a call for your next survey.

07/21/2026

Rarely a day goes by when we are not asked about our opinion of pod drives, hydraulic transom lifts, gyro stabilizers and trim tab systems.

Pods are as good as they are maintained. If a buyer buys a boat just because they need the joy stick to drive it….
They might need be seasoned enough to understand the least expensive maintenance is preventative.

Hydraulic lifts, it is all about galvanic protection.

Gyro stabilizers, often misused and installed in areas to difficult to service.

Calling out thru hull valves and fittings that are over 15% zinc, the valve shown here is 40% zinc. It is an anode at that point !

At each survey you get a hull potential test, a continuity test of the bonding system and your sea keeper is unlocked hand rolled on its axis, the guide rings inspected, raw water pump proven and cooling system pump proven.

Let’s not forget the Volvo active corrosion protection system (ACP). It should always operate independently of the bonding system. Checking this is so simple, yet rarely done, but we do.

Lately we have had a lot of requests for quick surveys “We are on a short leash here”. Three of those customers have called in the last few days indicating there are problems beyond what they were told…..

Seems like now the leash is tight. Buy right, not fast….don’t get bullied into the wrong deal.

All of the calls we got were for problems that could be easily detected at survey, easily fixed, deals could have been completed, repairs would have been relatively quick.

Experience is our stock in trade, cute boatyard videos are not our style.

05/28/2026

Sometimes certain jobs are just not the right ones to accept. I got a call from very kind young man looking for a survey of a cruising sailboat in San Diego. We went through many specifics of the assignment, scheduled the day, boatyard and we though we were good to go.

A few days later he called and said the broker had informed him of some problems the boat had previously. In short between Seattle and San Francisco the shaft coupling became detached from the output fl**ge on the transmission. They tucked into San Francisco, went to another boatyard and repairs were performed. They headed out to continue south into Mexico. Somewhere along the line this happened again.

I asked one question, "were you informed of this before you made your offer and signed a purchase agreement". No was the short answer.

When the somewhat inexperienced buyer tried to tell me the story I knew he was regurgitating a story told to him by the broker and that old game of telephone was in full play. So I suggested I talk directly to the broker, he agreed.

I called the broker, who I have known and worked with for over thirty years. This is no slouch when it comes to boating. They have cruised quite a bit themselfs, owned many boats and know more about boating than many in their profession. What they gave me was very long winded story, including personal attacks on the yard etc. etc. They repeated said this is "unbelievable". I agreed with a bit of a different meaning.

I was then told the current owner wanted to haul the boat before the survey install a new shaft seal, shaft coupling and paint the bottom before the survey. I asked about timing. I was assured that the boat currently lying in San Diego could be moved to Mission Bay, hauled out on a Monday, have all this work completed and be back in her slip on Wednesday. As you can Imagine, I asked them do you believe this is a realistic time frame ( I sure didn't). Their answer was they told me it was not problem. I said that is not what I asked. I was repeatedly assured it was going to happen. I said I would be at the boat at 7:30 on Wed in San Diego and if the survey canceled because of yard delays I expected to compensated.

After completing this call, a short time later I got a text message that they were going to replace the cutlass bearing. and this would cause a three day delay. Really I thought, 1.5 days for all the other work but three days for a cutlass bearing, another line of crap.

After a few more hand wringing phone calls I very reluctantly agreed to start the survey in Mission Bay, ride it three hours to its slip in San Diego and finish the survey there. Only to shortly after this agreement, I got another text......The yard needs to align the engine, which I had brought up multiple times, so could I work around that and upon completion we would depart for our three hour tour and complete the survey.

After holding back on the many immediate responses that came to mind. I sent this text. "This assignment does not seem to be a fit right now" I was then threatened that they would have the client call me, as if that was a bad thing. I copied and pasted the first text sent it again and that was that.

Moral: A survey should be the priority on survey day, not delivering the vessel three hours back to its berth, not while repairs are being done or any other unnecessary distractions. Keep the main thing the main thing.

05/22/2026

Preparing a boat for survey:

This is an endless topic. Sellers sell boats for endless reasons, often times the true reason is not disclosed. They may have acquired a second boat, possibly an illness is forcing this, maybe divorce or financial difficulties. Whatever the reason, if you want to sell…get serious about this.

The true reason it is often masked so a buyer does not try to leverage the true reason against the seller. This approach by a buyer often backfires anyways, by upsetting the seller.

However if you’re thinking of selling, especially those of you getting out of boating, do not stop maintaining your vessel.

As surveyors we get into a pre purchase inspection and start finding our way to many unnecessary deficiencies or regulatory violations. In today’s marine insurance environment the best path forward is the path with the least resistance.

So if I could encourage sellers to go down to their boats and do some of the following.

Board current flares.
Service fire suppression system.
Assure navigation lights are operational
Cycle all thru hull valves
Verify all bilge pumps are operational
Cleanliness is like godliness, this includes bilges.
Replaced cracked hoses.
Make sure all your paper work is current and in order.
Fix those little things that have been left unrepaired.
Board a waste management plan, trash placard and oil discharge placard.
Get your excess personal gear off the boat.

Help yourself, sell your boat. I often shake my head when we find so many unnecessary deficiencies. In many cases it would cost less than half the cost of two more months of slip rent to fix these items and maybe most importantly it helps greatly when the buyer feels you had some pride this vessel.

Never will a dirty car with a back seat full your crap and fast food wrappers sell as well as the same car cleaned inside and out. The same applies to your boat.

Yes we will do a presale survey, but we do charge for that, and no your asking price is probably not such a great deal in spite of all your deferred maintenance.

05/22/2026

I am not a fan of the whats wrong with this...type pictures. But they can be learning moments. Same basic problem, two different applications. Your thoughts !

05/09/2026

Marine Insurance……That is what’s on my mind. As a long time Marine surveyor and marine professional we understand that the difficulties of obtaining marine insurance has increased greatly over the last five years. Many underwriters have left this sector and many are looking at their risks with a much more critical eye.

This is primarily affecting but not limited to older vessels, say 25 plus year old boats. Now I am of the mind set an older fiberglass boat has a somewhat endless lifespan, provided it is properly maintained. This can only be accomplished with proper and knowledgeable maintenance. The vessels use, location and environment the vessel lives in all play a part here.

It is also because underwriters often do not understand what they are reading when they review a marine survey. Additional many surveyors either are not qualified enough to recognize problems or are overlooking some things to not ruffle to many feathers.

If a vessel is being inspected for the purpose of insurance renewal, this inspection can be done in a manor less focused on non essential systems. This would include but not limited to ice maker, trash compactor an air conditioning system etc. that are not functional. More focus directed to items that would put the vessel or it passengers at risk. Of course not governmental compliance is also a priority.

Now if a vessel is being inspected for pre-purchase evaluation the non-essential items should be noted. There can be thousands of dollars of equipment that need repair or replacement that an unsuspecting buyer wants and unless otherwise told may have no idea does not work. I have always felt it is our job to report on that, for their own good and our own well being.

But here is where my heartburn comes in: this week I received a call from a yacht broker who was in a bit of a pickle. He had sold a vessel we surveyed. The deal closed without insurance coverage (bad move) and reportedly due to a single survey recommendation was denied coverage as a fire hazard. This was not a fire hazard, but since the underwriter was apparently not interested in calling our office, to get a better understanding of the situation, refusal to bind coverage until corrected due to fire hazard was there safest out. Now this issue could result in electric shock drowning if the vessel were to be moved into fresh water, this is not inconsequential. But they had no idea of what the recommendation indicated. Yes it should be fixed before moving to fresh or brackish water, but since the vessel was in coastal Southern California that is not an imminent threat, a grace period to correct would be a reasonable solution.

Jack Nicholson once said in one of his movies (as good as it gets) by an adoring female fan of his books….”how do youget into the hearts and mind of young women so well” his response was basically I think of a man and remove all logic and reason.
His words not mine ! But this is how it can seem when dealing with marine insurance at any given time. On another recent experience I noted…. (NOTED) small non structural osmosis blisters on an underbody of a powerboat, no recommendation to repair. This became a critical path item for the underwriter, yet the fire suppression system which had been un inspected for years, recommend as an immediate action item was dismissed as deferred maintenance. EXCUSE ME…..this is a fire life safety system and less critical than some very small blisters ?

We are all in a difficult place, underwriters, marine insurance companies, boat owners, yacht sales and Marine surveyors.
There is more to all this and I will try and go into it deeper in upcoming posts. Proper yacht maintenance will solve many of these problems but is not the only issue at hand.

This is my opinion based on my experience of 30 plus years as a marine surveyor of pleasure craft.