Miami
Surveys coordinated, attended, and turned into a plan
A marine survey is done by an accredited surveyor, and Vantage is not one. What Vantage does is the part around it: hiring the right surveyor, booking the haul and the sea trial, standing there while it happens, and turning forty findings into a costed list you can act on.
Vantage does not survey boats, and that is the point
A marine survey is a formal opinion from an accredited surveyor, and it is not something Vantage performs or represents itself as qualified to perform. Surveys are done by accredited marine surveyors, and the good ones in Miami are worth waiting for.
What buyers and owners actually struggle with sits either side of the survey. Which surveyor to hire for this kind of boat. Getting the boat hauled and sea trialed on the right day. Being there while it happens. And then, once the report lands, working out what forty findings actually mean, which of them matter, what they cost, and which are negotiating leverage rather than deal breakers.
That middle ground is exactly what Vantage does everywhere else on this site: source the right specialist, coordinate the job, attend it, and turn the result into a scoped and quoted plan with an independent read on every number.
What gets coordinated
The survey itself is done by an accredited surveyor, and this is everything around it that Vantage manages.
The right surveyor
Accredited surveyors sourced for the specific boat, because the surveyor who is excellent on a production sportfish is not automatically the right choice for a forty year old cruiser or a composite performance hull.
Haul-out and sea trial
The yard booked, the lift scheduled, and the boat run under her own power with a licensed captain aboard, so the trial is a real test rather than a lap of the basin.
Attendance on the day
Captain Trace at the boat while the survey happens, so the findings are seen in context rather than read off a PDF a week later with no idea what the surveyor was pointing at.
Engine survey coordination
A separate engine survey where it is warranted, because a hull surveyor is not an engine surveyor and the two reports answer different questions.
Findings turned into a plan
The report sorted into what must be fixed now, what can wait, and what is cosmetic, each with a real quote from a real vendor rather than a guess.
Insurance and compliance
Underwriters increasingly require a current survey and specific remediation. Those items get identified, quoted, and closed out so the policy is not the thing holding up the boat.
For a boat you are buying
The survey is not the end of the process. It is the beginning of the only negotiation where you have real information.
- A pre-survey walkthrough, so the obvious problems are found before you pay for a haul-out
- The surveyor and the yard booked and sequenced against your contract dates
- A licensed captain aboard for the sea trial, watching how she actually runs rather than how she looks tied up
- Findings priced with quotes from the vendors who would do the work, not with round numbers
- A clear split between safety and structural items, deferred maintenance, and cosmetics
- An honest answer on whether the boat is worth what is being asked once the list is costed
- A maintenance plan ready to start on day one if you go ahead
For a boat you already own
Owners get surveys for two reasons: an underwriter asked, or something has gone wrong. Both are easier when the boat has a real maintenance record behind her, and both are easier when someone independent reads the findings with you.
Insurance surveys tend to produce a list of required items on a deadline. Those get scoped, quoted, and closed out in the right order, with the underwriter's actual requirement in view rather than a yard's interpretation of it.
Damage surveys after an incident need the condition documented properly and quickly. Vantage documents the damage, coordinates the surveyor and the yard, and keeps the record a claim depends on. The claim itself is between you and your underwriter, and Vantage does not act as an adjuster.
Common questions
Not seeing yours? Contact us.
- Do you perform the survey?
- No. Surveys are performed by accredited marine surveyors. Vantage sources the right one, coordinates the haul-out and sea trial, attends, and turns the findings into a scoped and quoted plan.
- Can you run the sea trial?
- Yes. Captain Trace holds a current USCG captain's license, so the boat can be run properly for the trial rather than idled around the basin, which is where a lot of real information about a boat comes from.
- I have a survey report full of findings. What now?
- Send it. The useful step is sorting forty findings into what must be done now, what can wait, and what is cosmetic, then attaching real quotes to the first group. That is what turns a report into either a repair plan or a price negotiation.
- Do you get paid by the surveyor or the yard?
- No. Vantage takes no referral fee and no percentage of any vendor's invoice. That is the only reason the recommendation on which surveyor to hire is worth listening to.
More in Miami
Other Vantage pages covering the same stretch of coastline.
Buying a boat in Miami?
Send what she is, where she is, and your contract dates. You will get the surveyor, the haul, the sea trial, and a costed read of the findings.