Frequently Asked Questions

A&L MARINE SURVEYORS, LLC has been surveying boats since 1970. We have built over 100 boats and we have been registered with the U.S. Coast Guard as a builder since 1976 under the AMS HIN in all venues, including wood, steel, steel, fiberglass, and composites.

Captain Leiner, founder and senior advisor of A&L MARINE SURVEYORS, LLC, didn’t just get into the business to make a few quick dollars. He grew up in the marine industry. His family roots include running, building, repairing and inspecting boats.

We know what we are looking at. We are here to protect you as an owner. We are your eyes and ears. Many brokers will recommend us to you, but it’s important to note that we do not work for them or take ‘kickbacks’ – we will still tell you if it it’s a “bad boat”!

We are the cheapest insurance you can get. Many times, what we find will lead to a reduction in price that is much lower than our fees. So to answer the question – we are not the cheapest surveyor, but we are the most comprehensive, and our prices are very competitive. In the long run, the couple hundred dollars that you think you are saving by going with a cheaper service, you end up losing.

WELL, it just may save your life or your grandchild’s life. A&L MARINE SURVEYORS, LLC. does a lot of litigation and has looked at burned, scarred, and drowned victims due to unnecessary accidents that could have been prevented by a proper insurance survey.

We are the impartial eyes that see what you may have not – what may actually kill you. There is very little difference between an insurance survey or a pre-purchase survey, except sea trial, out of water (unless the insurance company wants, out of water, engine survey and sea-trial, and possibly a full evaluation and this does happen, insurance companies have become stricter in the last few years), engine survey. In addition unless you have an agreed value policy your boat is depreciating.

CONTRARY TO WHAT MANY PEOPLE THINK, BOATS DEPRECIATE. You may think your boat is worth one thing but insurance companies will only pay what the boat is worth and the condition it is in.

Yes we travel. We have traveled all over the world inspecting boats and ships. But remember, we work for you, and travel is an additional cost.

For the most part, we stopped using moisture meter and phenolic hammers as a staple in 1992. We sometimes use them in an area that we think needs to be double-checked, but rarely are they used.

Thermal imaging is more accurate. If there is bottom paint on a boat, you may read false positive with a moisture meter. With a phenolic hammer, if there is a large area of moisture in a hull, there will be no change in resonance and you cannot map it, or even close areas space to space and the more you test with a phenolic hammer the sound may never change, or you hit a stringer which is solid and you believe the is a problem. Years before thermal imaging that was all that was there, except drilling holes in a bottom of a boat.

We do all fiberglass and composite boats with the FLIR INFRARED Thermal Imager, which is very expensive equipment. We have even used it on steel and aluminum boats and it is a great help after NDT testing with an audio-gauge. Very few marine surveyors have the proper tools but you pay for what you get. And trust us when we say this: It’s worth the few dollars difference. A basic standard Thermal Imaging is done on all boats.

If we find multiple severe anomalies, it may be advisable to conduct an in depth heat applied Thermal Imaging. This is normally a one or more days project involving the water line down to the keel. If anomalies are found all the way from the cap to the keel that may involve a longer period the price depends of the hull or what is covered. The pricing depends on the size of the hull, the number of the days and time it takes to read the scans. At minimum a 100 scans will be taken, and on a larger hull may need 200 scans (or more) may be needed.

Yes, you do. At A&L MARINE SURVEYORS, LLC, we have gas and diesel computers that tell about outboards, inboards, and modern diesels. Normal surveys don’t cover these. Without a complete survey, you could be spending thousands more after you purchase the boat you shouldn’t have bought in the first place! We have looked at more low-hour engines and many have the same or more problems as old engines. “IF I DON’T USE LOSE IT NO MAINTENANCE DOES NOT HAPPEN PARTS CORRODE INTERNALLY and FREEZE, HOSES COLLAPSE, Hose clamps rust out, BATTERIES DIE, ALTERNATORS FREEZE, BELTS DRY OUT, TURBOS DIE, GAS ENGINES TURN TO SHELLAC, DIESEL GASKETS DRY OUT.” So bottom line – they all need to be inspected.

We do not provide copies of our work since we do not use one of the computer generated reports like home inspectors. Most uninformed newer surveyors do provide these, but we do the report specific to the boat we inspect. Each one is different and in 50+ years and 16,000+ reports or surveys we have never had a survey rejected by a bank, insurer, or a court of law.

“JUST THE FACTS”.

As long as it needs to be. We know what is required.

There will be an extra charge if we have to produce it the next day, since that means we have to work late into the night. Some reports may take 6 to 8 hours to properly go through all the information we look at. We photograph numerous items, knowing what insurors, and bankers, we thermal image your hull. Depending on the size of your boat it may take hours to go through the thermal scans, as well as looking at the computer scans of your engine. We will bill accordingly.

Just like lending family and friends money, how many boats have they surveyed? How many boats have they built, totally repaired, diesel and gas engines rebuilt or designed?

Captain Leiner, Senior Surveyor to A&L MARINE SURVEYORS, LLC. has decades of experience designing, building, repairing, and surveying marine vessels. Captain Leiner, has been on family commercial boats, owned his own marine businesses, and learned everything from the bottom up. When it comes to quality and experience, you get what you pay for.