There's no single way in. These seven surveyors came from boatbuilding, the helm, a boatyard, the repair shop, a design office, the engine room and other industries entirely. What they share is time with boats before they surveyed them, and someone who showed them the job. Each story links to its source.
The steps they took are laid out in how to become a marine surveyor.
Ian Kerr: boatbuilder, then yacht captain
Ian Kerr started as an apprentice boatbuilder in New Zealand. He delivered a yacht he'd helped build to the United States, then ran yachts as a captain for several years, racing sailboats and larger yachts. When his daughter was born, he moved ashore and put the two together: his boatbuilding training and what he'd learned at the helm.
He told Northrop & Johnson that most of his work is now new build projects in Europe and the US as the owner's surveyor, with pre-purchase surveys on yachts averaging 40 to 60 metres. His advice: be objective about the boat on the day you survey it, because the survey belongs to the client.
Norm LeBlanc: the boatyard kid who waited
Norm LeBlanc started work at 14 in his family's boatyard in Salem, Massachusetts, and watched surveyors come and go. He told Soundings he decided then he'd be one. The surveyors told him to wait until he was old enough to get respect, so he did, and started surveying at 39.
In between he was a sailmaker and a rigger, rebuilt engines and did fibreglass and woodwork, and he took ABYC courses for electrical and plumbing. He became a charter member of SAMS and later its president, and trained four associates of his own. His advice: cover all the areas you possibly can, and general work in a good yacht yard covers almost everything.
George Gallup: a second career through school
George Gallup owned a trucking company and restaurants and worked as an operations manager for an airline before surveying. He graduated from the Chapman School of Seamanship, became a surveyor shortly after, and joined SAMS the same year, "taking their educational courses left and right", he told Soundings. He later served as SAMS president and on ABYC's board.
He named electrics as the weak area for most surveyors, as boats' electrical systems get more complex, and urged as much continuing education as you can get.
Tarn Kelsey: from the repair shop to apprentice
Tarn Kelsey grew up on boats his parents were rebuilding and went into boat service and repair: engines, paint, and the odd sunken boat raised in winter. Writing in Good Old Boat, he says his start came when he helped a surveyor with a sea trial. A few months later he asked that surveyor about a surveying course where he was a guest instructor. The surveyor suggested he hold off, and two days later asked him to become his apprentice.
Most of his work now is pre-purchase surveys on boats of 28 to 65 feet. His point about the job: he surveys boats, but he deals with people, and the boats are the easier part.
James: naval architecture graduate
James grew up around boats in Tasmania, studied naval architecture at the Australian Maritime College and decided during the degree to survey. He started as a graduate marine surveyor with Marine Safety in Western Australia, which, he told Maritime Survey Australia, gave him the practical experience his degree hadn't. He's surveyed in Western Australia and Victoria since. His advice: surround yourself with an experienced team, because surveying is a lifetime of learning.
Martin Smyth: design office to self-employed surveyor
Martin Smyth drew boats as a child, went through technical college and studied Ship Science at the University of Southampton. His first job was in a design office as a junior draughtsman and model maker, where he learned the practical side of design. He's now self-employed, surveying just about anything that floats as well as damaged cargoes, and designs and builds dinghies in his spare time.
A Shell engineer cadet: the class society route
In an IMarEST career story, a retired surveyor describes joining Shell as an officer marine engineer apprentice because he hadn't been able to take A-levels. Years at sea taught him self-reliance. He then joined the classification society Bureau Veritas as a marine surveyor, inspecting ships around the world, and rose to run divisions of the group. He became a Chartered Engineer through formal qualifications and government exams, and says lived experience is as valuable as classroom learning.
What their paths have in common
- Boats first. Every one of them spent years building, fixing, running or designing boats before surveying them.
- Someone showed them. An apprenticeship, a graduate role, a team or a firm's training.
- They kept studying. ABYC courses, SAMS education, professional bodies and continuing development, long after they started.
- The report and the people matter. Kerr on objectivity, Kelsey on dealing with people: the craft is as much in what you write and say as in what you find.