Attn: Marine Surveyors

 

Note: This was written at the beginning of financial crisis of 2007-2008.

Dear Fellow Surveyor:

By now you are well aware of the rapidly deteriorating condition of our economy, and no doubt your business is deteriorating along with it.  I have a possible solution for you.

Boat sales have fallen 75 - 80%.  New yacht listings are increasing at the rate of 1,000 per day at Yachtworld.com.  At Yachttrader.com, 70% of all listings were posted in the last three months.  There are thousands of sellers but no buyers since financing has dried up.  It is no longer a question of whether we will have a recession, we are in one right now.

So, how does a surveyor survive when no boats are selling?  Having survived forty years in this business, I can assure you that there is only one way - DIVERSITY.  This business has always been highly vulnerable to economic downturns.   And if you don't have alternative revenue stream you won't make it.  Here's an opportunity to institute Plan B.

In order to survive, you need to play both sides of the market - the up side and the down side.

There is still time.  When the economy takes a dive and millions of boat owners are stuck with boats that they can't afford to continue making payments on .....well, do I need spell it out?  Bad things tend to happen to such boats and then insurance claims begin to rise dramatically.  When that happens, insurance companies begin to look for good investigators to investigate suspicious claims.

This is already happening.

And this is why I wrote Marine Investigations, because there is a need for more qualified marine investigators, and because it is difficult for a surveyor to obtain this kind of training.   It is a 544 page basic tutorial on the subject of conducting investigations.  It leads you through the nitty-gritty of conducting the investigation, as well as helping to provide the essential legal foundation, the knowledge of what it takes to build a solid defense case.   Why defense?  When an insurance company denies what it believes is a fraudulent claim, they will only do so if they feel certain that they have a strong legal defense.   They're not interested in denying claims based on conjecture or opinion.  No, they want sound evidence, accumulated by someone who knows what they are doing, that will stand up in court.

One of the great things about the marine investigations business is that it is a job that PAYS TWICE, first steady income over time, and has helped me survive over the years.

The book has been purchased by worldwide audience since its first printing in 2004 and is currently in second printing.

Readers of the book come from wide spectrum: Marine surveyors, insurance claims person, adjusters, maritime lawyers, fire investigators and concerned boat owners, among others.

"Marine Investigations'' has been used as a text book, along with "surveying Fiberglass Power Boats" in a Marine Surveying School in Netherlands as well.

The book can be purchased online at this web site.

Best Regards,

David Pascoe
Marine Surveyor

November 2007