Christian and Company Marine Surveyors

Kells Christian inspected a boat for us in June 2013 that my wife and I subsequently bought. After purchase, we discovered many water damaged, moldy and dry rotted upholstery seat cushions in the cockpit area. After the first rain we noticed water leaking in through the canvas enclosure above the cockpit area through gaps in the flexible window zippers and right through the canvas itself in some spots. The gaps in the zippers were obvious as we could see light through the gaps and the water damage to the cushions would have been as obvious to him as it was to us had he bothered to remove and inspect all the cushions during his survey. There were water streaks behind the seat backs noticeable to us where it was obvious water had been leaking. However, none of this damage was noted by him in our survey report. We have subsequently had to spend thousands of dollars on a new canvas and flexible window enclosure to keep the rain out as well as repair many water damaged upholstery cushions. In discussions with him about this problem he said to us that «everybody knows that canvas only lasts about 5 years», implying that we should have known this! Talk about adding insult to injury! We knew nothing about the life of canvas or any other components on the boat, that is why we hired him! There was also a heavy musty odor inside the cockpit area that should have tipped him off that there was a leakage problem. And even without removing any of the seat cushions, he could have easily scanned them with a moisture meter, which would have been a quick, easy was to detect the water damage. Beware that recovery from him is limited to the amount of the inspection fee, which in our case was totally inadequate to compensate us for our expenses.

Kells is one of the best in the business. Kells drove from San Diego to San Pedro, was on time, friendly and very knowledgeable. He spent 4 hours going over my 35 foot coastal cruiser, stood in the engine room while conducting a sea-​trial, looked everywhere, listened to everything and generated a very useful report. Remember, his job is not to advise on corrections, rather observe and disclose what is seen and heard. I will use Kells in the future.

Kells was hired by our insurance company to survey damage to our stbd motor. Kells knowledge is zero on engine and engine repair. Due to his inexperience and his failure to divulge important information regarding actual cause and damage has caused it to take 1 year for our insurance company to pay actual cost of repair. If Kells is your surveyor and you are not happy with his report or if you have a small amount of concern, your probably right and you should seek another professional surveyor.
Update 5÷10÷2013
Kells survey to be able to inframe the engine was re surveyed by a professional from San Francisco where he 100% disagreed with Kells survey stating «due to #5 cylinder rod shaft breaking through engine block, complete engine will need to be replaced»
Once again, kells knowledge is no expert as a marine surveyor.