Marine Survey Testimonials

Christian & Co is a full-service marine survey company specializing in dry dock boat inspections, sea trials and marine surveys in San Diego and throughout Southern California. With almost three decades of experience, we’ve seen just about everything and work with a wide range of clients from boat owners to insurance underwriters to major yacht dealerships. Having completed marine surveys in San Diego for all types of clients, we’ve gotten plenty of kudos!

Check out what our satisfied customers are saying about the top marine survey services in San Diego.

Hi Kells,

I wanted to thank you and Brad for your survey. I feel Brad did a thorough job on his inspection. The photos taken were exactly as I requested and follow-up questions were promptly replied. His comments were very concise and informative.

I have been overwhelmingly pleased with Art Burnevik and his work, as he was the one who suggested I request your services. It seemed to me that both Art and Brad complimented each other with their sound advice and mutual assessments.

I will be more than happy to recommend this group to others.

Thanks again,

Michael Sublett

Thanks for the article. I know it takes time to produce informational articles of this type, and frequently they appear to have little direct results leading to a survey job. However, two points... they do keep a contact with the client, which I personally appreciate, and, they are informational.

Please try to get Kells to keep up the efforts, and as always, you are the company of our choice.

Happy holidays

Jim Hicks Elegante, Navigator 53

Received the survey. Thanks, Anna!

And please pass along my compliments on the thorough and professional job that George did; he communicated well, was professional, and quite obviously knows his business. There is nothing I appreciate more than a competent professional doing a great job; well worth my money, and I would highly recommend your company (and George) to others who need a boat survey. You can bet I will give referrals to anyone that asks, and if this deal falls through, or I get another boat a few years down the line, I will definitely request George for my next survey.

Cheers,

kelly jacklin

Thanks for the article ... it's always a pleasure to get and read as much information as possible in order to better serve our clients.

Steve Dexter - Yachtfinders / Windseakers San Diego

Yes I would Recommend Kells to you.

My wife has used him several times in the past in her quest to purchase a boat. His thoroughness saved her a couple very large headaches in regards to problems he found due to his methodical nature. As a result she made a purchase, a Hans Christian, with complete confidence.

As for my experience, I asked Kells to look at my brand new 2008 Valiant 42' for a warranty survey (required by the company) and he found a couple serious factory defects that ended up with my being able to be get the required repairs at the factory's expense.

So, yes It is my opinion you can trust Kells and be confident in his evaluation of your future purchase. I believe him to be honest, competent and reassuring.

Good luck with boat hunting and maybe we will see you out on the water.

Paul Carpenter - USCG 100 Ton Master - S/V The Beguine

Thank you for your professional, courteous service.

Jim and Sandy Hawks (1971 Grand Banks 32)

Thanks Kells for a great job ~I appreciated all of your candid responses to my questions.

Duff G. Mayer

Thanks. Did receive your survey. At this point, we have withdrawn our offer, not so much based on your report, but more so the mechanics report. There were a number of fairly significant issues (at least to me) and I requested Coleman Marine (Cummins factory service) to make the necessary repairs. The seller had others in mind to correct the deficiencies including some that you reported, which was not acceptable to me. I was so pleased with the thoroughness of your report, that I will not hesitate to call upon you when we locate the next acceptable boat. In the meantime best wishes for the holidays and New Year. All my best,

Art Guy - P.S. I think Mike Hallmark is one of the best boat brokers I have ever dealt with.

Yes, we have received the original in the mail and the emailed copies. We really appreciate the extra effort your company put into getting the report to our financer within 24 hrs of the survey. It was a joy working with Kells for the survey and Anna getting all the details worked out. We feel confident about the quality of the boat we decided to purchase!

Thank you! Lisa Cram

Yes, we received the survey. Thank you for the follow up and great service!

Terri Manok

Kells, I want to thank you for the thorough job you did on the survey of " Rage', I was impressed! I had a couple of questions I hope you could help me with. The first one has to do with the sales tax in Mexico and the transfer of ownership of the boat, is there anyone who has had experience doing this? I'am concerned if it is not done right about taking the boat back to Mexico. I obviously dont want to pay the tax! The other questions had to do with the soft wood around the strut bolts , would you fix this at the same time as you would replace the plank on the port aft waterline? How bad did you think it was? As well as number 28? What about #34 and where can I find that requirement?

Thanks Jim Nartz (1976 43’ Kenny Hill trawler)

Yes I received the formal survey, thank you for your professionalism and I will be glad to recommend you to others.

Steve Clark

Thank you for your services. You did a professional job. We will remember you if any of our friends need a survey.

Sincerely, George and Denise Kafrouni

I did ...receive your completed survey. No questions at this time. Mike is addressing the items brought to my attention via your survey as we speak. And I will keep you in mind for the future or for any other of my nautically inclined friends.

Thanks, Gary Ziebarth

Thank you. You did a very through job which assisted us as buyers to make an informed decision on purchasing the boat. It also gives us a road map for issues and repairs that need to be made to have a trouble free boating experience.

Thanks again, Gary Gallinot (1990 Bluewater Yachts Mikelson 48)

Good afternoon Christian:

We have indeed received the survey. Thank you so much for everything, we hope to work with you again in the future!

Regards,

Roxanne Hurlburt, Operations Manager Generation Marine (2006 DK Yachts DK 46)

Thanks for the great survey and prompt service. I sent the check out on
Tuesday and referenced "Catitude" on the bottom of the check.

Larry Hansen (2003 38’ Cat Concepts)

Hi everyone at the office!

Thank you so much for your quick service and excellent help. Sorry the lock was such a pain to get open, it is an oldie and needs some coaxing. I was up in SF when you called at a conference, so by the time I got time to check messages, I had heard you were inside already.

It looks like the boat will be sold by Saturday. I am looking forward to getting another boat and having your skills be put to use again. If, by chance, you hear of a fiberglass boat, between 25 and 35 feet, an oldie but goodie with the great lines that I prefer with a fractional rig, a full keel and in pretty good shape at a good price, let me know!

The check is in the mail today! Thanks again!

Ken Johnson (1959 Kettenburg K-40)

Sorry that check took so long, I mailed it two weeks ago. I will definitely recommend you guys to all.

Yours Truly Andrew Coldicutt (1977 Trojan 36 Convertible)

Kells, You can use my name as a referral. I was very satisfied with your service. Since you did a survey for me, I had another survey done by someone else, in the NW, and there was no comparison in the quality of the report.

Thanks, Tim Trimble

Kells,, Thanks for the great job on the report. I did receive the fax, but not the hard copy yet. It is still questionable if I am going to purchase the Pres.. The surveys reveiled much more work to do on the boat than I had hoped. I did read the report, and as of now, I don't have any questions.

Thanks, Tim Trimble (1990 52’ President flybridge cockpit motor yacht)

Thank you for your firms service. I enjoyed George's comments and constructive criticisms. I thought he was very thorough, conscientious and did a great job. Be assured that I will recommend your companies service to my friends and boating associates.

Sincerely, Dave Bowser (1988 Ericson 34)

Thank you! George did a great job for us, and I learned a lot from him. Good luck in the future,

Tom and Lucie Balgooyen (1999 37’ Pacific Seacraft)

Thanks for the work today. George was a real help And I learned lots about boats in general beside the boat he evaluated. I look to get the formal papers but it was a real pleasure to get to talk to him as he went through the boat. Also the boat yard people where all very nice and helpful. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me on the phone today being such a new guy to boats.

Scott Anderson (1979 Cal 25)

I recently purchased a 46 foot aluminum sailing vessel from San Diego which I had surveyed by Kells Christian himself. He was very thorough, precise and flexible with timing. The Brokerage that I went through did not recommend Christian & Co Marine Surveyors to me. Like you, I did my research before choosing them. I was very happy with the result. You can't go wrong.

I live on Vancouver Island and had no trouble getting my sailboat back here. If you'd like any advice on routes to take, crew or need a delivery captain please feel free to email me.

Cheers, Miles Rhynas -responding to a prior referral request (1987 46’ Nelson Marek/Eichenlaub “Cadenza”)

Please thank Kells for doing the survey for my client. It is always a pleasure to do business with him.

Sincerely, Anita Mays Broker

Kells:
This was a great survey! Thank you for your enthusiasm and common sense approach. I will recommend you to all my friends and hope to see you again before I shove off. Anytime you are in Ensenada, be sure to come by Victoria and say hello,

Alan Young and Banjo (1976 Hudson Force 50 ketch)

Thank you very much. I learned so much from Kells while he was conducting the survey. I couldn't have asked for more and will certainly recommend your services with confidence.

All the best, Jim Duncan (1979 44’ Marine Trader Trawler)

Thanks very much Anna! George did a very thorough job and was very helpful and informative during the survey.

Regards, Larry Isacson (1999 Sea Ray 420)

Got the survey and thanks a ton! George found that the gimbal ring needed replacement on the boat (amongst other things) and that's a 6k job (at least). If I went ahead without a survey I would have been out a ton of $$. Definitely well worth the expense and I'll be sure to point my boat friends your way. If you ever need a reference or testimonial, let me know.

Ernie Anderson (2004 Sea Ray Sundancer 260)

Hello folks,

We wanted to thank you for your professional, timely and thorough pre-purchase survey last week. Mike was definitely the surveyor for us -- a professional sailor with a complete understanding, knowledge and hands-on experience of larger sailing cats.

Mike stuck with us even when the boatyard failed to haul the cat on the scheduled day. He accommodated us, stepped up when most others would have left us hanging. We were able to complete the pre-survey and set the sale in motion.
We would recommend his services to anyone considering a larger sailing/cruising cat.
Sincerely,

Rick Wirick, Limerick (1999, 38' Fountaine Pajot – Athena)