Jim Elfers Marine Surveyor

I went with Jim as a newbie sailboat buyer. His survey was thorough, and his final estimate was accurate. He was not trying to blow smoke, nor was he so critical that it would blow my interest in the boat I was evaluating. The official survey isn’t an action plan of fixes, but it sure identifies things I will prioritize to fix over time, and Jim was fine with me shadowing him throughout the survey to discuss what his findings meant in terms of what I could do about them. Having a surveyor is a must, and having one that’s practical, detail oriented, on time, and responsive all made the process very easy.

With the boat picked out and finances ready to go, we needed to check off a last few boxes before making everything final. The survey had yet to be done but at this point was a mere formality for the lender bank. We had already had our offer accepted, put in our down payment and were pretty confident in the seller that all was as promised. At this point it had also been made clear that regardless of survey findings, he wasn’t going to budge on the price. We got a good deal — even if the boat didn’t have all the upgrades that it does — and were interested in hearing what the survey would report back.
We went through Jim Elfers whom we’d met back at the SF Boat Show. He was giving a presentation on cruising the California and Mexican coasts so we took the opportunity to pick his brain on what we were getting ourselves into. It turned out that beyond being an authority on West Coast sailing, he’s also a licensed marine surveyor. He offered us a hand and we are so glad we accepted. Though we weren’t relying on this survey to sway us one way or another — the motion was already in progress — it was very useful to have Jim’s knowledgeable feedback to better understand the value of what we were purchasing. Being first-​timers, and note to anyone else like us, we went about this slightly out of order!
Jim was so thorough and let me shadow him through the process as he tackled the boat piece by piece. When (and this occurred often enough) he found things he wasn’t fully content with, he sat and explained it to me. Sometimes dumbfounded, sometimes in awe, I sat there and acknowledged his opinion and offered little resistance. He pointed out every little thing that could wear out soon or explain why certain things were the way they were, how they worked. It’s hard to imagine that other surveyors would do this and let me be as involved. At one point Jim even thanked me for not giving him a hard time or persuading him to lean things in our favor. It was a huge win on our part — even if the deal had already been set — to work with someone who is also a cruiser himself and a buying consultant. The whole experience was far from the administrative bore we were expecting and actually a really interesting opportunity to learn more about our new home.

We needed a survey for our newly-​purchased Nelson Marek 366 in order to get her insured and contacted Jim by email on recommendation from the boatyard where the boat was hauled. Jim replied within a couple of hours and also followed up with a phone call. He agreed to do the survey on Saturday, which I very much appreciated because meeting him during work hours would have been tough for me.
Jim was just super. Experienced and thorough — he went over the boat with a fine tooth comb — Jim asked pertinent questions and pointed out a bunch of stuff for me to think about and improve. The survey itself was beautifully formatted and well-​written with thoughtful commentary (I’ve had boats surveyed before and those surveys always seem to be little more than hand written notes). I also appreciated that Jim finished the work within one day and delivered the final product over email.
I recommend Jim without reservation and will definitely call on him again.