A superyacht under way on open blue water, a mountainous coastline and hillside town behind the vessel.

TWS Marine Surveying · Palm Beach County, Florida

Certified to survey. Licensed to command.

NAMS-certified marine surveys across South Florida, on recreational and commercial vessels from 30 to 180 feet. Nearly four decades of running these boats is how we know where the small faults hide, and how long they have been hiding.

Book a survey 954-260-8322

Certifications

  • NAMS-CMSNational Association of Marine Surveyors
  • ACMS-CMSAssociation of Certified Marine Surveyors
  • Marine Standards AdvisorAmerican Boat & Yacht Council
  • Marine Corrosion AdvisorAmerican Boat & Yacht Council
  • Master 3000 GT (Yachts)UK Maritime & Coastguard Agency
  • MemberSociety of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers

Member, Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME).

The report

Most reports land in 48 hours. Seventy-two at the outside.

The surveyor who walked the deck, sounded the hull and ran the tests writes the report, usually the same night. It arrives detailed, photographed and organized for the people who have to act on it: buyers, underwriters, lenders, attorneys.

The work

Six ways of asking one question: is this vessel what it appears to be?

  1. Pre-Purchase Survey

    The complete picture before you sign: structure, machinery, electrical, plumbing, safety systems, with sea trial and haul-out inspection when arranged.

  2. Insurance Survey

    Condition, Fair Market Value and Replacement Cost, documented to the standard underwriters and lenders require.

  3. Condition & Valuation Survey

    An independent read of what the vessel is and what it's worth: for financing, refinancing, estates or simply knowing.

  4. Damage Survey

    After the grounding, the storm, the fire, the lightning strike. What happened, how far it goes and what proper repair looks like.

  5. Corrosion Inspection

    Galvanic and stray-current corrosion diagnosed at the source: bonding, anodes, hull potentials, shore power. ABYC Marine Corrosion Advisor work.

  6. Ultrasonic Thickness Testing

    Steel and aluminum plate measured, not guessed: hidden wastage found while it's still a maintenance item, not a structural one.

Moisture metering, thermal imaging and sea-trial testing are folded into any survey where they earn their place. Not sure which survey you need? Call and ask. It costs nothing to find out.

Principal surveyor

He ran these boats before he inspected them.

Knowing what a fault looks like is one thing. Having been the person answerable for it at sea is another.

Thomas W. Smith holds the NAMS Certified Marine Surveyor credential (NAMS-CMS) in Yachts and Small Craft, and an MCA Master 3000 GT (Yachts), a command license. Before TWS he held command of yachts between 80 and 140 feet and ran their engine rooms himself, so he knows these boats space by space, and where trouble usually starts.

It shows in what gets flagged. Someone who has run the machinery knows which small faults compound once the boat is offshore and which are simply age, and those are not the same finding. That judgment comes from boat after boat in this size range, over a working lifetime at sea. On a boat this size, the finding that changes the price is rarely the one in plain sight. His full background →

The bow of a white motor yacht towering overhead on jack stands in a working boatyard under a blue sky.
On stands, blocked and level. This is the fullest look a vessel ever gets.
30–180 ftVessels surveyed
80–140 ftYachts commanded
3,000 GTMaster's license · MCA
48 hrsTypical report delivery

Start here

Tell us about the boat.

The number below reaches your surveyor directly. The same person who walks your vessel writes the report, signs it and answers for it long after the invoice is paid.

Book a survey 954-260-8322

NAMS Certified Marine Surveyor Based in Palm Beach County At work across South Florida Available nationwide and internationally

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