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The Surveyor

A marine yacht and craft surveyor who practices what they preach; a passionate sailor and yacht owner with an extensive breadth of marine industry experience, training, and qualifications, who understands the excitement, and the challenges, of buying, owning, maintaining, and selling a yacht.

For a complete, professional marine (yacht and craft) surveying service, call or email Theo Wakefield Marine Surveys for a consultation.

THEO WAKEFIELD - MARINE SURVEYS - YACHT SURVEY

Academic Qualifications

Theo Wakefield has a diploma in Yacht and Small Craft Surveying. This was attained via practical training and assessment in Ipswich, UK, under tutelage of MSA (Marine Survey Associates) senior surveyors.

Theo has certifications in Surveying Yacht and Small Craft Engines, and Marine Incident Investigation, and continues to undertake further educational courses in his spare time with the aim of improving the service to his clients. 

Associate member of the Royal Institute of Naval Architects (RINA). 

Affiliate member of the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST), 

Now a member of the MSA, a body of highly qualified surveyors who share their insights and findings with other members which is beneficial to the continued education of every surveyor within the association.

Personal Experience

 

Theo Wakefield has been working in the marine industry for over 15 years to date.

 

He has extensive past experience in the instruction and coaching of sailing in dinghies and keelboats, and operation of power boats, which naturally moved into the sphere of racing sailing yachts, and crewing on coastal, offshore, and blue water deliveries. Consequently Theo qualified as an RYA Yacht Master.

From here Theo's interest was drawn towards the construction, maintenance and overhauling of vessels, and he aligned these interests with employment at various boatyards and boatbuilders over several years while holistically restoring his own classic offshore racing yacht.

With this experience he was accepted on the practical marine surveying training course hitherto mentioned. This is the only practical yacht and craft surveying course of its kind in the UK, and a far cry from the 'learn surveying via correspondence' courses that qualify many a surveyor.

The course refines the practical skills of surveying; encouraging an open mind, a tentative, methodical approach, and the application of numerous tests so as to turn opinion into objective fact.

The course was completed with a merit grade with positive feedback from the senior surveyors. 

Since qualifying as a Yacht and Small Craft Surveyor, Theo has built a reputable business which has enjoyed very positive feedback for the entirety of his work. See the Testimonials, and the reviews on Google Maps for more information.

Around surveying projects Theo has continued to work practically within the marine industry, typically completing vessel repairs, engineering works, systems maintenance and rigging. This practical work benefits the surveys - Theo stays sharp and concurrent with changing trends and any faults that may accompany them.

In 2022 Theo sailed his restored classic Van de Stadt yacht from Falmouth in Cornwall to the Mediterranean. The vessel was well prepared and equipped for the trip, but getting attacked by orca whales while sailing along the Portuguese coast could not be helped. Theo completely repaired the vessel's rudder and reinforced the hull by way of the rudder stock over several weeks before completing the trip to Malaga. 

Now in Malaga, Spain, and delivering various yacht and craft surveys throughout Spain and Europe to private clients and businesses.

He is driven to build upon his knowledge base both for his own interest and for the benefit of his clientele and industry, and has been enrolling on Open University courses for this purpose. 


The ambition as a surveyor is to put this knowledge and experience to good use, and offer the best service possible in the form of top quality, factual, insightful surveys and reports, created with each individual client in mind to assist them in making informed decisions and improving their safety and understanding in all regards.

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