James is a very friendly, professional, extremely knowledgeable surveyor. He spent a lot of time, surveying and explaining his opinion. Priceless knowledge makes me feel very comfortable with my first boat purchase! Would highly recommend to anybody looking for a yacht survey and opinion. read more

I recently had my second Marine Survey performed by James Thomas, and I feel so very thankful to have had his expertise on board my vintage vessel. Once again I felt vey comfortable having him inspect my home, was thankful for the explanation of his findings, and happy to learn a few new things about my vessel. I am sleeping better at night, after being alerted to a few new issues, and was thankful that James even offered me direction for the fixes. He was returned my call right away, arrived on time, and was surprising expeditious preparing my report in less than 36 hours. THANK YOU JAMES! read more

James is awesome! Very knowledgeable and personable. Would highly recommend him to anyone! read more

James helped me survey 3 different boats, and talked me through which one was the best option for me. He is extremely knowledgeable, honest, and has very fair prices. Do yourself a favor and hire this guy before buying your next boat! read more

We leveraged James for our recent survey of a new sailboat we are looking to purchase. James is knowledgeable, thorough, and has impeccable attention to detail. During our survey, he took us on a deep dive of the boat, it's systems, and areas which we need to keep an eye on in the future. The survey report was detailed and promptly delivered to us the following day. I recommend his services without hesitation. If you're looking to purchase a boat, James is the man to call!!! read more

James is the man. He's a charismatic guy who's fun to be around but most importantly, he was remarkably knowledgeable and impartial when inspecting the vessel I was looking at (and will now be purchasing). He also sent the survey report the following day which was very helpful given the time sensitive circumstances. Thank you James! read more

This was for both an in and out of water condition and value survey for a boat I purchased. James was exceptionally thorough and knowledgeable. This made each step of the process easy to comprehend as he explained each point of the inspection. I would highly recommend James for any and all surveys. His attention to detail is without saying. read more

The idea of writing a bad Yelp review and potentially interfering with someone's livelihood makes me physically ill. However, after much deliberation and even giving Mr. Thomas time to correct his actions, I have decided to press forward and write this review. There is no doubt that Mr. Thomas knows his stuff--he's clearly an expert. So much so, that he continuously expressed, as if reminding himself of his role, to refrain from 'fixing' certain things on the boat throughout the inspection. Though attempting to be helpful, I suspect Mr. Thomas manipulated something during the inspection process which caused the electricity on my boat to stop working--an issue I had not experienced in the entire year of ownership, and one which my journeyman electrician neighbor could not figure out. In my neighbor's words, "it's highly unlikely this sort of damage would have happened on its own." I contacted Mr. Thomas as soon as I realized the issue (he, the prospective buyer, and myself left the boat at the same time. I returned 3 days later to find the issue). Not only did he refuse to work together to fix the error, but he became very defensive, asking why I couldn't fix it myself and told me I was being emotional.... Not emotional, Mr. Thomas. This is business. Not my job to fix something (time and money) that was likely a result of whatever you did during the inspection. God only knows. What would have been professional was an offer to simply come down and check it out. Mr. Thomas even spoke to my electrician, asking if he checked the breaker...yeah...no shit, Sherlock. The breaker has been checked. After all of this I ALSO come to find that he marked the boat at $12,000 dollars less than the survey last year, despite some significant remodeling/improvements made to the boat over that year. I understand surveys are "just one person's opinion" (as Mr. Thomas so eloquently stated), but in the Medical field we call this sort of deviation in assessment "malpractice." Additionally, he whispered to my buyer that he "wouldn't even buy it for HALF" OF HIS QUOTED PRICE FROM THE OFFICIAL REPORT. Again, misdiagnosis. I have other buyers so, no, Mr. Thomas. This isn't "all because of how it was valued." But thank you for the insinuation. You are simply careless, unprofessional, and ended up costing me thousands of dollars to pay for your mistakes. I began to ask others in the marina if they've had similar experiences with you...they had. You made one woman physically ill because of the unprofessional manner in which you conducted the survey. After throwing up, she fired you half way through the inspection. If only we had all been so lucky. Moral of the story: look elsewhere. The way Mr. Thomas conducts business is all-too-reminiscent of a sleezy Chicago politician. Nice guy, but he'll cost you money, time, and your sanity. read more

James provided exceptional service and value for our pre-purchase survey of a 1983 Sloop. Throughout the dockside, sea trial and haul-out inspections he was very thorough at assessing the condition of all the boat systems as well as taking time to answer our many questions. James was able to point out issues my wife and I should be aware of while also putting a perspective on the seriousness or urgency with which they would need to be addressed. Having his knowledge and experience available gave us confidence and put us at ease with proceeding with our purchase. We highly recommend James to anyone considering a boat purchase. read more

James Thomas surveyed a 30-foot Catalina sailboat that we were considering purchasing. Within minutes of having James aboard and looking over the vessel, I felt an overwhelming relief that we had chosen him as our surveyor. He asked all the hard questions, looked over all parts of the boat's systems with a keen eye, and took it for a sea trial to make sure everything was up to snuff! Our final survey report gave us guidance on how to make the vessel safer and confirmed that it was a solid boat! After we purchased our sailboat, we were also able to use the survey for our boat insurance. Thank you, James! Five stars for sure. read more

I contacted James for a pre-purchase survey on a 37' Jeanneau Sea Odyssey and without question it was a great call. James guided us through the process effortlessly. He was at the slip a tad early, awaiting our arrival. He immediately went to work and was great about showing us where the things that are sometimes hard to find, e.g. windlass breaker, starting battery and other (second) fuel filters are located so if we need to get to them, we can. Found a couple of relatively small issues - that is, easy to fix / repair and we were quickly able to resolve the issues with the owner. James is effective, thorough, extremely knowledgable and best yet - well known in the area. From the broker to the operators of the hoist at the boat yard where the haul and hang was conducted everyone knew James by his first name. Need a survey? James Thomas is THE guy! read more