I have a good friend that just took delivery of his 33 scarab. Had the boat surveyed and got the go ahead from the surveyor that the boat was absolutely solid and in "very good shape". Splash down was yesterday and the boat performed just as he thought it would, awesome!!! Got home and was cleaning up when he went in the cabin only to discover the horror that the floor in the cabin is soft as a sponge, all the way from the entry way to the v birth the center 16" are soft. WTF??? Seller denies knowledge, buyer and myself truly believe the seller had no knowledge. The surveyor has not been paid yet and has not responded to the buyer. This is a surveyor who is VERY experienced(20+ years). What would you recommend for my friend?

did your friend look at the boat at all before he bought it?

The last person that was perfect got nailed to a cross .
Sounds like he just missed it . Now see what he does to fix his error ?

The bad part is that the floor's soft....the worst part is how did it get wet? - From above? From Below? What else might be 'soft'?

And let me guess, the survey has a nice little disclaimer at the end, something to the effect of "we take absolutely no responsibility for this opinion."

I don't know how much recourse you really have. Best bet might to be to politely deal with the seller to get some kind of resolution.

I find it hard to believe that the surveyer couldn't feel 16' of soft cabin floor. Then again, he might have not gone down into the cabin

That much water shouldnt be that hard to find the source... either from the bottom (eek) or top from being left in the rain

What state was the boat sold? In what state are the seller and surveyor located?

I had a survey done, paid extra for motor detail. Turns out no compression check, no oil analysis, Charles Bullock in Gainesville, Georgia. Refused to correspond to me. Could have gotten an attorney, etc.......not worth it in my case. I will never trust a surveyor again. No offense to legit, stand up surveyors out there. If I'm a surveyor cabin wood is the first thing I'm Checking!

The surveyor failed, if you found this than he should have too. Start tearing up the carpet and see what the floor is made of, if it was not sealed you may be ok, if it was than the rest of the boat is a sponge too. No worthy Surveyor would not do a moisture test and this would have come out in the end. This brings me back to my first go fast, a 33 Donzi that cost me a year on land and 10k to fix, the dealer screwed me on that one. Ed Geerlings in Grand Haven. He and his dad were so crooked I can't believe they could walk.

he was paid to check the whole boat. this is a major miss that he should be held partly responsible for