Ric Corley retiring after 50 years of vessel inspection

Oct. 08--SOUTHPORT -- For almost 50 years, when people have wanted to buy or sell a vessel in Bay County, Ric Corley has been there to assess it. When vessels are damaged, he's been there to inspect them. When fraud is suspected, insurance companies have hired him to investigate boat damage.

He's served as an expert witness, a senior, certified and accredited marine surveyor and certified marine investigator.

But Corley now has his sights set on a new lifestyle: retirement.

"I officially retired on the 23rd of August from surveying," Corley said. "I'm still doing expert witness work and consulting."

After almost half a century in the marine vessel inspection business, Corley has a phased retirement plan. It includes having his hand-picked successor Daniel Cole completely taking over his business, Tom Corley & Son Marine Surveyors Inc., in two years.

Cole, a former electrical contractor, has spent the last two years as an apprentice under Corley, learning all the skills needed to handle the business.

"He's quite competent," said Corley, who plans to spend the next couple of years handling expert witness cases before he retires and leave the vessel inspections up to Cole.

The Corley family has deep roots in Bay County. In 1954, Corley's father, Tom, began construction of the Rom-Ric Motel & Marina and Grand Lagoon Marine Service shipyard in Panama City Beach, one of the early businesses in the Grand Lagoon area. That summer, he also formed Tom Corley & Son. In August 1969, Tom Corley was in charge of all marine claims caused by the catastrophic Hurricane Camille in 1969. That year, Ric joined the business.

"I got assigned five of the most difficult claims," Corley said. "My father wanted to be able to step in and do hands-on if need be. Apparently I did it right, because he never did step in."

Corley said his father conducted 12,121 marine surveys from 1948 to 2001, and he has conducted 7,880 surveys from 1969 to 2017. "All the above are world records that will stand because it is impossible to do in this day and time due to red tape," he said.

Mandy Miller-Warren, an owner of Miller Marine, said the Corleys are "legendary" in the vessel inspection business.

"(Ric will) go all the way to court backing up his job," she said. "There are just not a lot of people in the industry. It is very, very specialized. You have got to be able to see things that are not seen. You are looking at a boat, and it is probably full of problems that you don't see until after you buy it, and then it's too late. He's very valuable to a customer."

Corley said there are other companies that inspect yachts, but his business is unique because it will inspect any kind of vessel, including ships.

"See this boat right here?" he said, pointing to a Navy dive boat hoisted out of the water. "A regular surveyor would not do that boat if he's a yacht and small craft (inspector)."

The surveying itself spans many facets.

"When you have a boat surveyed you are looking at: Does it meet 33 and 46 of the code of federal regulations?" Corley said. "Does it meet American Boat and Yacht Council standard recommended practices? Does it meet National Fire Protection (standards)?"

It's a lot to take in, but Cole is up for the challenge and ready for a career change after working for 25 years as a certified electrical contractor field. His father, a tugboat captain, knew Corley, so Cole has a good knowledge of vessels having been around boats all his life.

"We check vessels all over," he said. "We do insurance evaluations. We do damage surveys for insurance companies. We establish a present market replacement value for vessels. If you buy anything that is more than 10 years old, or anything over $60,000, the bank will automatically require a survey to determine the condition and the value of the vessel."

He said they will even inspect barges. "We have the ability for insurance purposes to check hull thickness and determine if it's watertight."

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