Ric Corley retiring after 50 years of vessel inspection
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
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
"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.
"(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
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
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
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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