Why don't you charge a success fee?
Because the moment my pay depends on you buying, I stop being on your side. A fee contingent on completion gives your adviser a financial interest in the deal closing — the same conflict the broker already has. Flat and staged means my only incentive is your right decision, including walking away.
What if you tell me not to buy the boat?
Then I've probably just done the most valuable thing an adviser can do. Because the fee is staged, you never pay for stages that don't happen — if the deal dies at survey, the completion tranche never falls due.
Do you replace the surveyor?
No. The surveyor inspects hull and machinery on one day. I help you choose and brief the right surveyor, attend by video, and translate the findings into what they mean for the price — and for life with the boat afterwards.
Is this a brokerage?
No. I hold no listings, represent no sellers, and take no payment from anyone but you. I'm an independent adviser paid a flat fee by the buyer — that independence is the entire point.
Do you know every boat and every fault?
No — and be suspicious of anyone who claims to. Every boat is different, and after a decade I still met new problems every season. What you get is honest best-effort judgment from deep first-hand experience: on the boats and systems I know well, direct answers; on the ones I don't, I'll say so plainly and help you find the person who does. Knowing the limits of your knowledge is part of the service.
Which boats and where?
Motor yachts, roughly 40–75 feet, bought or kept in the western Mediterranean — the South of France especially, where I owned and ran my own boats for over a decade.
