Waterman Marine Consultancy
Marine Consultancy and Surveys
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Jim Boot (the guy with the mustache...) is a Dutchman living in Italy and studied naval architecture at the Polytechnics at Dordrecht The Netherlands where he graduated in 1979. The first 20 years of his career he mainly worked in the field of vessels dedicated for the inland waterways and seagoing vessels up to abt. 5000GT. The scope of work included valuation, surveying, preparation of strength calculations and technical drawings, supervision on new buildings and structural modifications etc.
As from 1988 up until now he has been appointed many times as expert witness by the Dutch Courts, lawyers or served as an arbitrator.
As a result of continuous growth of his former companies his work tended more to that of general manager than being involved with the technical work itself, something where his hart lies.This has resulted in his choice to leave his former companies and start Boot Expertises in 2000 in order to fulfil his ideals.
At that time the choice has been made to focus mainly on the market of (mega) yachts in order to work as arbitrator, expert witness, project manager and owners representative. Jim Boot is a Qualified Yacht Surveyor® as well as a Registered Valuator.
Ron Kleverlaan (the guy on the right who is telling how he catched that big fish...)is also a Dutchman living in France and he studied at the Maritime Academy in Holland to obtain the necessary qualifications for a seafarer’s career in 1986.
Instead of going to sea he got involved in some other adventurous positions, running various windsurfing/sailing institutions in Greece and Holland and working as a ski-guide in Austria and Switserland. In 1992 he established a company that had nothing to do with floating on water; selling hard materials for landscaping and infrastructure. After some hard working years to make the company successful he decided to sell it in 1997 and moved to the South of France.
Following his passion for the sea and yachts he started working as yacht broker.Very quickly he got involved with the management and operational organisation of yachts and he established Waterman Exclusive Yacht Services in 2000, located in the centre of Saint Tropez.With this company, he organised sales, management and service for many superyachts. In 2003 he made the decision to downscale the activities and concentrate on a freelance consulting activity. In this position he supported brokers and clients for Royal Denship from Denmark and individual clients for management and tax and registration issues. In 2005 he completed a theoretical study at the Lloyds Maritime Academy in London and is now a qualified Marine Surveyor with accreditations in Surveying of Superyachts, Marine Engineering, Environmental Surveys, Small Craft Surveying and International Safety Management audits and surveys