Captain Michael has lived in the Low Country of South Carolina ever since he was a small child. Growing up in the Low Country meant playing sports of every kind and exploring the great outdoor playground Hilton Head Island and the surrounding area has to offer. Ever since Michael went on his first boat ride as a child, he was drawn to the water.
After high school, Michael continued his education at the University of South Carolina where graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism, Management. All the while, the ocean was calling his name. Michael came home and worked in the family business, a local family entertainment center where he applied his degree to help grow the business.
This is when Michael decided to pursue a career as a charter boat operator. He attended Sea School to get his first professional captains license and later continued with Sea School to advance his license to a Master Mariner 100 ton license. After much research and planning, he decided to purchase his first charter boat, a 1989 Hatteras Sportfisher. Integrity Charters is the charter company Michael started and ran until October 2020. The company ran charters out of Broad Creek Marina, in Hilton Head Island, SC. As one can imagine, after running charters, over 125 trips per year, since 2005, Michael has encountered almost every scenario one may face while venturing out to sea. Through the years, he has operated small outboard powered vessels as well as moving large yachts in South Florida. After many successful years as a charter boat captain, Michael’s surveying business became so large it was time simply specialize in one profession only. The S/F Integrity is now located in Jacksonville, FL and serves the family as wonderful Florida vacation home, and Florida office.
It seemed like a natural progression to move into the marine surveying sector as Michael desired to use his acquired knowledge to help his clients make informed decisions when purchasing and evaluating their water craft. Even though technically a marine surveyor does not necessarily need to have a formal education, Michael decided to get the proper training by attending school down in Stuart, Florida at Chapman School of Seamanship in order to offer the highest level of surveying available to his clients. Chapman literally wrote the book regarding formal education for marine surveyors. So with his years on the water as a professional captain, and formal education at Chapman School of Seamanship, Michael is ready and excited to work for you.
Captain Michael is a fully Accredited Marine Surveyor (AMS) with the Society of Accredited Marine Surveyors (SAMS), a rigorous multi-year process with peer reviewed reports and standards. Michael is also a Certified Marine Inspector (CMI) with the International Association of Marine Investigators (IAMI), a joint task force of law enforcement, insurance companies, and marine professionals. The CMI designation is also a peer reviewed application with required testing as well as strict education requirements, on the job experience, and formal background monitoring to insure the highest integrity of their members.
In addition, throughout the years as a marine surveyor, Michael’s clients would reach back out to request his services for when they were ready to upgrade to a newer vessel. Many times the vessel’s were located several states away, so in order to better serve his clients, Michael obtained both his Private Pilot License and an Instrument Rating, along with getting type rated in Cirrus aircraft to enable rapid deployment when requested.