Buchanan Marine Appraisal Services Limited, Orillia, Ontario, Canada

Fred Buchanan

Fred & Frank Buchanan

Testing new engines prior to shipping

F.L. Buchanan Limited Assembly line
circa 1930’s

1942 Peterborough 18’ Zephyr Deluxe

About Buchanan Marine Appraisal

We appreciate the opportunity to familiarize you with our business and the services we offer.

Buchanan Marine Appraisal Services Limited is a consulting firm specializing in providing Marine Survey and Damage Appraisal services to private Individuals, Marina operators, Insurance Companies and Financial Institutions.

Our principal business is acting as a Marine Surveyor and Appraiser, providing Small Craft Condition and Valuation Surveys for Pre-Purchase and Insurance Underwriting purposes, as well as acting as an Independent Appraiser for Insurance companies in settling marine loss claims. Buchanan Marine Appraisals was established in 1988 and R.F. David Buchanan is the principal of the company. David has a lifetime of hands-on marine experience, having worked in the industry dating back to summer jobs as a teenager, then continuing on with a full time career at the marina level before entering the Marine Survey field.

Since its inception, Buchanan Marine Appraisal Services Limited has performed surveys on all types of pleasure craft, ranging in size from 14' up to 65' in length. Let the experience we have gained over the years work for you.

Our Roots

In 1923, F.L. (Fred) Buchanan established F.L. Buchanan Limited in Orillia, Ontario and started manufacturing and marketing Buchanan Marine Engines from his factory at 129 Front Street. Shortly after the formation of the business, Frank Buchanan (David’s grandfather) joined his brother and together they developed and produced a strong and reliable product that found its way into many of the now classic Muskoka boats. Duke, Port Carling, Hunter and Greavette are just a few of the companies that installed Buchanan Marine Engines as original equipment over the years. Today, our firm surveys several boats each year that still have the original Buchanan engine installed and running, testament to the quality and reliability of the product produced by David’s ancestors.

R.G. (Bob) Buchanan (David’s father) joined the family business shortly after being discharged from the Navy, post World War II, and worked primarily in the sales and marketing departments until the early 1970’s. Although David never worked in the family business, many days were spent traveling with his father on sales and service calls and just hanging out on the factory floor.

It is in this family tradition that David Buchanan formed Buchanan Marine Appraisal Services Limited in 1988. Buchanan Marine Appraisal Services Limited and David Buchanan are dedicated to providing their customers with the same dependable and reliable product the marine industry has come to associate with the Buchanan name since the early 1920’s.

1942 PETERBOROUGH 18’ ZEPHYR DELUXE RESTORATION PROJECT

Growing up in the 1960’s, we spent our summers at the family cottage on Gloucester Pool, Ontario. Our boat at the time was an early 1940’s Peterborough 18’ Zephyr Deluxe double cockpit mahogany runabout.

The boat was unceremoniously retired when I was around 10 years old and left abandoned for a few years until I eventually claimed it as my own as a teenager.

Now, some 40 years later, and after a five year restoration project, the boat once again hit the water in September 2009.

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david@buchananmarineappraisal.ca