What is the price of the boat? A surveyor will probably charge at least $350, if not closer to $500-700 all depending on what exactly you have them do. If you don't think it's worth the time or money spent on a surveyor then maybe look elsewhere? Or you could potentially always find a surveyor and send him the picture beforehand and see what he or she says? The portion to the right of the seam looks like a hole/chip/crack but the portion underneath just looks like a water stain imo. The majority of "knowledge" that I have on Grady's is about the 228's that have a transom bracket, but it looks like maybe someone did a repair to that area previously as it looks a bit rough. I'm not sure if it would've come from the factory looking like that? Either way, good luck!