vector4
Member
So quick version of the story. I hit something submerged, kicked the outdrive up and ripped the shift boot in half and tore the outdrive fluid line off. Outdrive locked up/died and I had to leave the boat a few days tied up before I could recover it. Since it was unknown about the shift boot tear before I could recover the boat got about 2 feet of water intrusion as the batteries died running the pumps. I will post the pictures of how much water got in.
So a marina has looked at it and insurance sent a surveyor and that is complete. I have an offer from my insurance. I have "reasonable depreciation" on my policy so I am getting half price of a new outdrive for it. That's the bulk of what I'm getting plus half of a new water heater price, starter, few odds and ends and shop fees to install. What insurance is offering me is about midpoint of my "this sucks" and my "whew no problem" price point.
My options to move forward as I can tell are A) Pick it up, find a used outdrive, repair what is needed myself and continue boating. B) Take my insurance check and sell the boat as salvage and move on. (I owe on the boat still but that would pay it off plus some). The insurance payment is enough for me to buy used parts/do the work myself to repair the KNOWN items.
My fear with option A is that there might be items that come up in the future that I cannot plan for or don't know about now. That is the main portion of advice I'd like to find here. If anyone has experience with water intrusion and how bad it can or can not be. Will everything dry out and be fine? Will I maybe have future major issues that I should move to get away from the boat because of? They are giving me nothing for interior, they say I should dry it out and proceed.
My only downsides to option B are that I won't have my boat anymore, which isn't the end of the world as there are other boats for sale. And I will take about a 4k loss vs what I could have gotten for the boat before this. Upside to option B is much less work on my part. Now I R/R my outdrive all the time and have all the tools for that so it's not an issue from ability to do the work perspective. In fact I put on new bellows this summer! Which is crazy to me that the shift boot ripped like that.
Thanks in advance for any input or advice.
So a marina has looked at it and insurance sent a surveyor and that is complete. I have an offer from my insurance. I have "reasonable depreciation" on my policy so I am getting half price of a new outdrive for it. That's the bulk of what I'm getting plus half of a new water heater price, starter, few odds and ends and shop fees to install. What insurance is offering me is about midpoint of my "this sucks" and my "whew no problem" price point.
My options to move forward as I can tell are A) Pick it up, find a used outdrive, repair what is needed myself and continue boating. B) Take my insurance check and sell the boat as salvage and move on. (I owe on the boat still but that would pay it off plus some). The insurance payment is enough for me to buy used parts/do the work myself to repair the KNOWN items.
My fear with option A is that there might be items that come up in the future that I cannot plan for or don't know about now. That is the main portion of advice I'd like to find here. If anyone has experience with water intrusion and how bad it can or can not be. Will everything dry out and be fine? Will I maybe have future major issues that I should move to get away from the boat because of? They are giving me nothing for interior, they say I should dry it out and proceed.
My only downsides to option B are that I won't have my boat anymore, which isn't the end of the world as there are other boats for sale. And I will take about a 4k loss vs what I could have gotten for the boat before this. Upside to option B is much less work on my part. Now I R/R my outdrive all the time and have all the tools for that so it's not an issue from ability to do the work perspective. In fact I put on new bellows this summer! Which is crazy to me that the shift boot ripped like that.
Thanks in advance for any input or advice.