My Boat Got Hit

[WaterWalker]

Hello

Sadly my boat, Sundancer 340, got hit while it was docked at the marina. Luckily the driver of the other boat is doing the right thing.

I am hoping that this is just superficial damage and not doesn't require any stachion holding plates to be replaced. Is this something anything can tell/guess by looking at the picture?

 

[Carpediem44DB]

probably would need close ups of the hull surface to proffer a meaningful guess. It looks like the hardware failed as designed instead of the fiberglass structure. My guess would be the likely damage will be minor stress cracks to the gelcoat. Hope that's the case anyway. Sorry for your troubles, that really sucks to be hit by another boat. I'm happy for you though that at least you know who did it. Now you just need to see if he will stand up to the bill to repair it.
Good luck
CD

 

[Sublimetime]

If it was hit hard enough to shear the bolts, there was alot of forces placed on all of the stanchions, which might not show signs of damage but the seal between them and deck could be compromised. I would have them rebed at least the adjacent stanchions as well, to avoid future leak damage.

 

[bbwhitejr]

I had a tree fall across the bow of my 260DA some years ago while it was at home on the trailer. There was some, though minimal, gelcoat damage related to the stress put on the stanchions/bolts. The were grooved out and repaired to make it perfect again.....

Bennett

 

[Gofirstclass]

WW, I don't know what your relationship is with the other boater, but if he's a friend and you are absolutely certain he's good for the repair bill, disregard what I'm going to say.

If he's not a friend and you're just "hoping" he'll be good for the repair bill I would call my insurance agent. Give him all the pertinent information and get a claim started.

Your agent will get your boat fixed correctly then he will go after the other guy's insurance (or the other guy himself) to take care of the bill. You should not be put in the position of chasing this guy down to collect from him. That's what you pay your insurance agent to do.

 

[Gofirstclass]

WW, BTW, welcome to CSR.

 

[Golfman25]

WW, I don't know what your relationship is with the other boater, but if he's a friend and you are absolutely certain he's good for the repair bill, disregard what I'm going to say.

If he's not a friend and you're just "hoping" he'll be good for the repair bill I would call my insurance agent. Give him all the pertinent information and get a claim started.

Your agent will get your boat fixed correctly then he will go after the other guy's insurance (or the other guy himself) to take care of the bill. You should not be put in the position of chasing this guy down to collect from him. That's what you pay your insurance agent to do.

You can also deal direct with his insurance adjuster. If you use your own insurance, you'll have a deductible.

 

[fwebster]

and, you will lose any no-loss credits you may have on your policy.

 

[R-and-R]

WW,

I’d strongly recommend getting insurance company involved. Preferably his.

My 340 DA had a stanchion that snapped off at the base. I was VERY lucky that the “inside” plate was accessible for that particular stanchion. Most of the inner plates are not accessible without removing major portions of the boat interior.

You have two (at least) stanchions that are severely bent. They cannot be straightened into any condition that you would find acceptable. The bow rail on the 340 is a single piece so it likely means replacing in its entirety. If that’s the case, this is a really big deal.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Maybe, hopefully, I’m wrong. But I would definitely get a professional evaluation.

Good luck,
Please let us know how it turns out.

Rob

 

[Gofirstclass]

Golfman and Frank, your comments are accurate or not depending on what insurance company you have. I had a 330 Dancer that was hit and totaled by a BUI boater. I immediately called my insurance agent the next morning to inform them.

I essentially did all the negotiations with the BUI's insurance company (Allstate) and over the course of 3 months I got them to pay for:
-2 trips I had to make to find another similar boat
-insurance payments and licensing payments
-$3,000/week as the cost of a rental boat until the claim was settled. This made them speed up the process a WHOLE bunch.
-A certified marine surveyor to go through the damaged areas and come up with a VALID estimate of repairs.
(Allstate initially sent out a car adjuster whose only experience with fiberglass repairs was on a Corvette he'd done a few years earlier. His estimate was ~$10,000. The surveyor's estimate was over $150K which exceeded the value of the boat so it was totaled.)

My insurance never went up, they don't deal with "no claim points" so that was not an issue. I still have the same agent today and am very happy with them and their service.

 

[becnme]

I strongly agree with talking to your insurance co.
A good fabricator will be able to weld, grind and polish new stanchions onto the existing rail and have it undetectable but this is not going to be cheap. As stated above you will need to get to the backing plates also. It would be a good idea to do a temporary weatherproof of the holes now to save any added damage to the interior.

 

[R-and-R]

PM me if you need a welder for the rail repair. I had some difficulty finding someone that would work on the rail without removing it from the boat.

He is located near Annapolis, MD.

I attached a pic of his work. This stanchion was snapped off at the base.

 

[Golfman25]

Golfman and Frank, your comments are accurate or not depending on what insurance company you have. I had a 330 Dancer that was hit and totaled by a BUI boater. I immediately called my insurance agent the next morning to inform them.

I essentially did all the negotiations with the BUI's insurance company (Allstate) and over the course of 3 months I got them to pay for:
-2 trips I had to make to find another similar boat
-insurance payments and licensing payments
-$3,000/week as the cost of a rental boat until the claim was settled. This made them speed up the process a WHOLE bunch.
-A certified marine surveyor to go through the damaged areas and come up with a VALID estimate of repairs.
(Allstate initially sent out a car adjuster whose only experience with fiberglass repairs was on a Corvette he'd done a few years earlier. His estimate was ~$10,000. The surveyor's estimate was over $150K which exceeded the value of the boat so it was totaled.)

My insurance never went up, they don't deal with "no claim points" so that was not an issue. I still have the same agent today and am very happy with them and their service.

Sounds like you filed notice with your insurance company, not a claim which is a big difference. I had a guy hit me (auto). He had one of those insurance companies that advertise a 2:00 am. I started with them and got the run around -- not answering the phones, low ball estimates from a third rate body shop, etc. After I found out they where basically a fraud, I went with my insurance company and they went after them for recovery.

 

[sbw1]

Our 370 Express was rammed while parked at a marina up North. We filed a police report, had the boat repaired and the guy's insurance company paid us the full amount. He first denied hitting us, but witnesses came forward when the police investigated the incident and ratted him out. We were not around when he hit the boat.

 

[vandal]

The cost of bow rails when searay had them were $15,000. A very good welder can fix that. Several years ago a boat in the yard i am at got it done $900.00 per stanchion.

 

[Gofirstclass]

Sounds like you filed notice with your insurance company, not a claim which is a big differencE.

Golfman, coincidentally I got my bill from my insurance company today. Listed on the cover sheet was a method of setting up paperless billing. When I went to their website and opened up an account with them, I saw two claims listed.

One for a lightening strike that they paid out several grand to replace destroyed electronics and the other was for when my starter motor on the stbd engine "ran away" (wouldn't quit running) and it burned up all the electronics associated with the stbd engine. They ended up replacing a couple of wiring harnesses, all the gauges on port and stbd sides on the upper and lower helms, the starter motor and labor to the tun of just north of $16K by the time it was all done.

Upon further review, the claim for when my boat got hit by the BUI boater was with another insurance company I was with at the time. My agent called me one day and suggested I switch companies because the one I was with wanted a monumental premium increase. Being the resident BABC Cheapskate I thanked him and asked him to do some research. We ended up with Travelers with a Yacht Policy and they have been great to work with. The premiums go up a bit every year, but that's to be expected.