boat just fell over

[Don Crowther]

I've just received a call from my marina. Our boat has been blown over, it was on it's stand. Must have been a hell of a wind!! This is a longweek end up here and nobody in the insuranace office. Not sure if it's covered? Is this an act of God? It's about an 1.5 hr drive down to the marina so I will be going down tomorrow to check for damage. Sounds like it's on it's port side. Any guesses what I should document for the insurance company?
Thanks

 

[cappymorgan]

Sorry to hear that. Who shored it up? I'll be interrested in the Insurance reply, wish you good luck. Maybe post some pics when you can.

 

[Don Crowther]

Thanks

I have been putting on the stand myself for the last couple of years . We've had over 1.75" of rain and winds over 40 kts. I'll be going down tomorrow and will post pictures later.

 

[Rick D]

Yea, it should be covered. As for the documentation, keep all receipts for getting her back up to inspect and carefully cover any open areas so as to prevent any further damage. Be sure the batteries did not leak and if they did, get neutralizer in the area fast. Keep receipts & keep records of what you did and time expended. In the event the boat is repaired, spend the cash and get your own independent surveyor to supervise the repair if the insurer used their own. Be certain there is a careful inspections and such things as motor mounts, batteries, tanks, ports and hatches are all inspected for alignment and damage. Finally, if she is totaled, start compiling available 31's in the general area for value comparison and get good condition and equipment data on each. Best of luck to you and keep us informed.

 

[cappymorgan]

I was worried about that when dry docked, but it was only 2 weeks at a time.

 

[Steve Dion]

Don: Who is your insurance carrier?

 

[Don Crowther]

The marina has sent a couple of pictures. So here you go. What do you think? I'll have to find the paperwork for the insurance and let you know.
Doesn't look like I'll get out sailing this summer! Sailboats aren't very popular around here so getting some one to work on it will be diffecult.
Don:cry:

 

[Steve Dion]

Don:

I don't know. You may be lucky. It landed on the grass. I would not be surprised if you escape without any exterior damage.

I would hope that your marina would reset the boat on the cradle and do their own inspection. Fiberglass is very resilient!

Best of luck.

 

[mcaswell]

Well, at least it fell into the grass! Perhaps that cushioned the fall enough to have prevented serious hull damage.

--Michael

 

[Don Crowther]

The marina has no equipment to lift the boat. I'll have to hire a crane and put it back on the cradle myself. There's a few of us that own the travel lift that we use for launching out boats. I'll get a better look later.
Don

Steve:
I've just found my insurance policy it's from Premier marine not sure if that's good news or bad. I've never had a claim before and not sure what I'm in for.

 

[Alan]

It appears that the boat is sitting on a cradle that was straddling a set of 4 wooden blocks. The rain may have cause the ground to give way under the blocks on one side. I would have removed the bimini cover before the winter to reduce windage.
Next season I would shore up the hull with supports under the toe rail on either side.

 

[Steve Dion]

Don:

You will soon know. I would imagine that they WILL cover the damage (if there is any).

Best of luck and let us know what you find. When were you scheduled to launch for the season?

 

[Don Crowther]

Alan
I just got the bimini up last weekend and the mast stepped as well.

Steve
I was hoping to launch this coming week. I was planning on going down tomorrow and fairing the keel. Just about had everything ready to go for another season. I hope your right about the insurance.
Don

 

[Douglast]

hope all goes well for you...!!!!!..maybe...just maybe she had a soft landing

 

[Joe]

Well from my perspective it would appear that the boat didn't fall off the cradle...as much as the whole damn thing went over in one piece... So.... I would secure the cradle and boat with guys, wire or rope, anchored deeply, and insure there is adequate drainage under the cradle's foundation.

 

[MrBee]

Take LOT's and LOT's of picutures then burn them to disk. We once had an SD card go bad and need reformatted at the worst possible time.
I think your going to be lucky, considering the pictures. Probably broke some stuff on the inside were the Hull flexed inward.
Keep us posted, wishing the best for you.

Brian

 

[rpwillia]

Another Tale

Had a guy in another club had his boat in Colonial Beach, Virginia and it somehow fell over. The marina has no idea what happened, but there was speculation that a car hit one of the stands or it was blocked improperly. Total loss as the keel (or at least the section the keel bolts to) was cracked. Really a pity as it was the fastest boat on the river and everyone was always playing catch up with it. Insurance settled on it quickly, and when I saw him a few weeks ago he said he had seen the boat online for sale up in Michigan (or somewhere up there) listing major keel damage. Hopefully just for parts.

 

[LordNelson]

looking at the cradle, i wonder if it would have been more stable sitting directly on the ground? if not, maybe on timbers that were longer than the width of the cradle and more of them to distribute the weight. looks like it could have had alot of psi weight on each of the four blocks carrying the load allowing it to sink in more easily.

if a 40 k wind tipped it over, which you can expect to get sometime during the year, than maybe some screw in anchors, like are used for moble homes, to hold everything down would be an answer. wish you luck in your efforts to get back on the water.

 

[whorne]

Possible cause

It looks to me, from the photos, that the blocks under the starboard side are in a parking area with gravel. The blocks on the port side appear to be in a drainage swale. The difference in the bearing capaicity under the two sides of the boat may be a conntributing factor. Especially with a lot of rain.

 

[garyg]

It does appear that the soft grass area did allow the cradle to tip. It looks like the welded cradle is, at it's base, narrower then the boat beam contributing to the center of gravity getting outboard of the cradle in high wind. I would consider adding extra stands in the future and of course placing the whole structure on plywood squares.

Hopefully the soft grass area absorbed the impact and didn't cause any structural damage.

What a bummer, good luck.