Transport Sailboat Damage

[BoatTed]

We had our Islander Freeport 38C shipped from Buffalo, NY to Port Angeles, WA, and enroute the trucker snagged a low-hanging cable ripping our our bow rail and causing considerable damage to the topside of the boat. Included was the spilling of 1-1/2 gallons of diesel on the cabin top, deck and stbd. hiull. Diesel fuel now has been lying untouched on the boat for almost three weeks. Anyone know if the resulting stain is removable from 28 year old fiberglass?
Boatted

[Cheechako]

wow, bummer. How in the world did diesel get up there? You can try things like acetone or lacquer thinner (unless you're painted) and see. Sometimes TSP works pretty good on oily stuff. I bet that's a hard stain to get out though in old pourous gel coat. did it rip big chunks of deck out ?

[Vasco]

Hopefully the sun will bleach it out after a good cleaning. Any sun in Port Angeles?

[Sailmonkey]

Davis FSR has taken some really bizarre stains off of our decks.

[triton274]

This sounds like the type of thing that should be delt with (paid for) by the truckers insurance.....

[SailFastTri]

Bilge cleaner. Most popular brands should clean it. Alternating that with power washing might also help if it's stubborn.

Edit: Also I agree with Triton. If it doesn't come out easy have a boatyard do it. Document with pictures for the insurance claim. Trucker's insurance should handle it.

[SkiprJohn]

Sorry this happened to you.

I hope you can get the trucker to help repair some of the damage. There have been quite a few posts on "trucker damage" in the past. This is the one I'm most familiar with.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ing-25453.html

kind regards,

[BoatTed]

Our trucker had liability insurance, and they are going to cover costs of damage, but our insurance company is concerned about complete and unrecognizeable repair of the damage (extensive), so the value of the boat will not be diminished. The 1-1/2 gal.stainless steel container in a wooden box that held diesel fuel for our Taylor cabin heater was permanently mounted on the cabin top near the two forward windows. The cable or the torn out bow rail destroyed the box, broke the windows leaving big holes and overturned the container that was full. Quite a mess. Our boat will be in repairs for a good two months. Of course, there are other important issues that also will be addressed.
boatted

[Gelfling]

Originally Posted by triton274

This sounds like the type of thing that should be delt with (paid for) by the truckers insurance.....

Agreed! Having been in the transportation for most of my adult life...you need to ensure that the transportation company is ensuring this work is payed for. This way you can make sure that it is taken to a qualified body repair shop and that will make your insurance company much more happy than "Well, I scrubbed it with some stuff that was recommended on CF...."

I assume that you took pictures of the damage at time of delivery?

Oh, and they will try to negotiate down the cost of the claim....so you might have to 'strongly insist' that the repairs me made to completion. Then let the body shop decide what is needed to get your boat back to original condition.