I am Devastated

[Birds place]

May 15 of this year...The houseboat i had purchased was put in the water by the owner of the marina and his crew as it was dry docked in a warehouse. I had a boat survey done six days earlier. The boat was claimed as excellent condition and valued six more thousand dollars than i paid for it.. To make a long story short...After the crew put my boat in and was taking it out for a test run...They noticed they forgot to put the plug in!

Water filled the boat underneath the master bedroom and a few inches above. I have a 14 foot wide by 47 foot boat that was nearly perfect. My ins co. Is sending a boat surveyor out tomorrow to assess the damage. After the crew noticed the water...They did pump it out and shop vacuumed it out. It is still releasing river water.

A footnote: the river is being drudged at the marina where this happened. The owner of the marina is mad at me for calling my ins co. Someone please help me! My son passed away fifteen months ago at the age of 31. I needed to get my peace back on the water in my beautiful near perfect houseboat. Thank you, Bird

[Birds place]

What damage do you think happened to my boat?

[Teknav]

Very sorry to hear about your boat's mishandling. It will be a total loss, if for 3 days the water has not been removed from the flooded area; fungi will set in and you will not be able to thoroughly decontaminate the boat. Your insurance company's surveyor is better equipped to assess the extent of the damage; on here, I am just guessing as one needs an actual physical inspection. Good luck! Mauritz

[Cheechako]

TO PUT THE PLUG IN! WATER FILLED THE BOAT UNDERNEATH THE MASTER BEDROOM AND A FEW INCHES ABOVE. I HAVE A 14 FOOT WIDE ...

A few inches above what...? the floor? Fresh water? Be sure to meet the person that goes to inspect the boat. Make sure he is aware of any electrical wires, motor and other equiptment that were doused. As mentioned, water soaked into the wood or other things can be a real issue as far as mold etc.... Not as simple as "well pump it out and dry it out real good.." There are companies who specialize in removing flood/wet damage etc.

[senormechanico]

Obviously the fault of the marina.
Cheechako covered it pretty well.
Make sure you don't let the marina off with ANY excuses !!
Don't fall for "free moorage" or anything like that.

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by Birds place

WHAT DAMAGE DO YOU THINK HAPPENED TO MY BOAT?

There are a lot of variables here.

What is the construction of the boat?
How long was the water in the boat?
What exactly got flooded? ie: motor, bedding, storage space, etc.

Were you present when the boat was launched? And what builder puts plugs on 47' boats?

And yes the insurance should get involved unless the marina is going to take full responsibility. B/c the insurance is going to go after the marina. They should have checked for a plug as a routine.

[letsgetsailing3]

Originally Posted by Birds place

WHAT DAMAGE DO YOU THINK HAPPENED TO MY BOAT?

I think it screwed up your caps lock.

[roverhi]

If it was just freshwater below the deck, probably nothing to worry about once you fix your caps lock key.

[s/v Jedi]

Yes, I can't read it with all the CAPS; may be a mod can do the caps trick?

[JPA Cate]

Bird's place:

I'm thinking this is a time to just do the best you can to take care of yourself. Try not to worry that you think the marina people are mad at you. They may have serious worries of their own that make them less than sympathetic to you.

Possibly, the surveyor from your insurance company will clarify your situation; then your insurance can deal with the marina insurance. Can you document that the marina personnel failed to replace the plug?

Good luck with fixing the boat problem. And let me say, I'm so sorry you lost your son, that's devastating.

Ann

[JPA Cate]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

Yes, I can't read it with all the CAPS; may be a mod can do the caps trick?

Jedi,

I think any long paragraphs are hard to read, especially CAPS. But really would have been better if paragraphing had been used.

I actually read it as a [I]crie de coeur[I] -- the guy's sanctuary is ruined just when he decided he needed it most, and he was screaming in anguish, so I cut him some slack.

FWIW.

Ann

[nes]

Count your blessings! The survey done 6 days before the boat was put back in the water and the test run was done by the yard. All of which says that the boat was not being skippered by you, and that all damage was done by the yard.

Could have been much worse, like you might not have had the survey done, and then the question of what was the previously existing condition of the boat would be in question. The Survey was done by an independent party, so that should help a lot.

If the yard put the boat in the water and turned it over to you, then as skipper you would have some of the responsibility to ensure they did it correctly. Since they were taking it out for a test run ("AFTER THE CREW PUT MY BOAT IN AND WAS TAKING IT OUT FOR A TEST RUN...") they should own most of the responsibility.

As for the yard being upset about you calling the insurance company, get over it. I suspect that you won't be using that boat yard for anymore work anyway. This is what insurance companies are for, and most likely it will be the yards insurance company who will be paying in the long run.

[Group9]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

Yes, I can't read it with all the CAPS; may be a mod can do the caps trick?

I guess that is the one good thing about having to read government teletypes for 21 years. All caps seems normal.

[Janet H]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

Yes, I can't read it with all the CAPS; may be a mod can do the caps trick?

Fixed...

[captseamus]

When do houseboats come with drain plugs? Sounds fishy, more like a unhook engine water intake hose was loosen and never retighten after it was winterized. Also sounding fishy is why didn't the bilge pump(s) handle the flooding unless it wasn't a drain plug.. my third thought is there are many electrical connections; relays and switches in the upper portions of the bilges that may someday rust. Water isn't planned to floor over the deckboards! Perhaps its a boot on the I/O that rotten out? MOST marinas start the engine(s) and leave them warm up with the deck plates open to look for incoming water; certainly this wasn't done before departure if it had this much water in the bilges!! Big screw up on the marina's part..