Hull damaged while on hard standing. Is the yard liable?

[Homer Simpson's Lovechild]

Parked my shiny and gleaming blue hulled boat on the hard a few months back and promptly escaped to foreign climes with my work.
Just been down the yard and have found deep scratches and scuffs on both bow sections. Some are right through the gellcoat .
This is a fairly expensive marina hard standing and she is/ was a fairly new boat . I am certain that the scuffs were not there when I left her. There is a largish commercial fishing boat parked up next door which has been worked on quite extensively over the winter.
Should I be claiming for repairs to the marina? Got covered in abrasive shot blast dust last year which etched itself into the white gelcoated cabin sides so am more than a tad miffed!

 

[bitbaltic]

Should I be claiming for repairs to the marina?

The place to start is with your insurers, as soon as you notice the damage. What have they said?

 

[sighmoon]

Along a similar vein, what if the damage has blatantly been done by moving boats around in the marina i.e. clearly the yard's fault?

I'd rather not claim on the insurance as we claimed last year, and it will probably be under the excess in any case.

 

[Capt Popeye]

Bad news, suh damage to find on return.

Can I ask? did you lay out 'fenders' before going away?

There is often quite a lot of 'comming and going' in Marinas and Harbours, catching the tide etc. Often not done by experienced staff, i'd suggest.

 

[Bilgediver]

Bad news, suh damage to find on return.

Can I ask? did you lay out 'fenders' before going away?

There is often quite a lot of 'comming and going' in Marinas and Harbours, catching the tide etc. Often not done by experienced staff, i'd suggest.

The tide is pretty remote from boats ON THE HARD!!!

 

[RichardS]

Bad news, suh damage to find on return.

Can I ask? did you lay out 'fenders' before going away?

There is often quite a lot of 'comming and going' in Marinas and Harbours, catching the tide etc. Often not done by experienced staff, i'd suggest.

Laying out fenders and catching the tide whilst on the hard? Now that's a thought to conjure with!

Richard

Beaten by Bilgey!

 

[Billjratt]

I think you deal with your insurer who may then attempt to recoup from the yard's insurer. Don't suppose for an instant you've any photos to assist.

 

[grumpy_o_g]

Laying out fenders and catching the tide whilst on the hard? Now that's a thought to conjure with!

Richard

Beaten by Bilgey!

I suspect he means so you don't crane it back in to this...

 

[Deleted member 36384]

Agree that you should inform your insurers and state your opinions to them. Of course you need to approach the yard and suggest that the damage could have been caused by them - if you have a reasonable suspicion. I would check yard travel hoist/cranes/tractor/trailer heights of protrusions/corners to see if they match the height of the marks; check for paint marks in the scratches. If they knew about it they would have informed you if they consider themselves an honest company. The fact that they have not informed you of damage suggests that they probably do not know about it. Unless there is evidence that demonstrates how your boat was damaged I suggest that you will have to accept that you wont be able to claim redress from a 3rd party. There is an outside chance that security camera records could be a source of information, I doubt it though. Ask about and ask your neighbours, they may very well remember something.

After the shot blasting incident and now this, you have to question whether this yard is worth using again.

 

[Bosun Higgs]

Parked my shiny and gleaming blue hulled boat on the hard a few months back and promptly escaped to foreign climes with my work.
Just been down the yard and have found deep scratches and scuffs on both bow sections. Some are right through the gellcoat .
This is a fairly expensive marina hard standing and she is/ was a fairly new boat . I am certain that the scuffs were not there when I left her. There is a largish commercial fishing boat parked up next door which has been worked on quite extensively over the winter.
Should I be claiming for repairs to the marina? Got covered in abrasive shot blast dust last year which etched itself into the white gelcoated cabin sides so am more than a tad miffed!

Marina hard standing is like a car park - same sort of storage arrangement. If the marina has been so incompetent that they havent excluded liability for damage in their contract terms etc, then go for it. It sounds like you are used to claiming.

 

[Capt Popeye]

The tide is pretty remote from boats ON THE HARD!!!

Ahh well me Harties; all depends upon 'Hard' or 'Hard standing', i'd suggest!

Having read the original post, both are refered to; 'Hard standing' in the 'title' and 'Hard' in the text.

My long understanding is that the 'Hard' is an area on or just above high water that is harder than the mud found on shore or river bed, where boats can be floated, drawn up or slipped, usually to be maintained/ repaired etc.

The 'hard standing' (or yard) is an area away from the imediate river/ sea where boats are parked up on trailers or cradles for storeage or sale or works etc.

On reflection the first text/ posting on subject really meant 'hard standing' not 'hard', so all revealed, and fenders not really a good option.

But if really drawn up onto the 'Hard' then i'd suggest fenders a wise precaution against passing boats and trailers

 

[Lakesailor]

Good attempt. Nearly worked

 

[Capt Popeye]

Good attempt. Nearly worked

Worked for me! ho ho ho

Hard is a long used term on boating, eg Buklers Hard etc; small harbours have a Hard at head of Harbour etc!


Anything else, away from direct access to water, is Hard Standing! simples

 

[ffiill]

The shotblasting sand-unlikely.Excessive use of an angle grinder next door on steel-very likely-I made that mistake with my own boat.
The hot globs of metal wreak havoc on plastic or for that matter fleece tops!They stick into the plastic and then of course a few weeks later they begin to rust.

 

[Capt Popeye]

The shotblasting sand-unlikely.Excessive use of an angle grinder next door on steel-very likely-I made that mistake with my own boat.
The hot globs of metal wreak havoc on plastic or for that matter fleece tops!They stick into the plastic and then of course a few weeks later they begin to rust.

Totally agree; worked at a large s/coast marina for few years; was not always sure that Marina Works Dept showed due care when going about the tasks.

RE grinding sparks/ debrie thrown off sticking to GRP and Timber and embedding itself into surfaces; then rusting leaving marks and stains which are difficult (if not impossible) to remove; best to cover all surfaces with protective boards etc before hand, otherwise regret/ repent at your leisure.

 

[Homer Simpson's Lovechild]

Thanks for the replies.
Just to be clear, I'm talking about the hard standing or marina boat park.
I'd be very surprised if the culprit was the boatyard staff as they are usually very diligent and professional. My suspicion is towards the fishing boat next door that has recieved a lot of work. They've moved a huge steel deck cover/ hatch between the boats at some point. Can't prove a thing of course and I may be way off the mark.
The shotblast dust/ paint chip debris ( that's what it was)settled as a dust on the damp cabin, dried off and then etched right into the white paint finish . In certain lights I can still see it even after much cleaning and treatment.
In water lay up next year I think!

 

[[70521]]

Laying out fenders and catching the tide whilst on the hard? Now that's a thought to conjure with!

Considering the amount of water that went through our house over the winter I was very, very tempted to sort my fenders on the boat as it was down stream!

 

[Capt Popeye]

Thank you for clarifying the 'hard' facts! ho ho ho

On a well organized Marina 'boat park' i'd suggest (found) that boats just being 'stored', 'over wintered' etc are kept away from boats undergoing major 'works' and 'repairs' etc; This is to help prevent the sort of damage, marks etc to other boats.

Seems that in this case the Marina allowed a mix of storeage and boats undergoing works together; should avoid this sort of Marina.

 

[DJE]

My long understanding is that the 'Hard' is an area on or just above high water that is harder than the mud found on shore or river bed, where boats can be floated, drawn up or slipped, usually to be maintained/ repaired etc.