Thanks for scratching my yacht!!!!????

[Boat441]

Getting ready to lift our yacht out of the water today and moving the fenders we noticed somebody had put a 2m scratch down the side of our yacht; and speaking to the marina nobody reported it!

I'm sure it's nobody on here; but thanks so much!!!! Nice empty marina and some idiot decides to manoeuvre their boat next to ours, put a 2m scratch down the side and not bother to own up!

It's not as if they wouldn't have know they had caused damage. Now I have to pay myself; for somebody else's poor seamanship and dishonesty; and have it taken back and possibly re sprayed!

The marina are going to through the cctv footage; and if I find out who did it, they will definitely be hearing from my solicitor.

You would have hoped other boaters were all honest people; but I guess the few ruine it for the rest of it!!!

 

[Seajet]

In the late 70's my boat collected a funny crop of scratches just above the waterline; this happened to coincide with a windsurfing school opening nearby .

Then we got topsides scratches when a dinghy school opened right by our club.

The only apology I ever got was from a club member, and his Wayfarer was hanging with the transom mainsheet wrapped around my stemhead fitting at the mooring - he might still be there now if I hadn't been there to free it !

 

[bitbaltic]

Getting ready to lift our yacht out of the water today and moving the fenders we noticed somebody had put a 2m scratch down the side of our yacht; and speaking to the marina nobody reported it!

I'm sure it's nobody on here; but thanks so much!!!! Nice empty marina and some idiot decides to manoeuvre their boat next to ours, put a 2m scratch down the side and not bother to own up!

It's not as if they wouldn't have know they had caused damage. Now I have to pay myself; for somebody else's poor seamanship and dishonesty; and have it taken back and possibly re sprayed!

The marina are going to through the cctv footage; and if I find out who did it, they will definitely be hearing from my solicitor.

You would have hoped other boaters were all honest people; but I guess the few ruine it for the rest of it!!!

They should be hearing from your insurance company, not you or your solicitors.

Sympathize though. Would feel exactly the same.

 

[johnalison]

Very upsetting when this happens. The worst we've had was years ago when we were on the hammerhead on a drying pontoon. We returned to find that a heavy boat had dried alongside and tied to our cap shroud, bending the screw and distorting the deck attachment.

 

[Seajet]

Very upsetting when this happens. The worst we've had was years ago when we were on the hammerhead on a drying pontoon. We returned to find that a heavy boat had dried alongside and tied to our cap shroud, bending the screw and distorting the deck attachment.

Now that really is nasty, and could be said to be endangering the boat and lives; may their wotsits itch for eternity !

 

[Sticky Stuff]

I dont know about the UK but if this happened in a Greek Marina the marina are entirely responsible for all repair costs,(irreverent of who or how it happened) you are paying good money to the Marina to keep your boat safe. Marina's in Greece are insured for this sort of claim

Is this not the same in the UK ?
How nice of your Marina to offer to look at the CCTV footage for you ! I would be asking for a little more than that if I paid UK marina prices.

 

[Marine Reflections]

Parking at my local B&Q the other day a heavy duty trolley whizzed past the front of my van and into the side a new Corsa.
The couple who had been using it, hadn't even noticed it missing until they emerged from the boot looking all clueless.

When they did focus on said trolley, there was a bit of a discussion as to who was going to get it.

The man went first and walked towards the trolley, but bottled it when he saw the massive dent in the rear quarter, he just walked past it as if it where nothing to do with him.

The woman, observing this, quickly walked over to the trolley and returned it to a collection point, then calls the man back.

She jumps straight into car and starts the engine, he jumps in a few moments later and there off.

Blooming cheek! I thought.

I slipped a business card into the side window as I have it all on my go-pro (used for dash cam) including reg no.
I'd want to know who damaged my vehicle if I came back and noticed a whopping dent in the side.

As yet I haven't heard from the Corsa owner. Hope they don't think it was me!

Tony

 

[l'escargot]

I dont know about the UK but if this happened in a Greek Marina the marina are entirely responsible for all repair costs,(irreverent of who or how it happened) you are paying good money to the Marina to keep your boat safe. Marina's in Greece are insured for this sort of claim

Is this not the same in the UK ?
How nice of your Marina to offer to look at the CCTV footage for you ! I would be asking for a little more than that if I paid UK marina prices.

Would you expect Sainsbury's to pay to have your car repaired if someone else drove into it in their car park? I doubt it, that's why you take out your own insurance.

 

[Jamesuk]

I wish i could say 'somebody scratched my yacht' :-(

Truth be told, it has to be expected, just like a scratch or dent to the car. Life goes on.

Its frustrating at the time. I returned to find a gel coat repair two seasons ago in the bow. Amazing really nothing was mentioned and nothing was reported, i had to redo it to the spec standard of the boat.

What goes on in yards and marinas is baffling. Distrust and a pure lack of 'outstanding' customer service is rife

 

[sailaboutvic]

I dont know about the UK but if this happened in a Greek Marina the marina are entirely responsible for all repair costs,(irreverent of who or how it happened) you are paying good money to the Marina to keep your boat safe. Marina's in Greece are insured for this sort of claim

Is this not the same in the UK ?
How nice of your Marina to offer to look at the CCTV footage for you ! I would be asking for a little more than that if I paid UK marina prices.

I think you be very lucky to get any thing out of a Marina in greece .

 

[lisilou]

This kind of thing makes me mad. We had an incident recently where a visiting yacht was trying to berth next to us on a spring ebb and got it completely wrong and ended up pinned to the swim platform of our boat having first 'pivoted' off the corner. Fortunately, several of my neighbours saw it and helped him free himself from my boat. Did the skipper report it to the marina??...NO! Nice one skip!!
My neighbours however, told me what had happened and gave me the name of the boat. The marina couldn't give me his contact details but they contacted him on my behalf. His response?..'Not my fault. You shouldn't have allocated me that berth!'
How the hell can a skipper blame the marina for his own inability to correctly assess the tide?! Very bad form and if he's a forumite here, he'll know who he is by this description.
My marina (Swanwick) paid to have the damage repaired. They didn't have to do that at all so all credit to them. Customer service at its absolute best.
There are decent boat owners and there are not so decent ones. It sucks but it's life. I feel for the OP.
L

 

[han34]

I have lost count of the number of times my boat has been hit in a marina. The the last four occasions, in just the last year have been in Le Harvre, Cowes, Roscoff and Universal in the Hamble. The skippers in Cowes, le Harve and Roscoff owned up (although I was on board). The skipper in Universal did not, but was reported by another boat owner. Not sure how the Marina could take responsibility for other peoples actions, how could you prove it if the other boat has disappeared?. I could imagine a host of spurious claims. Has anybody actually been paid out by a marina for this type of incident? I would suspect that boats are hit a lot more often than people realise. I am aware of the times I get hit by other boats because of the amount of time I spend aboard.

 

[RupertW]

I don't really see this as a big deal - if you keep your boat in a marina it will get bumps and scratches. The boat isn't made out of eggshells and can take it, so not worth a fuss or repair in my view as there'll be another one along in a minute.

I have been annoyed with bumps not being reported but only when some expensive damage happened while I was away from the boat - a pulpit being ripped off in Plymouth and in Croatia a mast being twisted at the spreaders making it unusable . But scratches and minor dinks don't worry me.

 

[Seajet]

Years ago my boat was on the outside of a raft of 7 at Poole Town Quay, with shore lines out.

A boat from the raft in front reversed out and wrapped my line around their prop, upon which they cut the line and stole half taking it with them !

Neighbouring boats gave me the name and club of the boat, so I went and had a chat with their secretary.She was horrified and gave me the owner's details, and after a little agro he reluctantly posted back my warp.

Since then I have always been on the lookout for him...

 

[Ripster]

Over the years my views/feelings have changed about minor (or even bigger) marks and dints on boats. When I had a Flybridge MOBO it used to be important, keeping the hull prestine and topsides unmarked (fender socks - the lot!) Crew were told to stick to walking deck areas only and please use hand holds and rails and not walk on hatches etc etc. When I went over to sail and did some racing/training, I quickly realised that on a sailing boat, crew have to run all over it and stuff gets broken, scratched, scuffed, dinted nearly every trip. So I stopped worrying about it and enjoyed the sailing. Not saying I don't admire a beautifully polished mint MOBO or Saily boat, but IMO boats are there primarily to use and like cars they do get marked - scars of life.

On lift out each season, I go over the hull, give it a thorough polish and repair any scratches that need it.

 

[Steve Clayton]

Parking at my local B&Q the other day a heavy duty trolley whizzed past the front of my van and into the side a new Corsa.
The couple who had been using it, hadn't even noticed it missing until they emerged from the boot looking all clueless.

When they did focus on said trolley, there was a bit of a discussion as to who was going to get it.

The man went first and walked towards the trolley, but bottled it when he saw the massive dent in the rear quarter, he just walked past it as if it where nothing to do with him.

The woman, observing this, quickly walked over to the trolley and returned it to a collection point, then calls the man back.

She jumps straight into car and starts the engine, he jumps in a few moments later and there off.

Blooming cheek! I thought.

I slipped a business card into the side window as I have it all on my go-pro (used for dash cam) including reg no.
I'd want to know who damaged my vehicle if I came back and noticed a whopping dent in the side.

As yet I haven't heard from the Corsa owner. Hope they don't think it was me!

Tony

U gonna post the go-pro vid here then?

 

[boaterbaz]

+1 for ripstar. Boats are for enjoying the boating not wasting time being polished etc. I too like a well presented vessel in good order but minor dinks are a fact of life.

 

[Skylark]

This kind of thing makes me mad. We had an incident recently where a visiting yacht was trying to berth next to us on a spring ebb and got it completely wrong and ended up pinned to the swim platform of our boat having first 'pivoted' off the corner. Fortunately, several of my neighbours saw it and helped him free himself from my boat. Did the skipper report it to the marina??...NO! Nice one skip!!
My neighbours however, told me what had happened and gave me the name of the boat. The marina couldn't give me his contact details but they contacted him on my behalf. His response?..'Not my fault. You shouldn't have allocated me that berth!'
How the hell can a skipper blame the marina for his own inability to correctly assess the tide?! Very bad form and if he's a forumite here, he'll know who he is by this description.
My marina (Swanwick) paid to have the damage repaired. They didn't have to do that at all so all credit to them. Customer service at its absolute best.
There are decent boat owners and there are not so decent ones. It sucks but it's life. I feel for the OP.
L

Towards the end of last season something similar happened to my boat. The good news is that the visitor was blown on, broadside to my anchor. The marina staff helped him off and to berth safely. They gave him my phone number but he didn't have the decency to call. 40 footer, blue hull, single handed from Scotland to South Coast are about the only details I have.

Now I can understand other views about scratching gell coat being "no big deal" but my boat was only 1 year old at the time. I accept that it's going to get scratched but, from within the sailing community, I'd rather hoped that the low life had more about him. A quick call to apologise and to check with me that no damage had been done was in order. My anchor made a mess of his topside, I'm told.

 

[johnalison]

+1 for ripstar. Boats are for enjoying the boating not wasting time being polished etc. I too like a well presented vessel in good order but minor dinks are a fact of life.

That is an outrageous proposition. Boats are people's property and they use their hard-earned cash to buy and maintain them. If an owner has to fork out £1000, say, for a repair, then how long does he have to work just to earn this cash? To damage someone's boat and not pay is a form of theft and I have little respect for the perpetrators. In nearly forty five years of cruising I have never damaged another boat, in spite of many challenging situations. This is because I regard their hulls as no-go areas and seek to avoid situations from which there is no safe exit.

There was one exception to my boast above - I sank a child's dinghy in Holland when my gear cable parted but the dinghy was almost undamaged and they accepted our 50 left-over euros to repair the small scratch.

 

[RupertW]

That is an outrageous proposition. Boats are people's property and they use their hard-earned cash to buy and maintain them. If an owner has to fork out £1000, say, for a repair, then how long does he have to work just to earn this cash? To damage someone's boat and not pay is a form of theft and I have little respect for the perpetrators. In nearly forty five years of cruising I have never damaged another boat, in spite of many challenging situations. This is because I regard their hulls as no-go areas and seek to avoid situations from which there is no safe exit.

There was one exception to my boast above - I sank a child's dinghy in Holland when my gear cable parted but the dinghy was almost undamaged and they accepted our 50 left-over euros to repair the small scratch.

Gosh - hope nobody ever kicked your nice new football when you were a kid. It's a boat, they bash against each other.