a (semi) happy (almost) ending to my saga

[hamiam]

as many of you might remember Ive been in conflict with my marina over damage I believe they did to the engine. I dont remember who suggested I file an insurance claim with my insurance company but that was the ticket! They sent out a surveyor who concluded that "marina negligence" was to blame for the damage to the engine and they agreed to pay for a new engine and the labor to swap it out less depreciation and such. So, Im not whole but Im alot closer to it. Anyways, thanks for the good advice.

[Surfesq]

I think I gave you a bit of free legal advice on this sucker. I am surprised that the Marina did not get their carrier involved. Because now, your carrier will pay the claim and subrogate against the Marina. That is why they had it surveyed. Good luck.

[hellosailor]

Bravo ham! Glad to hear you got that far. Have you also gotten the boat out of that hellhole yet?

[Faster]

Thanks for the update, Ham. Wishing you an end to your long saga sooner rather than later.

And to those of you shopping for a 34-35 foot racer/cruiser, take the time to check out Ham's boat. Great cruising amenities and accomodation on a long waterline, good level of finish and detail, an attractive and well-mannered boat. And it will have a fresh engine!

[sailingdog]

Congrats Ham. Good to see the little guy win for once.

[hamiam]

I dont feel like I really won and no I havent gotten the boat out of there yet as the girl who "runs" the marina refuses to return my calls. Im guessing I will have to initiate legal proceedings against the marina owner to get the boat back. I've requested on numerous occasions copies of paid bills as well as any current charges but to no avail. I am in the state of New York so if anyone wishes to chime in on what should be my next move, please let me know. The owner of the marina is the kind of guy that will fight me.

[GoLikeaFish]

From your original post, it sounded like the insurance company agreed to pay for your damages. Whether they just write it off or go after the owner of the marina should be their decision.

[hellosailor]

Ham-
I don't know how much of a rig you'd need to remove the boat...but maybe it is worth taking a shot. Right now, before the yard is stacked up with winter storage and your boat just "can't be reached".

Get out the title to your boat. Call a transporter, whatever you need, and go to the yard to pick it up. If the yard refuses to release it, you call the police--preferably the county or state police, not a local who might be in his pocket.
With the officer as a witness, you say "This is titled property, this is my property, I am taking my property. If you refuse to release it, I will ask the officer to arrest you for wrongful retention. If you have any claims against my property, you can file them in court."

It *IS* titled property, and whether the yard has claims or not, the police are required to help you recover your property from anyone who is "retaining" it.

If you go to the local state police barracks (who might say it isn't their jurisdcition) or sheriff (who might charge a fee) and schedule the trip ahead of time, they might accompany you and the hauler on the way in.

But if you wait another month--the yard will have the excuse "We can't reach it, there are too many boats in the way" and then you'll owe them winter storage.

Worth discussing with your attorney.

[Rockter]

Yes.... time to retrieve your ship.

The world is full of crooks.... you have to live in a cave to avoid them.

I have never faced that dilemma though.

[hamiam]

Yea, its hard ball time. Im lucky in that my insurance company has agreed to give me a depreciated amount for a new engine and some money to replace it. The depreciated amount is ~ 75% of the price of a new engine (which is guess is fair?) and the amount for the labor will not cover the labor but the insurance company claims that we can file additional bills for the labor if there are additional charges (which i believe there will be). It is my opinion and the opion of the insurance company's surveyor, the surveyor i hired privately, and the engine manufacturer, that a fraud has occured here. Basically they feel that the mechanic repeatedly tried to turn over the engine with the raw water valve open. The lack of back pressure in the engine caused the water lift muffler to fill with water and eventually splash back into the engine where the salt water caused the internal rust that is evident in the cylinders, etc. In the process of doing this the mechanic burned out the starter and broke teeth off of fly wheel when the cylinders filled with water which (according to the experts) is not compressible. Im out about $5k for the starter, fly wheel, other bs and their $120/hour labor rate. The surveoyors, the engine maker, and myself all believe that the marina hoped I wud just shrug my shoulders and agree to replace the engine chalking it up to bad luck or something. Basically, in my opinion, there was a cover-up here. Im also out 2 years of insurance payments, 2 seasons of lost use, etc. The marina is now claiming that "maybe water in fuel caused the rust." None of my people and the experts on this board all refute that possibily. I actually had the tank drained and cleaned the season before that and I only use approximately 30 gallons of fuel per season. Great advise about getting it out of there sooner rather than later. My father-in-law is an attorney in town and actually probably has more positive pull than the scum bag who owns the marina. Maybe its just me but if you (as the marina) really think you at not at fault here why would you refuse to provide me with a bill? Why do you continue to insist to see surveyors reports and such. Why not get your own f-cking surveyor. Its all very suspicious to me.