Not a Great Day

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Howard,
As others have said, no injuries so that is the silver lining. Best of luck finding the right yard to fix her better than new. A real bum deal for sure.
I could understand a side to side collision when on a t dock due to wind or current drift, but a T-bone situation must mean some sort of mechanical or a huge judgement error on the operator's part! Ouch!
 
In a way it was a good thing you were on board. On my previous boat I came back to it and found damage and no one stepped up to accept blame.
 
Howard,

Call Steve at A&J Boatworks in Stuart...they have some very skilled guys working out of his yard glass work, painting, etc. Been in there twice and both times very happy.
772-286-5339

Bryan
 
Thanks for all the input folks. The other guy was stand up about it. Presented his drivers license and insurance documents. Martin County Sherrifs Department responded as did Florida Fish and Wildlife. There were witnesses who gave statements and they were all consistent.

The fellow had taken delivery of a 37' 2008 Nordic Tug which was brought to him by a delivery captain. The captain was to return the next day to teach him boat handling. The new owner was a sailor and never had a powerboat. The captain didn't show up so he decided to give it a try on his own. He left the slip and tried to turn into the fairway. His turn was too wide so he began to back up. The boat moved back faster than he expected so he jammed the throttle (single electronic control) into forward. The boat took off and he panicked. He froze. We were side tied across the fairway. I saw the bow racing towards us and then CRASH.

After all was done, police etc., he asked me if I could take his boat back into his slip for him as he was now terrified of it. I said I would after the police witnessed a statement that I would not assume any liability. I put his boat back into his slip and he tried to give me a $50 bill. I refused it and told him to use it for lessons and not to let this incident ruin his boating life.

I have decided to have the boat repaired at American Custom Yacht in Stuart FL. Estimate has slightly exceeded $100K.

Again, thanks to all.
 
hmason said:
Thanks for all the input folks. The other guy was stand up about it. Presented his drivers license and insurance documents. Martin County Sherrifs Department responded as did Florida Fish and Wildlife. There were witnesses who gave statements and they were all consistent.

The fellow had taken delivery of a 37' 2008 Nordic Tug which was brought to him by a delivery captain. The captain was to return the next day to teach him boat handling. The new owner was a sailor and never had a powerboat. The captain didn't show up so he decided to give it a try on his own. He left the slip and tried to turn into the fairway. His turn was too wide so he began to back up. The boat moved back faster than he expected so he jammed the throttle (single electronic control) into forward. The boat took off and he panicked. He froze. We were side tied across the fairway. I saw the bow racing towards us and then CRASH.

After all was done, police etc., he asked me if I could take his boat back into his slip for him as he was now terrified of it. I said I would after the police witnessed a statement that I would not assume any liability. I put his boat back into his slip and he tried to give me a $50 bill. I refused it and told him to use it for lessons and not to let this incident ruin his boating life.

I have decided to have the boat repaired at American Custom Yacht in Stuart FL. Estimate has slightly exceeded $100K.

Again, thanks to all.
Click to expand...

ACY will do a great job for you.

It's nice he was such a good, decent guy. They are accidents and both parties should be reasonable but not always the case even with the guilty party. Sad that he decided to try it on his own. Not a good place to try to learn. Sure too that sailing he'd been through more difficult situations had he just not panicked. Lucky no one in either boat was injured and no one on the dock (yes, were your boat not there to stop him, who knows what might have happened). He's also lucky he hit a gentleman like you.
 
oscar said:
Can you expand on that? I don't see 100 grand in your pictures, but I bet I need to learn here......:ermm:
Click to expand...

Isn't that about one-half to one-third of the boat's value?? Geez. :ermm:
 
hmason said:
Thanks for all the input folks. The other guy was stand up about it. Presented his drivers license and insurance documents. Martin County Sherrifs Department responded as did Florida Fish and Wildlife. There were witnesses who gave statements and they were all consistent.

The fellow had taken delivery of a 37' 2008 Nordic Tug which was brought to him by a delivery captain. The captain was to return the next day to teach him boat handling. The new owner was a sailor and never had a powerboat. The captain didn't show up so he decided to give it a try on his own. He left the slip and tried to turn into the fairway. His turn was too wide so he began to back up. The boat moved back faster than he expected so he jammed the throttle (single electronic control) into forward. The boat took off and he panicked. He froze. We were side tied across the fairway. I saw the bow racing towards us and then CRASH.

After all was done, police etc., he asked me if I could take his boat back into his slip for him as he was now terrified of it. I said I would after the police witnessed a statement that I would not assume any liability. I put his boat back into his slip and he tried to give me a $50 bill. I refused it and told him to use it for lessons and not to let this incident ruin his boating life.

I have decided to have the boat repaired at American Custom Yacht in Stuart FL. Estimate has slightly exceeded $100K.

Again, thanks to all.
Click to expand...

Perfectly civil - Ya gotta luv it! That's the way accidents of most sorts should be handled.

Although... too damn bad this civility exercise had to be put to the test at all.

I'll bet cha the new owner of a new to him "power" type of boat will have some splanen ta do to his ins co. He'll be lucky if all they do is raise his premiums and not kick him to the curb with a really notable black mark on his name for other marine insurers to see.

Good luck to both you and he!! :thumb:
 
oscar said:
Can you expand on that? I don't see 100 grand in your pictures, but I bet I need to learn here......:ermm:
Click to expand...

I'm sure he will detail, but while it may not look awful, it's definitely some expensive work to do right. ACY, as would Rybovich, will rebuild just as if they were building new. I'm sure some out there would have done it for half what they will, but never assured that the structure was entirely sound as it was before. I would be they've included things like painting the entire boat too, not trying to patch and touch up and blend.
 
oscar said:
Can you expand on that? I don't see 100 grand in your pictures, but I bet I need to learn here......:ermm:
Click to expand...

Hard to say. I see some major glass work where the deck and hull join and a lot of SS and teak work. Those will be labor intensive, labor = money.
 
Yes.... painting the whole boat would get it up there. Wonder if the insurance that's going end up holding the bag will pay for that.
 
oscar said:
Yes.... painting the whole boat would get it up there. Wonder if the insurance that's going end up holding the bag will pay for that.
Click to expand...

Insurance companies often don't want to pay for certain things but when a reputable yard insists they are needed, they give in. I don't know if painting the whole boat is involved here or not, but that's the kind of thing to push it up quickly. Don't know if insurance sent surveyor or trusted ACY to estimate. We'll have to wait for the OP to return and fill us in.
 
Once the insurance company settles I will be happy to say what was done. At this point let's just say that B&B is right on. There is also interior work to be done and some flybridge damage. The impact was so severe that the glass covering the flybridge instruments cracked. The port side of the boat also sustained some damage since the starboard impact pushed the port side against the dock.
 
Whoa..... that's a whole lot more than the pic indicated. Well, good luck with it. Hope you come out as good or better as you went in to make up for the aggravation.
 
Sorry to hear about he accident. Glad nobody was hurt and the owner took responsibility. How did the Nordic do in the accident?
 
Retriever said:
Sorry to hear about he accident. Glad nobody was hurt and the owner took responsibility. How did the Nordic do in the accident?
Click to expand...

Little damage to the NT. The rubber strip down the bow split open. Some scrapes in the gelcoat. That's about it.
 
oscar said:
Whoa..... that's a whole lot more than the pic indicated. Well, good luck with it. Hope you come out as good or better as you went in to make up for the aggravation.
Click to expand...

In an accident of that nature, with the force of the impact, it's often much more than appears in a photo or from a distance. It's like cars with a little damage but warped frames. This was a strong hit. I would imagine there's still damage not yet discovered and won't be until surfaces are removed. This is just the type job that you better have the best yard you can find looking at it.

People mention the cost of repair vs the value of the boat, but unless the repair cost exceeds 80% then that isn't an issue. Keep in mind that you must look at the cost of the repair as a percentage of a new boat because it costs just as much to repair a boat with some years as one just launched. No savings because it was old. That's the same reason that collision damage doesn't drop as much on cars as their value does. It costs just as much to repair a 10 year old car as a new one so as long as it's not totaled age doesn't reduce the cost.
 
hmason said:
Little damage to the NT. The rubber strip down the bow split open. Some scrapes in the gelcoat. That's about it.
Click to expand...

Hope he has his looked at well also. Of course he hit in an attack position and mode and you were in a defenseless one.
 
I hope his insurance is good. And particularly that he was not in breach of it by operating the boat before he had taken what appear to be vitally necessary pre planned boat handling lessons.
 
Bummer! Sorry to hear! I'm sure before you know it it'll be as good as new! Still, what a pain.
 
What a pain in the butt being without a boat for a while. Hopefully it will be better than new well before the your next cruising season..

It wouldn't surprise me if your dockmate puts his NT37 up for sale.
A similar thing happened in our marina. A couple first bought a berth, then a Riviera 36 to put in it. The first time out they bounced off a couple of boats leaving the marina causing minor damage. Same thing coming back. The boat sat idle for another 6 months before the for sale sign went up. A short boating career.
 
When the damage gets into interior woodwork, the costs usually skyrocket.

Lsst year there was a sailboat in our yard that was t boned by a steel commercial fishing vessel. The sailboat was at anchor so it may have had less resistance to impact than Howards boat.

The work involved interior overhead and bulkheads. It took over 2 months to complete and over $100, 000 as I heard.

I guessed the guy was unfamiliar with the control setup, but you never know. I know experienced captains that are used to one kind of controls and are a menace with the other till they get used to them again, me included.
 
psneeld said:
When the damage gets into interior woodwork, the costs usually skyrocket.

Lsst year there was a sailboat in our yard that was t boned by a steel commercial fishing vessel. The sailboat was at anchor so it may have had less resistance to impact than Howards boat.

The work involved interior overhead and bulkheads. It took over 2 months to complete and over $100, 000 as I heard.

I guessed the guy was unfamiliar with the control setup, but you never know. I know experienced captains that are used to one kind of controls and are a menace with the other till they get used to them again, me included.
Click to expand...

But then again... could it have been a control malfunction?? Ins. cos will have great time haggling over that premise. I'm so sorry for Howard and wife. Such an unexpected drag on boat enjoyment...
 
It wouldn't surprise me if the ins co totaled the boat once they find all of the damage. A side hit would compress the side inward right down to the chine then spring back. Makes me ill thinking of it.
 
As we get closer to beginning a high quality repair I would like to engage a top notch surveyor. Any recommendations for a surveyor in the Stuart FL area?
 
I highly recommend Malcolm Elliott of Florida Nautical Surveyors. Our experience is with him.

I've heard good things but not personally used Matt Jones, Jones Marine, and Blake Stahl.

Doug Birely is the closest and all I've heard about him is positive. One thing being closer can afford you is the surveyor involved while the work is in process with a couple of checks on issues he is most concerned about being repaired well.

Still, all the surveyors in the area are more than willing to go there.
 
We are now considering the yard we will use to do the repairs. As we are located in Stuart FL we will be using a local yard. So far we have had the boat looked at by American Custom Yacht and Whiticar Boat Works. Both agree that there is no apparent structural damage. Yes, we considered Hinkley as well but a few "locals" advised against using them. We were also encouraged to consider Cracker Boy in Fort Pierce---I know nothing about them.

I would appreciate any input from those of you familiar with the yards in this area. Thanks to all.
 
Surveyors Doug Birely and Malcom Elliot both come highly recommended. I spoke with Malcom and he will look at the estimates for me and make a trip to see the boat if necessary.
 
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