Cruising Sailors Forum Archive

In my yard in CT..

I can't ever recall signing a contract. It's all done on a handshake. No assigned launch dates, etc. Definately a DIY yard - no store, no rigging shop, no paint shop, no carpenter shop. Just dockage, a crane, and storage. Oh yeah, a refrigerator.
Last Fall, they dropped my boat during hauling. Out of the water was fine, swung over the power wash area OK, then they were lowering the boat into the cradle (on a trailer) for moving to it's storage location. I saw a 3' drop, lots of folks said 4', one said 6'. Anyway, destroyed the cradle, breaking or bending 4 out of 6 of the steel poppets. Also bent the trailer under the cradle. Anyway, had the surveyor in for the damage assessment, then the fiberglass guy for repair. Main damage was one poppet pushing the hull in against the water tank. Broke the bottom of the tank, and the baffle pushed up and broke the top of the tank. Fiberglass guy read the survey then went through the boat - 100 hrs at $95/hr.
Short story, no insurance claim. The yard and I reached a mutually agreeable settlement. The yard doesn't need someone coming in wondering why there wasn't a certified crane operator (and perhaps condemming the crane), and I can do a lot of grinding, filling, and fairing for way less than $95/hr.
I could have filed with my insurance company and gotten full payment, but then they would have gone after the yard and the yard's insurance company. Then I would have been looking for a new yard - probably one with a signed contract, a specified launch date, and a requirement that I hire one of their shops for anything other than changing a light bulb.
Perhaps I'm old fashioned. I'll probably get out of boating before I become new fashioned.

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