Insurance and winterizing engines

[Lyndon670]

From a legal perspective, it comes down to paying for a service and not recieving said service - which resulted in damage. Their marina insurance policy would cover the damage, no different than if they dropped your boat from a sling. Case in point - spring launch 2017. My marina travel lift blew a hydraulic pump and 2 hoses causing the travel lift to roll down through the parking lot with my 506 in the slings - with no steering or brakes - until it came to a stop from workers throwing 6x6 timbers under the wheels....my marina manager was great, he said very accurately - "you almost got to go boat shopping again".

[tomschauer]

Lyndon, were you there to witness your runaway boat? If so, did you need to change your undies?

[Viper]

Marinas typically have all kinds of fine print in their contracts in an attempt to protect themselves but realistically not all of them would hold up in court though even if you agree to the terms. Simply signing off on something doesn't excuse stupidity or negligence. A perfect example is a clause that attempts to get the marina off the hook should they crash your boat while they are piloting it. No judge (on one of their good days!) would let them get away with that. It's also incumbent on you to read your contract and make the changes/cross off what you think is unreasonable, you never know, they may be okay with it. If you make the changes and they take your money, then they've ratified/agreed to your changes even if they haven't signed it back.

[Viper]

Source of the post.... or if you were storing in heated storage and their heat failed (or do they request you winterize anyways 'just in case'?)

I've always recommended winterizing when in indoor storage. Power failures in bad storms can last for days or a week or more at times. Backup generators are great if they're properly maintained but that's rare as they're usually overlooked so more often then not they're on poor fuel and run rough from lack of use. Not something I would rely on when tens of thousands of dollars hang in the balance. Some places have low temp alarms but you're still relying on human intervention in a timely manner when something goes wrong. It's just not worth the risk IMO.

[Lyndon670]

Lyndon, were you there to witness your runaway boat? If so, did you need to change your undies?

Lol...here is a picture of one of the staff members running for dear life as my boat rolled backwards thru the lot towards the docks. Completely free rolling - they got it stopped by throwing 6x6 timbers under the wheels - they tried 2x4s but the lift just kept rolling away...

To answer your question....I think I lost a few years of my life in those 20 seconds of terror lol

[bud37]

Lyndon....I'm no expert on this,but you have a large ,heavy boat, should it be double slung?..

[Lyndon670]

Bud,

Its at the max for the travel lift - dry. Somehow I don't think double strapping will have any bearing on the outcome. I love the boat but have no issue replacing her...if shit goes bad, I look at it as an "upgrade opportunity"!

[Makin Waves]

Our marina will not be responsible for anything unless they winterize everything, with that being said I had them winterize everything the year I traded in that 41CMY for my current 46MY. In the spring one engine would not start on the 41CMY and they tried to sell me a new Volvo EDC, I traded in the boat to Crates Lake Country with one engine and told them to fix and let me know about it, never heard a peep from them and that boat has been resold. I now winterize everything myself and I have no worries in the spring

[bud37]

Source of the post Bud,

Its at the max for the travel lift - dry.

Thats the way it looked like to me....

[bud37]

The way I see this for me is quite simple, the rest of the boat is easy, you make a mistake and what is it, some plastic hose, maybe a pump, etc but at no point is it remotely like doing main engines ( read serious money here ).Now if mine were closed cooled I wouldn't think anything of it, but with them raw ...well different story.Dollar wise ...lets say 15k to replace one engine, divided by 200 for them to winterize =75 years of my poor old body not crawling around in there......just sayin, remember this is just my opinion......

Also I have a nagging feeling that the claim process might not go as smooth as we think......