Wounded boat......

[Dave S]

So I lent my boat out to a friend to take out 2 of his family friends from Ontario. I was pretty confident they would be fine, flat calm day, decent amount of experience on boats, pretty smart guy. Well, they found a couple coho on the water, but before getting into the water, the bottom of my boat got real intimate with the dry concrete of the loading ramp. I didn't hear about it till they were backing it into my driveway. I wasn't too sure what my buddy was trying to tell me in his tail between his legs soft spoken voice. Slide my hand under the drain plug and my jaw dropped when I felt the scarring. Crawled under, shined a light on it, and almost started crying (not actually). Guess they un-clipped the winch and removed the safety chain high up on the ramp while taking the straps off, threw the truck in reverse and off went the boat. Bow way up, keel grinding the concrete, they were able to cranking it back up onto the trailer. I assume they had a look, shrugged off the damage, and continued to head out for some fishing. eeeeekk. I have been reassured that it will be taken care of, and well I don't want my buddy to have to pay too much money, I also want it done right. I have done some research and it seems the 2 best options in Victoria area are Jenkins and Blackline. Anyone have good OR bad experiences with either? Fingers crossed it isn't too noticeable when they are done and is as good strength and water tight as it was before. My poor Arima!!

 

[trophywife]

very fixable thanks god.. get your through hull fittings replaced with bronze while you are at it..

 

[Sculpin]

That sucks Dave. I don't lend my boat out to people for this very reason. I've had folks do some pretty dumb stuff to my boat just by being on board lol. If I do it it's one thing and I learn from it at my expense. Don't be too easy on him and make sure he flips the bill however much it costs. Lesson to your buddy.

I know sh*t happens but he has to learn from his mistake and you being the nice guy that lent him the boat should not be out of pocket. I have only heard good things about Jenkins. I am not familiar with the other shop you mentioned. Good luck with the repair and I hope your not off the water too long.

 

[SophiaB]

Lending stuff sucks. I rarely lend anything. This was obviously his fault, but say for instance your main blew. It most likely would have blown on the next trip no matter who was driving. But.... now you have this in the back of your head that he could have done something to cause it. It ran flawlessly prior to him borrowing it, just causes fights and untrust.

You friend sounds like a stand up guy. Hope it works out for you.

 

[Clipper]

'Friend' should have brought the boat back as soon as the accident happened and not put it in the water, as far as I'm concerned. Raw fiberglass is a big sponge and soaks up water. To go out fishing with this damage on somebody elses boat is inexcusable. Make sure he pays whatever it cost to make it right.

 

[spring fever]

Never lend a boat, chain saw or your wife-they'll all come back f--ked!! Wow I'm having a very un-PC sunday PM. Sorry to see your boat-do you have insurance?
I'm with the rest of the guys on this-get it professionally fixed and insist on him paying!!

 

[Gear'n'beer!]

Jenkins does very nice work and isn't overpriced. They will make sure it's done right.

 

[fish stalker]

oohhh ****. So sorry to hear Dave. I dont even like lending my 400 kayak lol. ...and they still went out was the kicker. I would have cried. Not only the money to fix it but the time off the water. My boat a old clunker but catches fish! if your dying to get out give me a shout.

 

[scott craven]

T'is only a flesh wound Dave, tell your buddy $500 should cover it
and keep on running !

 

[Sculpin]

T'is only a flesh wound Dave, tell your buddy $500 should cover it
and keep on running !

That's what his buddy thought and did keep on running. That is where the problem could be. Water intrusion into the foam. I'd have someone like Jenkins take a look at it. Might be drying her out for a while before she is able to be patched.

 

[profisher]

I've had glass repairs done by a few shops in town including the one mentioned on this post. I had someone scrape the corner of my transom this year with the prop of their kicker. He came over and offered to cover the repairs. I told him that I will be taking it to Blackline Marine in Sidney as they have always done the best work and done right the first time. Not the cheapest place to take your boat...but you get what you pay for. My only concern with Blackline has been that at times they do more than you agreed on. On any next visits I will be specific and tell them that I will only pay for the agreed on work and any extras I want a phone call first to discuss.

 

[fish stalker]

mabey even contact arima and see what the proper procedure drying out time ect might be.

 

[lenardobc]

Jenkins will fix it good as new. Sorry about your wounding.

 

[GDW]

WOW buddy did that to your boat and then still went fishing?

Whose idea was it to loan out your boat yours or his?

I've seen good work by Jenkins but not had anything done there myself. Good luck

 

[Sharphooks]

Yes, only a flesh wound in the fiberglass skin but Arima's claim to fame is all that foam ---it makes them unsinkable but also creates a giant SPONGE once the skin is pierced.

I'm with GDW on this---it's a jaw-dropper that a guy borrowing a boat would first drop it on the concrete ramp then nonchalantly take it out on the water to go fishing!!

If it were mine I'd insist on having the foam dried out before doing any fiberglass patch work. Wet foam in the transom is not a good formula for long-term structural integrity.

You might want to request your Jenkins guy to raise the bow for a gravitational effect then put some heat on the open wound for at least a few days to suck out the moisture.

Then I'd whack your bud's knuckles with a ruler, tell him to go sit in a corner with a dunce cap on, and tell him to get out his cheque book

 

[profisher]

Any good shop will put heaters to that and dry it out properly. Where I have had bad work before is in the quality of the finished gel work and polishing. Looks good at first but the gel flakes off later because the prep work was not done correctly. If the quote is low, they are cutting corners somewhere. Time = money. Time = good work.

 

[Bag-Juan]

I'd get the guy to buy me a new boat and he can have the soggy one.

 

[Saxe Point]

I've had work done at Blackline and it was excellent. I'd go there again.

 

[TheSookesOfHazzard]

Indeed, it's pretty bulls*** that buddy still took it out after that. But anyways, Jenkins does do awesome work! Also, I had a similar thing happen to my boat - not to that extent, but I had it beached at the lake for a weekend and the same area got pretty scraped up. I dried it out, sanded it down, used a marine-grade bondo, and re-painted - good as new!

 

[Andrew P]

Geeze Dave, that sucks!

I am sure that this is stressing the heck out of you, and I know he is. And not for the dollars. You are a good friend and I know that is why you offered it up to him to show them a good time, but you did take a risk in lending out your baby and this time that risk came back in the worst way(....could be worse though). You took the risk because you are a good buddy and knew that if anything did happen, that he would man up and make it right as you would with anything you borrow from him, and we know he will. It is the same risk that I took when lending my boat out the only time that it has ever been lent out; the time you needed in the middle of the night to rescue yours from the high tide line. I knew that I was taking a risk letting the boat go out without me and even more so in the pitch black....BUT, I knew that you were a stand up guy and would take care of it and make it right if things went wrong. Luck was on our side that night, but it could have gone different.

That is some bad damage, but with some money out of his bank account it will be good to go. Fixable and we both know the friendship is worth way more. I don't know what he was thinking taking it out afterwards, but I'll hold him for you to kick him in the balls.

****** deal, but there is no question he will take care of it.