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I'm sick. First damage to boat...

kaydano

kaydano

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Got some dock rash today. This could be worse, but the first is always the hardest.

The marina did this to my boat today. They are going to investigate tomorrow who did it, but it doesn't really matter, the damage is done.

What are my options here? Can this be fixed? Or, short of replacing the entire pontoon, will I simply have to live with this?

It's about 3 inches tall and a couple feet long. Pretty deep, they will never buff out, I realize that, but what are my options here? Would my insurance cover this? Or not worth turning in (getting cancelled, worst case).



 
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Ouch! If they damaged the toon, they need to replace it as I don't see how a repair would look acceptable. Any idea what happened at the marina? Why was it there? I'd raise hell. I hate hearing about situations like this.
 
Yup, new tube for sure.
 
I'd try and make lemonade out of the lemons. I wonder how much buffing it would take to get your toons be shiny bright? You would have less of a problem blending. I have not asked and body shops if they would do this, but it might be worth asking. As for your other questions, I am going to refer to others that this may have happened to. I hope the marina steps up.
 
OUCH !!!!

You said the "MARINA" did it? If that's the case I would think THEIR insurance should cover it, unless they have some type of "waiver of responsibility".

Was it caused by the actual dock, by something sticking out?

As for repair, MAYBE use a d/a sander and some 400-600 grit to clean it up best as possible, then work your way down. Remember, the scratches are already pretty deep so you

probably don't want to try and completely remove all of it. The metal is probably .080 thick, or 5/64 of an inch (just a hair over 1/16") so there's not a ton of thickness to work with.

This will also leave a "soft spot" due to the removal of some metal, but you are kind of between a rock and a hard place right now.
 
Aaaahh........... it doesn't look that bad! Ha! The marina will HAVE TO make it right one way or another if they are responsible. Were they putting it in the water for you? Didn't tie it up properly? How did they do this? Were they negligent in any way???????
 
I have seen a product that is basically an aluminum filler rod, it is advertised to have a lower melting point than aluminum, sandable and polishable, and to be a permanent repair.

Since this should be an insurance issue, it may not apply to your situation, but for future reference for those who might need it, it comes from New Technology Products and is called HTS 2000.

I have not used it, just saw it while looking into aluminum repairs for automotive applications.
 
ouch!! when I purchased my RCL 2 months ago the toon had similar damage. The dealer told me that they could sand them out to look better but they were way off!! when they were finished with it it looked worse than when they started. I ended up sanding it myself. I started with 320 grit in the scratched areas and then wet sanded with Scotch bright pads, 400 and 600 grit paper. I might use 1000 grit to finish it. Lots of hours. you will never get the deep ones out as there just is not enough metal to work with like others have said. the thing that sucks is that you have to sand the whole toon otherwise it will not be uniform and look horrible. Mine does look better than before and am happy with my results but I have a lot of elbow grease into it.

Bottom line, it will never look the same unless they replace the toon!! I would not accept anything less
 
Geoffrey & Brenda said:
I have seen a product that is basically an aluminum filler rod, it is advertised to have a lower melting point than aluminum, sandable and polishable, and to be a permanent repair.

Since this should be an insurance issue, it may not apply to your situation, but for future reference for those who might need it, it comes from New Technology Products and is called HTS 2000.

I have not used it, just saw it while looking into aluminum repairs for automotive applications.
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I would like to know if anyone has used this product or have used any product that I could use to fill in the deep scratches.
 
Ditto on the HTS 2000.

Yeah, these are not going to buff out. They are deep. Integrity of the pontoon is in question (stregth-wise), but I don't see it being thin enough that I have to worry about it splitting along the gouge unless it took another hit.

I have actually polished my pontoons to a mirror shine finish. Twice. White Lightning. Someone here recommended it. Incredible stuff. Without sharkhide, it oxidizes over in a matter of days. A week at the most. The scratches look shiny now becaue they are fresh, but with a polished toon, they will end up being black marks. Won't know unless I try it though. I had planned to do that at the end of boating season, which is end of September for me, but not so sure now.

I'm thinking the marina will deny they did it and it will become "he said he said". The last time they took my boat out of the water, I was there, as they thought I might have a leak and water getting into one of the pontoons. So we rocked it back and forth on the trailer, and tapped on the pontoons to see if they had water in them. Turns out it was likely just the gas sloshing around in the tank. But point is, we were tapping around in the same area where these gouges are, and there was no way I wouldn't have missed them if they were there then. So, next time I call to have it put in was yesterday. Super calm day. It's Thursday afternoon, so I'm the only one in the marina. I back it out of the slip without bumping anything. I definitely did not even touch the dock as I'm super careful about that everytime I go out. I get to the cove, and there they are on the side of the pontoon. So, there is no question in my mind they did this. Still unfolding.
 
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Another option would be to move the starboard pontoon to port and visa versa. I did this with one of my previous pontoons that got banged up in a hurricane. Looked good as new.
 
The only option I see is for the marina to repair it to the previous condition. If someone backed into your car or truck they would be responsible and their insurance would cover it - we wouldn't debate it. I would think the only time your question comes into play is if the marinas insurance refuses. In that case I would expect your insurance to cover and then go after the marina for recovery.
 
Really hope Marina steps up for you. When did you notice the scratches, when they put it in or upon return from day of boating? If the marina will do nothing I like bankerii's suggestion of swapping toons. If marina puts in boat and takes out suggest do walk around before and after they touch boat
 
bankerii said:
Another option would be to move the starboard pontoon to port and visa versa. I did this with one of my previous pontoons that got banged up in a hurricane. Looked good as new.
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Great idea!!!! Way to think outside the box!
 
Hmm, any chance the marina happens to have security cameras around? You could see if you could see the tapes. Most are on harddrives these days and they record over themselves in about a week to ten days, depending on number of cameras and how big of hard drive, but worth a shot if they do.
 
Can you change port and starboard toons if they have strakes on them? On my elipticals, the inside and outside strakes are not identical in position on the tube.. Hmm. Hmmmm. Makes me wonder now
 
My strakes are not the same on the inside and out, swapping them would not work on mine, I'm not sure if that is the same with the express tube strake setup
 
Hey Kay............What did the marina say?????????
 
On the subject of security cameras. I have been using ip cameras for years and they are great. 24/7 security with sound and emails me a 20 sec video clip of any motion in the cameras view, cameras run around $150 and software for monitoring(blue iris) is about $50. to view you may have to download an ie item I forget what it's called . computer savy people know what im talking about has to do with active x. very simple , I did it so long ago I forgot but info is readily available on line, If you want to peek at my G2550 2015 just use bennington as the user name and guest as the password,

http://150tarpon.dyndns.office.com:80
 
ps I also have monitoring of camera on an app for my iPhone and ipad. love it
 
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