How's your insurance?
Written by Geoff
Tuesday, 18 August 2009 00:49
How's your Boat insurance?
This article has been de-identified but was reported by a member of the Compass Yacht Group outside the Sydney area.
Earlier this year two yachts broke their moorings during the night and together drifted south, leaving a trail of damage to several other moored vessels in their wake. What happened, the member cannot say, there were no eyewitnesses.
His Yacht bore evidence of having been impacted on all sides. The rigging, (all of which was renewed in 2007), the fore stay, back stay, cap shrouds, forward and aft lowers on both port and starboard, all show to some degree, areas of chafing at about the same height above the deck. This is consistent with the height of davits on the yachts normally moored immediately down stream from his.
Further evidence of the collision is exhibited in scratches on supporting bracket on both sides of the mainsheet track. The cabin window on the aft, port side has a crack in the top right hand corner. Several life rail stanchions have been bent and the pushpit rail has a couple of small indentations highlighted by traces of white paint from the offending vessel. In addition, a small chip fragment of the offending craft was found on the port side aft quarter, deck. Further signs of damage include; paint and scuffmarks from stem to stern on the port-rubbing strip, which has also lifted slightly from the hull, at the bow. The stainless steel stem-plate has a small split on the same side.
On the starboard side, amidships, the rubbing strip has been badly shattered. This has exposed one of the fastening screws fixing the strip to the hull and the head of the screw shows traces of the gel coat or what ever material the offending vessel is built of. Close examination of the hull, below the scar, gives an impression that the starboard topside of the hull, amid ships, has been pushed in and then returned to its original contour. It appears as though this impact has broken the seal between the hull and deck. The members boat is normally a very dry boat but since the accident, water is penetrating below the deck, tracking through the superstructure and wetting the starboard quarter berth. Water is also accumulating in the bilge to a greater degree than he have ever observed previously.
The owner of the second drifting yacht, contacted the member asking that he accompany him on a tour of the site, allowing him to put forward his interpretation of the evidence. He claimed this would vindicate him and prove that his boat could not have been responsible, or indeed involved, in the collision. While am no expert, the drifter's theory does appear to be quite sound.
He believes that while the tide was still coming in, the first yacht being the boat moored immediately down stream from the member's, broke her mooring, and then collided with the member's yacht. Becoming entangled in his rigging, she inflicted all the above-mentioned damage, then disentangled herself and continued to drift upstream with the tide. The tide then turned and she began to drift downstream and slightly inshore, where she collided with the second moored yacht. The collision being of sufficient force as to break the double tethered mooring lines of his boat and causing both boats to drift free, downstream before finally being intercepted by Sea rescue, who towed them to safety and resecured them.
Measuring the height from the water line to the damaged rubbing strip on the Compass(700mm) and also checked the height of chafing on the rigging; they then visited the first boat. There they found scrapes and marks and brown timber stains corresponding to damage on the Compass. They checked the one remaining davit, (the other had been removed, after the collision, for repairs), it appeared to have scoring around the top ribbing, corresponding to the Compass' chafed rigging.
Visiting the second boat they found no damage consistent with colliding with the Compass.
We hope the Compass' insurance come to the party for the owner who would appear to be the innocent victim.
(Taken from the insurance report)
Last Updated on Tuesday, 18 August 2009 00:54