Name & shame - a salutory tale for owners who care about their gelcoat.

[RealWindmill]

Monday evening - sat on Stokesby Ferry Inn moorings and nicely tied up with a smallish gap, say 12ft, to the hire boat ahead along the quay.

Had a very good meal (as always there - thoroughly recommend it) in the pub and came out to the boat for a sundowner and discovered a tatty old private dayboat launch had squeezed himself into the gap between my bows and the hireboat ahead. No problem there except that on closer examination found that this boat had a very sharp edged piece of bent around metal on his prow and this had dug into my gel leaving some ugly scours.

 

When the three owners of this dayboat came out of the pub I showed them the damage caused but there were totally disinterested  and denied it could be them that caused the scours, although it was patently obviously so.

Now all I wanted was for them to be aware of the problem their boat was causing - I recall even asking for a recompense of twenty quid for a bottle of rubbing compound and perhaps an admission of guilt - but all I got was the usual verbals that they're only boats and are in a fluid environment and will rub together and it's unavoidable. Is this not the very reason boats have rubber gunwhale strips and lots of fenders? To have a chunk of unprotected sharp metal digging into others is very avoidable.

The conversation degenerated and all they suggested was to take it to insurance claims and to that end I took their boat details, but this will obviously be a non-starter. they will simply continue to deny blame and I've no witnesses.

There were the group of hirers on the boat ahead who  heard and saw all this but they declined to come forward , and why should they ? They were on the last night of their holiday enjoying a meal and some drinks so really none of their business. I did apologise to them later for the times when I slipped into some "dockyard" language during my frustration in the conversation with the dayboaters.

 

Now my boat is not in pristine condition, although I'm working towards that. As an ex hire boat she bears the scars of previous encounters and has visible older repairs but that doesn't mean it deserves less respect from others.

 

The point of this post is to forewarn others in the Stokesby area to be aware and carefully around this dayboat as it's owners/crew despite seeming to be regular middle aged men have absolutely no concern or respect for any other boats they may damage with their metalwork

The boat is a wooden open boat with a wooden cuddy  and a For Sale signboard with a mobile number on it. Quite distinctive.

 

I would like to think the ********** on it would read this and take more care and even put a simple bow fender across the prow.

 

Private owners in the area beware of it.

 

Thanks

Bob

[dnks34]

With any luck somebody more considerate will buy it. It may not be a non starter with your insurance, and there's always small claims, even though it's only a bit of gel coat Id be tempted to do it anyway just to spite them, I won't say what I think of them.

Do we all need to fit our boats with all round CCTV?

[ranworthbreeze]

Hello Bob,

 

Sorry to hear of your plight. sadly these days very few people hold their hands up and say they are sorry or even put their hands in their pockets.

 

It would be an idea to call Broads Control.

 

Stokesby is a great place but can be difficult to moor especially directly outside of the pub because of the side currents there.

 

Regards

Alan

[JawsOrca]

Hi Bob,

 

Sorry too to hear this. Personally I would have taken pictures then contacted my insurance company (and pestered them) .. With pictures and the boats registration number it's easy enough for the insurance company to get the owners address details and persue a claim.. I'd also let the BA know that a certain boat is causing damage.. (not to mention driving around perhaps a little tipsy...)

[Oddfellow]

Damage is damage and someone is responsible. Take the matter further. Behaviour like this is unwelcome.

[BroadScot]

 

 

Behaviour like this is unwelcome.

Correct Andy,

 

Bob, IMHO take it further so others don't end up with the grief you have suffered. Hope they are nicked!

 

 

 

Iain

[ExSurveyor]

Hi Bob, welcome to the friendly forum. It was nice to meet you the other week, even if you didn't have any cold beer.

It is good to hear you are getting a lot of use out of your boat. Unfortunately ill mannered oxygen thieves are about on the water as much as on land.

[CheshireCat]

Hi Bob welcome to the forum, I can't really say much more I agree with all the information you been given I would certainly take it further because it's just not on. Having been hit myself I do know how you feel, so yes report them.

[Hockham Admiral]

What a dis-spiriting tale, Bob. We really do feel for you and agree that these sort do need reporting to Broads Control (Mon-Fri, 09.00-17.00) and perhaps Broads Beat.

Stuart (Wildfuzz) might comment on this, please?

 

With other peeps' advice here I've recently bought a dashboard camera which also has a G-sensor. Whether a bump from another boat will activate it is yet to be determined; however it does have a motion sensor and will record when motion is detected.

[RealWindmill]

Thanks guys for your feedback and support.

 

 I'm getting a bit old for all this confrontation and grief so guess I'll just nestle up into the reed beds next time and avoid pub frontages!

 

Dnks35 - i don't believe that tub will actually sell and hopefully it will be sitting on the bottom somewhere before too long !

 

Mark - yes, good meeting you also. I've two fridges now as I've fitted a small drinks fridge into the aft cabin running off the generator as you suggested. So next time on Bargate we'll have to raft up and have our own Topliner Club meet with plenty of coldies ! 

 

(Will see Paul for contact info and email you soonest)

 

Best regards all.

Bob