Bad day on the water...

[ed & inge]

hai SP.....

just read this topic now...........what a terrible story.....and what a shock it would have been for you and your wife (and the doggies).....unbelievable that these things can happen.....dont lose faith in your capabilaty as boater....it can happen to all of us........hope you, your wife and doggies can jump on the boat within a short time.....

give this accident a place and start all over again......

greatz, ed

[seapuppy]

Thanks ed...appreciate the comments...



SP

[ed & inge]

hai SP

a few weeks further.....how is the situation right now.........is it getting repaired, are you going to sell her....what are your plans......

greatz, ed

[seapuppy]

Hi Ed
well..I've had a few weeks of dealing with the ins. co...and the bank...the ins. co. sent us the check for the repairs...which included myself, my wife's name and the bank's for a consigner...so..off to the bank I went ...talked to the mgr of the bank...who called the home office...who said send us the check....so...we signed it (thinking to myself, not a good idea)...and off to the bank home office it went ...where we heard nothing for a over a week....I called them up and said...look...where is my check...the girl told me from the bank we don't send the check back too you but we hold it till the work is done...send your deductable....I broke out laughing and said...look..my deductable is 500 bucks...that won't keep them in beer for a week...look...I did 44k worth of damage..they need lots of parts........so...kindly send them some money for parts....she refused....
after talking to my wife...and after lunch..I got ticked...called back to the bank and asked for the boss....told them you have 2 choices ...and no other choices...you can send me the check where I'll administer the check for 25k for parts.....or you can send the yard a check for 25k ...those are your choices.....I want my boat fixed and I want it done properly....
she said yes mr stephens..you said $25,000.00 for parts and progress work....I said yes...and I want it overnited asap.....

yes mr. stephens......

she got the check cut and the yard now has 25k for my boat repairs right now......I'm looking at atleast ...1 more month...

the yard has ordered the 2 drives and transom mounts......fiberglass repairs are 3/4's done.......hopefully in a few weeks I'll go up there and check the boat out at the yard up in the san juan islands...

SP

[vffb507]

Seapuppy, let me add my (belated) wishes for you, the admiral and the dog and congratulations on making it through the tragic events with only the experience to share... I think the praises for you and all have already been sung, but cudos...
On the repair side... As my Dad always said, keep your stick on the ice and your head up, you'll get through it fine...
On the lighter side.... Thanks for sharing this all with us, it is most definately a learning experience.

[seapuppy]

Thanks for the comments Mr.VFFB507,

all are greatly appreciated and hopefully someone will get something out of this mess....mainly what I wanted to have happen is people get thier heads out of the helm and on a swivel out there....the cell phone turned off...the gps and radio connected with Rescue 21 capable radios......and if it saves a life..great.....I've done someting...


SP

[ed & inge]

hai PUP....

these basterds ( banks) always try to keep the money as long as possible in their own possession......hope the boat is getting fixed a.s.p. and that you and your family have fun again at the last months of the boating season.....

greatz, ed

[Smithbrother]

Seapuppy,
You have done so much to help so many, I'm happy that you are not hanging it up. I feel so bad for what you went thru and as a Law Enforcement Professional I can tell you that there are always a few A$$holes out there with big nuts that don't use their heads. I hope the Border guy gets reamed. I know as a Lieutenant Commander if any of my guys pulled that I would have them standing tall with some explaining to do!! Anyway I'm happy that you are well and the admiral and the mascot are all ok.

My Admiral was freaked when a bad storm came up out of nowhere and people were calling in mayday's. I got us back to port but it only took one more trip out on a beautiful day for her to realize that freaky things may occur once in a while. That if you are prepared, have the proper equipment and stay calm you can get through anything and that the good days always outnumber the freaky days. You acted like a skilled Captain and did everything right. Don't kick yourself for looking at your text messages... same thing would have happened if another boat came alongside with a bevy of topless women....lol ***** happens, like others have said... that's why we have insurance and Seatow!!

Glad you are ok and repairs are underway!
Dave

[seapuppy]

WOW...thanks for the comments Dave....greatly appreciated ....I'm sincerely touched by everyone's support and comments....thanks to all....

I'm working one issue at a time...getting the boat repaired right now is my main concern...I called the yard yesterday and asked if they needed anything.....anyone's legs broken from luigi or some strong arming done to get the parts or labor going...Jan laughed and said nope...they got everything right now and work is progressing....so....another couple weeks maybe and Wild whim maybe back in the water .....I hope...

thanks again for the comments....now if there was a beavy of topless women...I'da slowed WAAAAAAY down for that one and probably wouldn't have torn my drives out....!!!

SP

[Tommyfmu]

Originally Posted by seapuppy

now if there was a beavy of topless women...I'da slowed WAAAAAAY down for that one and probably wouldn't have torn my drives out....!!!

Ahhh, so THAT's what's kept us safe all these years. And here I thought it was the boating safety course all along.

[seapuppy]

well...finally home!!.....not the boat..us....
got the wife up this morning at about 5am and grabbed a shower..and got underway to go see the boat which is quite a heckuva day to get there and back...
so..stopped off at jack in the box for a quick breakfast...and drove the 1.2 hrs north to anacortes wa. to catch the ferry to orcas island...
it was about as foggy as I had ever seen on the water..the ferry was about 20min late....we finally got loaded onto the ferry and headed to orcas island...the ride was slow due to fog ....finally got there after about an hr and half ride or so...then drove to the marina where the boat is being repaired.....
we walked in and all the hull work has been completed....we found the fiberglasser in the engine bay putting on the final coat of gelcoat in the engine bay...he came out to talk us thru what he had to do...it was shocking.....the 340 was put together with about 3/8" of fiberglass and resin...it was mainly resin....the guys called it an eggshell....oh it was strong and probably wouldn't have had any issues as long as we didn't hit anything...well....we did and according to scott the glasser....we split the hull about 10 ft from the transom.......he had to grind off about 2" of keep to get to clean glass and then build it back up layer by overlapping layer....it was amazing how thick he made it..it's actually about an inch thick now....the fuel tank is totally intact..so...they didn't have to replace the tank...the bulkhead just aft of the genny is what was split..so they had to cut that out and reglass a new section in.....
then we spoke about putting in another bilge pump in the fwd end of the engine bay...he's going to install it on a hot wire to the batt with a fusable link....no switch...and then plumb it to the stbd side of the engine bay.....

we also met up with Ian, the forman...we talked about a few things and the work should be completed within 2 weeks...........

I'm hoping the whole mess is done before we can get up there to seatrail the boat and bring it home...

speaking to another person..they had never seen a boat with this much damage and a broken drive with the bellows pulled almost all the way out...it didn't pop off or split...if it had ...the boat would have surely sunk....the bellows was stretched almost to the limit.....probably why it had a 3" tear in it ..which is where the water was coming into the engine bay.....

so....with the grace of god I didn't sink her....and the boat is being repaired stronger than it came from the factory......the new drives were still in the boxes.....along with the new transom ring and assy....also the new coupler was in the box....the old coupler was totally trashed...

just letting you guys know what's happening...

on a side note....I'd asked (which was actually offered) david meeks (who lives up there ) to stop buy if he got a chance and check on it...well...evidently he'd stopped by a couple of times....the girls at the marina knew him and told me he'd stopped by....I found where he was working at island hardware, and introduced myself and marsha...we had a fun time introducing ourselves to David and yacking for a bit in his office..
we then agreed to buy him lunch at Rubio's (I think that was the name of the rest.????)

wasn't bad food and David is a Great guy .....I can't thank him enough for checking on Wild Whim and sending me pic's of how things are going.....the lunch was the least I could do.....

we parted the restaurant where david went back to work...and we headed back to the ferry landing to head home....it was a VERY long day but at least I got there to meet up with the maintenance crew and kinda kick the cage a bit.....

here's some photo's of the progress

what's left of the drive


another photo of what's left of the stbd drive..


the keel has been built up to over an inch thick...


looking thru the cutout into the engine bay at the genny..



what's left of the stbd engine...the coupler is destroyed....there is a new one in a box with the new drives ready to go...

SP

[seapuppy]

the engine bay all clean and ready for the engines...



still in the shed and still waiting for the work to be completed....

SP

[oldno7]

Nice update SP.

[howards rock]

Hi,
I agree with Terry - its such a shame you are no longer going to boat especially as I have seen you give everyone great advice and support (and I have only been a member a few months!).
All the best to you and your partner whatever you decide to do!
Sonia

[seapuppy]

sonia...
we haven't made the decision not to boat as of yet....yeah...I know that's what I said...but several factors right now have me just concentrating on getting the boat fixed first....then the next item is to get it seatrailed, with anything needing adjusting fixed...from there getting it home....

the admirable seems to be pulling to keeping it..while I'm not so sure just yet....we'll have to see what happens......at this point in time it's just one thing at a time....



sp