SeaSteamer
Recruit
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2022
- Messages
- 1
The bow of the boat was dropped about 1-2ft onto the forklift arms and ground. Besides obvious cosmetic damage, what other possible damage could have occurred that would be hard to see? One toon got a 3X2 size dent on the starboard bow exterior area. I looked at welds and they look ok. Anything else I should be concerned about? Only the bow was dropped so stern and motor should be fine.
Here’s the full story if you need pleasure reading.
I have a 10-year-old pontoon that I bought used a few months ago. Has normal wear and tear, toons had no damage… until this week.
I’ve had the boat at a marina for a month, it’s a forklift operation. I had to provide my own blocks for the boat to sit on. The marina owner (the same guy who drives the forklift) recommended that I use the Attwood pontoon storage blocks, $100 for 4, easy enough. There was one other pontoon in the marina on the same blocks, and several other pontoons were on larger EPS foam blocks.
We lined up blocks for the first drop off from the trailer with the boat hovering just above them. After the first outing, the boat was put on blocks without me there and was a bit off, the midpoint of the toon with metal was not sitting in one of the block grooves. I mentioned it to the owner. He kicked the block back into position.
Next outing when the boat was being brought off the water back to the blocks, I told the owner it looked like blocks had moved so we should probably line them up again to be safe. We did.
Next outing I go out with wife and 3 kids in tow, nice morning on the water. Marina is empty, I’m the only boater there on return, no hurry. The boat comes off water and as it’s being put down by forklift I can see the stern is lined up on blocks (all the forklift driver can see) but I can see one of the front bow blocks is off so much I’m not sure the toon is even going to make contact, and as I start to holler for him to stop, he releases the hydraulic and boat rapidly descends, all toons make contact but bow section of toons quickly disconnects from front blocks and slips off crashing about a foot or two onto the forklift arms and the ground.
Owner raises forklift, we adjust blocks and boat is re-lowered. The owner then parks forklift and walks back into the office, business as usual. Yeah. Meanwhile, I’m inspecting boat and immediately see a large dent in one of the toons, obviously caused by the ground impact. Needless to say, my mindset is not good.
My wife and kids are sitting in the car. I’m starving and worn out from the water. I make the decision to hold off on confronting him about the incident that just happened until I’ve had more time to process it and know I’m able to calmly have a rational conversation.
From what I’ve read, the dent is best left alone if it’s just cosmetic. What’s done is done and I’m willing to let it go. The stern of the boat was on the blocks and just the front fell so there shouldn't be any issues with the motor. I haven't put the boat on the water yet, but thinking it's going to be okay. Though not sure what other damage to look for except for damage to welds, which also looked fine, I don't know for sure.
The owner of the marina obviously could care less, he walked away after the incident as if nothing happened. This marina is one of few that takes pontoons in my area, Tampa Bay Florida. I know it's crazy after how the owner handled the situation, but I want to keep the boat there for now until something else opens up, which means I don’t want to get into any arguments with him unless necessary. I'm a weekend boater and basically solo since my wife is handling 3 small kids when we're out. Public boat ramps aren't an option, been there done that.
I’m going to point out the dent on the toon to the owner, and tell him that so long as everything else is in working order then what's done is done and I’m letting it go, but if there’s any structural issues then he'll need to do the right thing and cover cost of repairs.
So besides obvious cosmetic damage, what other possible damage could have occurred that would be hard to see? Appreciate your thoughts!
SeaSteamer
Here’s the full story if you need pleasure reading.
I have a 10-year-old pontoon that I bought used a few months ago. Has normal wear and tear, toons had no damage… until this week.
I’ve had the boat at a marina for a month, it’s a forklift operation. I had to provide my own blocks for the boat to sit on. The marina owner (the same guy who drives the forklift) recommended that I use the Attwood pontoon storage blocks, $100 for 4, easy enough. There was one other pontoon in the marina on the same blocks, and several other pontoons were on larger EPS foam blocks.
We lined up blocks for the first drop off from the trailer with the boat hovering just above them. After the first outing, the boat was put on blocks without me there and was a bit off, the midpoint of the toon with metal was not sitting in one of the block grooves. I mentioned it to the owner. He kicked the block back into position.
Next outing when the boat was being brought off the water back to the blocks, I told the owner it looked like blocks had moved so we should probably line them up again to be safe. We did.
Next outing I go out with wife and 3 kids in tow, nice morning on the water. Marina is empty, I’m the only boater there on return, no hurry. The boat comes off water and as it’s being put down by forklift I can see the stern is lined up on blocks (all the forklift driver can see) but I can see one of the front bow blocks is off so much I’m not sure the toon is even going to make contact, and as I start to holler for him to stop, he releases the hydraulic and boat rapidly descends, all toons make contact but bow section of toons quickly disconnects from front blocks and slips off crashing about a foot or two onto the forklift arms and the ground.
Owner raises forklift, we adjust blocks and boat is re-lowered. The owner then parks forklift and walks back into the office, business as usual. Yeah. Meanwhile, I’m inspecting boat and immediately see a large dent in one of the toons, obviously caused by the ground impact. Needless to say, my mindset is not good.
My wife and kids are sitting in the car. I’m starving and worn out from the water. I make the decision to hold off on confronting him about the incident that just happened until I’ve had more time to process it and know I’m able to calmly have a rational conversation.
From what I’ve read, the dent is best left alone if it’s just cosmetic. What’s done is done and I’m willing to let it go. The stern of the boat was on the blocks and just the front fell so there shouldn't be any issues with the motor. I haven't put the boat on the water yet, but thinking it's going to be okay. Though not sure what other damage to look for except for damage to welds, which also looked fine, I don't know for sure.
The owner of the marina obviously could care less, he walked away after the incident as if nothing happened. This marina is one of few that takes pontoons in my area, Tampa Bay Florida. I know it's crazy after how the owner handled the situation, but I want to keep the boat there for now until something else opens up, which means I don’t want to get into any arguments with him unless necessary. I'm a weekend boater and basically solo since my wife is handling 3 small kids when we're out. Public boat ramps aren't an option, been there done that.
I’m going to point out the dent on the toon to the owner, and tell him that so long as everything else is in working order then what's done is done and I’m letting it go, but if there’s any structural issues then he'll need to do the right thing and cover cost of repairs.
So besides obvious cosmetic damage, what other possible damage could have occurred that would be hard to see? Appreciate your thoughts!
SeaSteamer
