Okay, so here is the back story-
(I talked to the previous owner yesterday morning)
We purchased our boat (1986 Century Meridian 275) 3 years ago - The previous owner said that there was a leak in the hatch seal, which was repaired (verified new rubber) That the floor had gotten wet and the plywood delaminated over the fall, winter, and spring storage time frame. When he discovered the damage he cut away the damaged wood. Removed a large portion of the foam - Used a drying agent in the hull - Added new foam - and patched the subfloor in the cabin.
When we had the boat checked out when we bought it, everything checked out. The moisture meters did not indicate any problems. There was no rot detected... That said, we now have a major major issue....
We have been trying to sell our boat for about 2 weeks now... we didnt really check it out too much, since we figured it had been stored and covered all winter, we didnt need to worry about it. How wrong we were and it turned out to be very embarassing... A guy came to check it out, and when inspecting the cabin, discovered a VERY soft spot in the floor beneath the Hatch. Declined to purchase for obvious reasons... I did not have time to check it out right away, so I secured the boats cover, and headed home.
Saturday I went back to the boat to investigate the damage and see how bad it was. My dad (been rehabing boats for about 20 yrs) met me over at the storage facility, which is an out door place...
When we pulled up the carpet, we realized that though the floor was patched, the previous owner failed to re-glass it. and there was about 1/4 inch gaps around the patch where it had separated from the rest of the floor wood.
We removed the softened and wet plywood (extremely saturated) and looks like the beginning of rot setting in - (It is important to note at this time that the boat is stored on a trailer in a fenced in facility, outdoors. It was completely covered with no apparent way for water to get into the boat. -- prior to storing, it was tipped up to drain, washed, and hatch seals were replaced -- This all took place in mid october. After draining, and washing, we took to boat to storage, secured boat, removed all valuables, electronics, etc. and covered it) It has been in storage since. It was checked on average twice a month. If the cover had come displaced due to wind, or other undetermined cause we would check to make sure deck drains were not plugged, make sure windows and hatches were not open, and would recover the boat.
As we were removing the floor, we found that the boats hull is entirely foam cored. about mid cabin, extending aproximately 22 or 23 inches in either direction from center keel, there is nothing but foam - no wood, and no fiberglass until you get to the curve of the hull.... We have cored several areas of the foam, each aprox 8 inched in diameter, and water is pooling in the holes we dug out to about 2 inches deep... Anyhow, it got late, we were hot and tired and went home.. Called insurance company - They filed a claim and said they will send someone to assess the damages to the boat. (discovered hatch latches were broken at the time we were looking for other damage)
The glass is also cracked where the hinge screws into it at the opposite side (kiddy-corner) to the pry marks...
I called my local police department, and they came, filed a report, and determined the cause of the damage to the hatch and aft cabin window (which also has pry marks and is missing most of the screws) to be caused by "malicious mischief" - I can pick up my report Wednesday....
My question here is, and I know they probably wont cover the severe wood deterioration, Is my insurance likely to cover the extensive water intrusion and soaked foam and possibly damaged stringers in the boat, because the water got in as a direct result of the vandalism to the hatch that kept it from sealing properly?
I am hoping so.... Any thoughts would really be appreciated! thanks
(I talked to the previous owner yesterday morning)
We purchased our boat (1986 Century Meridian 275) 3 years ago - The previous owner said that there was a leak in the hatch seal, which was repaired (verified new rubber) That the floor had gotten wet and the plywood delaminated over the fall, winter, and spring storage time frame. When he discovered the damage he cut away the damaged wood. Removed a large portion of the foam - Used a drying agent in the hull - Added new foam - and patched the subfloor in the cabin.
When we had the boat checked out when we bought it, everything checked out. The moisture meters did not indicate any problems. There was no rot detected... That said, we now have a major major issue....
We have been trying to sell our boat for about 2 weeks now... we didnt really check it out too much, since we figured it had been stored and covered all winter, we didnt need to worry about it. How wrong we were and it turned out to be very embarassing... A guy came to check it out, and when inspecting the cabin, discovered a VERY soft spot in the floor beneath the Hatch. Declined to purchase for obvious reasons... I did not have time to check it out right away, so I secured the boats cover, and headed home.
Saturday I went back to the boat to investigate the damage and see how bad it was. My dad (been rehabing boats for about 20 yrs) met me over at the storage facility, which is an out door place...
When we pulled up the carpet, we realized that though the floor was patched, the previous owner failed to re-glass it. and there was about 1/4 inch gaps around the patch where it had separated from the rest of the floor wood.
We removed the softened and wet plywood (extremely saturated) and looks like the beginning of rot setting in - (It is important to note at this time that the boat is stored on a trailer in a fenced in facility, outdoors. It was completely covered with no apparent way for water to get into the boat. -- prior to storing, it was tipped up to drain, washed, and hatch seals were replaced -- This all took place in mid october. After draining, and washing, we took to boat to storage, secured boat, removed all valuables, electronics, etc. and covered it) It has been in storage since. It was checked on average twice a month. If the cover had come displaced due to wind, or other undetermined cause we would check to make sure deck drains were not plugged, make sure windows and hatches were not open, and would recover the boat.
As we were removing the floor, we found that the boats hull is entirely foam cored. about mid cabin, extending aproximately 22 or 23 inches in either direction from center keel, there is nothing but foam - no wood, and no fiberglass until you get to the curve of the hull.... We have cored several areas of the foam, each aprox 8 inched in diameter, and water is pooling in the holes we dug out to about 2 inches deep... Anyhow, it got late, we were hot and tired and went home.. Called insurance company - They filed a claim and said they will send someone to assess the damages to the boat. (discovered hatch latches were broken at the time we were looking for other damage)
The glass is also cracked where the hinge screws into it at the opposite side (kiddy-corner) to the pry marks...
I called my local police department, and they came, filed a report, and determined the cause of the damage to the hatch and aft cabin window (which also has pry marks and is missing most of the screws) to be caused by "malicious mischief" - I can pick up my report Wednesday....
My question here is, and I know they probably wont cover the severe wood deterioration, Is my insurance likely to cover the extensive water intrusion and soaked foam and possibly damaged stringers in the boat, because the water got in as a direct result of the vandalism to the hatch that kept it from sealing properly?
I am hoping so.... Any thoughts would really be appreciated! thanks
