Sons Cigar Boat Goes Down

[roger56]

My sons Decisions some time amaze me Yesterday Windy conditions on Lake Mich. 5-7 footers.Just had to take His Boat and Passemgers out. (Against Advice from Incoming Boaters in the Harbor). To make a long story short Trys to Park boat near beach for passengers to swim. Anchors the correct way But anchor ropes Break. Spins boat around and Sinks. Needless to say Disaster. Boat is still on the beach In about 5 feet of water. I do not Have a glue on how to help Him.

 

[foodfisher]

Re: Sons Cigar Boat Goes Down

You don't have to help. A cigar boat has to be insured, right?

 

[roger56]

Re: Sons Cigar Boat Goes Down

Not sure? Its his Baby. If it was Mine it would Be. What process do you have to go through to salvage and retrieve?

 

[foodfisher]

Re: Sons Cigar Boat Goes Down

Tow rope to eye, winch to trailer and drain. Authorities may see a money angle. Good luck

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Sons Cigar Boat Goes Down

Cigar boat as in Cigarette boat? Large twin engine go fast boat?... and he took it to a secluded beach to swim?

This will probably require the efforts of a Salvage and Recovery company, I'm sure there's several of them on lake Mich.

Be aware that these companies are required to contact the authorities when contracted to a job.

 

[roger56]

Re: Sons Cigar Boat Goes Down

Public beach Large twin engine Go Fast Boat. Boat still full of water. He took pumps today No luck Waves still to much. He will try again tommorrow. Not insured, I did not say he was the sharpest tack in the box.

 

[catfishcarl99]

Re: Sons Cigar Boat Goes Down

ouch. i wont even go out with white caps here with my 17'. dont want to loose her shes all i got.

 

[BonairII]

Re: Sons Cigar Boat Goes Down

The fact that he went out in 5-7 ft waves is bad enough, but people swimming in these conditions???? I guess your son's friends don't make good decisions either. Sheesh!

 

[theteacher]

Re: Sons Cigar Boat Goes Down

I'll never understand people that forego insurance. If they can afford the toy, they should be able to afford insurance.
He will be very fortunate if he gets away with just losing his boat and doesn't get stuck with a bill for cleaning up any gas or oil that spills or seeps into the water.
I hope he's smart enough to carry car insurance. An uninsured girl just hit my elderly parents, you guessed it, she had no insurance.
I'll stop now before I upset some people here !

 

[lncoop]

Re: Sons Cigar Boat Goes Down

Hmmmm. Here you're required to at least carry liabilty coverage, although I don't guess that would help in this situation. I don't know what to say. Glad no one was hurt.

 

[robert graham]

Re: Sons Cigar Boat Goes Down

Sounds like a total loss for the boat, but nobody injured or killed, chalk it up to experience. Still need to hook a line on the bow of that boat and try to drag it somewhere to salvage or scuttle. Son and his friends are very lucky!....

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Sons Cigar Boat Goes Down

So I gues a cigar boat is a fat cigarette boat?

I have seen a number of boats salvaged of the beaches on barrier islands, including sailboat high and dry. They get a big launch, hook a big line to the mast, and snatch it out of there.

Your son cannot do this job himself, and the longer he waits, the worse it's going to be, b/c the boat is getting beat up and filling with sand, which in the bilge, becomes a permanent addition.

A professional tow company (and start with seatow/boatUS; you do not have to be a member) will do one of a few things, or combination. One is to hook up to the bow and pull forward; the water will run out the stern and then 3" pumps can be deployed. Another is to put bladders (flat inner tubes) inside the cabin and other areas, inflate and displace the water, and float. Some will put bladders under or along side to do the same thing: lift the gunwales above water to get the pump going.

I almost hate to reveal their methods b/c I can see your son out there trying it himself. But it won't be anything new to them.

I guess another option would be to use a tractor to pull it up on the beach, drain it, then a launch to drag it back off the beach and to the ramp, unless there's a way to get it on a trailer (even a flatbed) on the beach. All depends on access and ground conditions. Requires heavy equipment and professionals.

Maybe talk your local coast guard/fire department/army base to do it for the training? Basically donate the boat to them. I could see the SeaBees around here all over something like this.

At least it's fresh water. Perhaps the engines didn't submerge. Anyway, as soon as he gets it up, he needs to sell it and replace it with a set of golf clubs. He has no business owning or operating a boat.

 

[RogersJetboat454]

Re: Sons Cigar Boat Goes Down

So I gues a cigar boat is a fat cigarette boat?

Different wrapper...

Honestly, it sounds like your son was in over his head when he ignored the advice of fellow boaters and took it out.
At this point I believe the same can be said, and he really needs to consider calling a pro to assist before things get uglier from both a visual and legal stand point..

 

[90stingray]

Re: Sons Cigar Boat Goes Down

Wow. Expensive lesson... but one that needed to be learned. How old is this fella? Can we get any pictures of this tragedy?

 

[akorcovelos]

Re: Sons Cigar Boat Goes Down

In Illinois insurance is required, not the case in Indiana?

I'll be the first to say it, this thread needs pics.

 

[Jlawsen]

Re: Sons Cigar Boat Goes Down

Sorry to hear about your son's misfortune. The pump method is by far the easiest way to get it floating again. Tell him to stop by a truck tire store and get some inner tubes and take a portable gas air compressor with him. He can loosely lash the tubes together and stuff them under the stern then start filling them while at the same time running the pumps to work at getting out the water inside the boat. The tubes will help to raise the stern and keep if from taking on more water.

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Sons Cigar Boat Goes Down

Well, the term "cigarette boat" (or cigar boat apparently) is pretty vague as it usually refers to any number of offshore-style performance boats from the 70's on up. This may be a 1980 Wellcraft Scarab worth $7K or a 2010 Cigarette Top Gun worth six figures. That may be the defining factor in whether or not it was insured, so I wouldn't be as quick to judge on that aspect. I don't carry insurance on any of my watercraft, but none of them is worth much in value (liability issues aside) and it's not required in my home state.

I agree that a couple of tubes and an air compressor could help float the stern, then a few high-volume sump pumps should be rented to bail out the majority of the water from the cabin/cockpit. Once it is up and stable and most of the water has been evacuated, then you tow it back to the ramp and get it on the trailer. I'd only pull it up the ramp a short ways then pull the drain plug and let the boat drain out the rest of the water. I'd wager that both engine will require a full rebuild, and all stringers/floor/upholstery is shot. Not to mention the electrical gremlins that could develop from being immersed in salt water. I'd say unless he wants a complete bare-hull restoration project, it'd be time to scrap the boat in its entirety. Maybe sell the drives and the engines as rebuildable.

 

[tswiczko]

Re: Sons Cigar Boat Goes Down

Authorities may see a money angle. Good luck

I worked with someone a long time ago who lost a boat in Lake Erie, without insurance. couldn't afford the salvage, got billed for the rescue service, then had to pay a few EPA fines for pollution and releasing petroleum or something like that.
I don't remember how much they were but I know he hasn't owned a boat since that day.

Sorry for his misfortune, and glad everyone was O.K.

 

[spoilsofwar]

Re: Sons Cigar Boat Goes Down

We have no pictures and not much info to go on other then the boat is sitting in 5 feet of water (5 feet under the surface or 5 feet to the lake bottom?), but the boat's owner should probably not attempt any further salvage attempts and should leave this to professionals. A botched recovery effort that does more damage or causes a fuel or oil leak somehow is just going to make a bad situation worse... At this point, he (owner) is gonna have to pay to un-cluster the mess already, and he can't just leave it there even if its worth next to nothing, so might as well bite the bullet and call the pro's. I second the towboatsus or seatow recommendation, and if they cant/wont do it, get a proper salvage company to get it out of there.

Good thing no one was hurt, besides the owner's wallet when the environmental and recovery charges start showing up.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Sons Cigar Boat Goes Down

As for insurance requirements, I bet the states that require it, only require liability, which will not cover his property loss or salvage costs. Liability coverage might cover any environmental damages and I would think that states that require it, would require that coverage, too. "property damage" is a liability coverage referring to damage the insured does to someone else's property, not his own.

That being said, most liability policies throw in some other comprehensive coverages (property loss, salvage costs, towing, etc.) so in the required states you end up with some additional, but not legally required, coverage.

But even if he had insurance, his coverage is now at risk from not dealing with the sunken boat quickly enough.


And I have to throw this in: his anchor line "broke"? That, in addition to the rest of the circumstances, paints the picture of this example that owning a boat does not make one a boater. No insurance, no skills, no experience, no judgment and no equipment. No wonder!