Slipping the boat

[DaveR]

OK, no names on a story I was witness to - and told about today.

 

A 57 foot boat was slipped at a boat yard using their trolley on the slip, hauled out by winch operated by Marina personnel.

 

The trolley was positioned with the supports at 20% of the length and the other at 60% of the length. This left some 20 feet overhanging at he end of the trolley. Once high and dry, it was noticed the inside the boat the flooring was being pushed upwards and the bathroom was now distorted. The bathroom is located exactly above the second trolley support. The Marina put jacks under the stern of the boat to support the overhang.

 

On further investigation it has been found that the floor bearers have had the welds cracked, the shower base is cracked as well as the flooring having been pushed upwards.

 

The marina say it is none of their problem as a standard term in the slipping agreement is that they are not responsible for damage resulting from the whole process.

 

The insurance company want a full survey done to determine the extent of the damage and the repairs needed.

 

The marina want their slip and trolley cleared for the next boat waiting, however the insurance company will not allow the boat back into the water until the survey is completed. The Marina claim eveything will go back as it should when the boat is floated once more.

 

Angry words all round.

 

Question : is the Marina correct in that there is a standard disclaimer in the slipping agreement? If so, I find it hard to accept that the failure of Marina staff to locate the trolley correctly is "none of their fault".

 

Has anyone come across this before?

Edited May 5, 2010 by DaveR

[casper ghost]

I would have expected the bearers to be man enough to take it.

My Dad took his 66' boat to a slipway, they had not tried a boat that length and when they started it was clear the boat was too long and would have ducked under the water at the back so they stopped and put it back into the water. Think it was Hawne Basin, I know we had to go through a mega low tunnel somewhere in the midlands but I was young at the time.

Casp'

[Pete of Ebor]

I would have expected the bearers to be man enough to take it.

My Dad took his 66' boat to a slipway, they had not tried a boat that length and when they started it was clear the boat was too long and would have ducked under the water at the back so they stopped and put it back into the water. Think it was Hawne Basin, I know we had to go through a mega low tunnel somewhere in the midlands but I was young at the time.

Casp'

 

Yes, it could well have been Hawne Basin as you need to pass through Gosty Hill Tunnel. One of the best tunnels I've come across for playing squeezebox in !

 

Pete of Ebor

 

[aka Ebor Morris]

[Tim Doran]

It sounds very unfortunate, but I think it would depend on what agreement was signed between the marina and the owner. I think that they should precede with the insurance claim.

 

Would the extra cost of dry storage at the marina would also be recoverable through the insurance company.

[LEO]

Hi,

 

Slipping a boat is always a tricky operation.

 

At one boatyard on the Southern GU a few years ago a boat was being lifted by crane over another boat and a sling broke, result, 2 boats written off.

 

Now there are notices saying ' that all craneage is at the boat owners risk'

 

At another yard, a boat I was watching was being slipped using two trolleys, a chain connecting the trolleys. The rear end of the boat being slipped caught, the chain snapped and the front trolley pulled forward slipping on the bottom of the boat - the front of which crashed to the ground.

 

Fortunately it could be pushed back into the water.

 

It is worth checking insurance carefully to see what's covered - and to see what kind of slings are used to lift the boat out with. One marina I used on the Trent were very helpful and used strong purpose made steel hawsers.

 

Your insurance company may require you check the test certificate of any lifting device/gear is valid.

 

Leo.

[choogh]

Hi,

 

Slipping a boat is always a tricky operation.

 

At one boatyard on the Southern GU a few years ago a boat was being lifted by crane over another boat and a sling broke, result, 2 boats written off.

 

Now there are notices saying ' that all craneage is at the boat owners risk'

 

At another yard, a boat I was watching was being slipped using two trolleys, a chain connecting the trolleys. The rear end of the boat being slipped caught, the chain snapped and the front trolley pulled forward slipping on the bottom of the boat - the front of which crashed to the ground.

 

Fortunately it could be pushed back into the water.

 

It is worth checking insurance carefully to see what's covered - and to see what kind of slings are used to lift the boat out with. One marina I used on the Trent were very helpful and used strong purpose made steel hawsers.

 

Your insurance company may require you check the test certificate of any lifting device/gear is valid.

 

Leo.

 

 

It is a legal requirement under LOLAR '98, that lifting appliances are checked and certified every 6 months.

 

Bet no one ever does check..!!!

Oops.... thats LOLER '98

Edited May 6, 2010 by choogh

[dor]

Now there are notices saying ' that all craneage is at the boat owners risk'

That wouldn't neccessarily protect them if they were shown to be negligent. My boat insurance covers me for damage caused through slipping or craning. Might be worth checking yours.

[Naughty Cal]

That wouldn't neccessarily protect them if they were shown to be negligent. My boat insurance covers me for damage caused through slipping or craning. Might be worth checking yours.

 

Ours does but that still doesnt make it any less scary watching your pride and joy being slipped then transported across the yard and lifted onto chocks.

[Gibbo]

Ours does but that still doesnt make it any less scary watching your pride and joy being slipped then transported across the yard and lifted onto chocks.

 

Surely, in your case, the yard apprentice just picks it up and puts it in a wheelbarrow?

[Naughty Cal]

Surely, in your case, the yard apprentice just picks it up and puts it in a wheelbarrow?

 

No they have a fancy hydraulic slip trolley hauled around by a tractor.

 

[Paul Evans]

Is it right to have a boat slipped with the fenders down?

Edited May 6, 2010 by Paul Evans

[Naughty Cal]

Is it right to have a boat slipped with the fenders down?

 

If you had seen the weather that day and the hassle we had getting her onto the trolley, yes it was right to slip her with the fenders down

[nb Innisfree]

The main longitudal strength in a flat bottomed steel boat is in the sideplates, any supporting trolley should be at least as wide as the boat and anyway should be under the sideplates. I assume the trolley(s) in question were too narrow?

[LEO]

Surely, in your case, the yard apprentice just picks it up and puts it in a wheelbarrow?

 

Hi

Thats a bit unfair -

 

Trent style

 

GU style

 

Leo.

[stagedamager]

It is a legal requirement under LOLAR '98, that lifting appliances are checked and certified every 6 months.

 

Bet no one ever does check..!!!

Oops.... thats LOLER '98

 

With regards LOLER '98, it only needs inspecting every 6 months by a competent person, the equipment should have been provided with a certificate of conformity when delivered and this kept in a LOLER folder where periodic inspections are recorded. The competent person doing the inspecting should decide whether any form of testing e.g load testing is required. if however, the lifting equipment is exposed to harsh working conditions, then the inspection frequency can be shortened. that said, before each use, the equipment should be thoroughly inspected by a competent person, and if asked the inspection records should be available on request, with any certificates of conformity.

Regards,

Dan

[tony collins]

With regards LOLER '98, it only needs inspecting every 6 months by a competent person, the equipment should have been provided with a certificate of conformity when delivered and this kept in a LOLER folder where periodic inspections are recorded. The competent person doing the inspecting should decide whether any form of testing e.g load testing is required. if however, the lifting equipment is exposed to harsh working conditions, then the inspection frequency can be shortened. that said, before each use, the equipment should be thoroughly inspected by a competent person, and if asked the inspection records should be available on request, with any certificates of conformity.

Regards,

Dan

 

It also depends on correct information being passed. On one of the TV programmes (Waterworld?) I remember the distress caused to the owners of a brand new Dutch style barge as the strops broke as the boat was six inches off the transporter. The resultant crash was blamed on the use of inadequate lifting strops, something along the lines of "Forty Tons!? I thought you said fourteen tons!"

 

BTW Have re-read the original post, I am still not clear whether the supports exceeded the width of the base plate, in which case, they were not adequate for the job. As for the suggestion that "It will all go back when she's in the water!" Words fail me. Not with a steel boat where welds have cracked it won't.

Edited May 6, 2010 by tony collins

[stagedamager]

It also depends on correct information being passed. On one of the TV programmes (Waterworld?) I remember the distress caused to the owners of a brand new Dutch style barge as the strops broke as the boat was six inches off the transporter. The resultant crash was blamed on the use of inadequate lifting strops, something along the lines of "Forty Tons!? I thought you said fourteen tons!"

i remember that episode, and it disturbed me then. you would have thought that that little snippet of information would have been in writing somewhere, rather than, as we can only assume, was a verbal communication!!!!!

regards

dan

[tony collins]

i remember that episode, and it disturbed me then. you would have thought that that little snippet of information would have been in writing somewhere, rather than, as we can only assume, was a verbal communication!!!!!

regards

dan

 

I remember thinking it was a good job the strops broke when they did, Just imagine it happening when the boat was twenty feet in the air! Ugh!

[WotEver]

Shropshire Union Style

 

David

Is that a Spot The Difference competition?

 

Tony

[Graham Davis]

The fact that there is a Disclaimer will mean nothing to a good solicitor. Just gives him more ammunition to fight with. ost aren't worth the paper they are written on.

[pillingslock]

The fact that there is a Disclaimer will mean nothing to a good solicitor. Just gives him more ammunition to fight with. ost aren't worth the paper they are written on.

There's a very nice marine insurance company that specialises in marinas we use and good old Bob drops by once a year for a look round and checks we're all ok then tells us we're covered and the price.

We pay the man and carry on for the year keeping things greased and oiled knowing that if things go wrong we have a good policy to cover what we do. Surely all yards have this certificate in their office on display? If they don't then find one that does!

Boats fall over, sink and all sorts of other stuff happens too but it's always important to have a good insurance company behind you & they take the worry out of it all!

[DHutch]

No they have a fancy hydraulic slip trolley hauled around by a tractor.

 

Ive seen one of those fail rather dramatically also!