Not
the same boat, but you get the picture
9.26.11
An unusual accident aka a fall story
Part
of our normal business is assisting with insurance claims,
many of which result from accidents. There are ”normal
accidents”, like groundings, collisions, allisions (when
only one boat is moving), fires, trailering accidents and
then there are the freak accidents. This is about one of the
latter, an extremely unusual boating accident.
I will begin by relieving your anxiety, nobody died! There
were two men aboard at the time, one had almost no injuries
(call me lucky) and the other was bruised but recovered quickly.
Fortunately no one was under the boat.
The story begins with a client asking us to survey a boat
in San Carlos, Mexico. This is a coastal city on the northeast
side of the Sea of Cortez, on the mainland, near the city
of Guymas. The client had a 55’ Californian power boat
and needed a marine survey for insurance renewal purposes.
The author traveled to the boat and accomplished the survey,
it had been hauled by an amazing hydraulic trailer, on a boat
ramp, normally used for much smaller boats with much smaller
trailers. Prior to my arrival, it had been blocked beside
the boat ramp in a dirt lot.
While I was surveying the power boat, the owner of a 38’
Globe, full keeled cruising sailboat, which was blocked beside
the powerboat, asked if I would be able to survey his boat
as well. He also required a marine survey for insurance. He
was planning a world cruise and was applying for insurance
through Lloyds of London. I accepted the job as it was clearly
a win – win opportunity for all.
After completing the inspection of the powerboat, I began
the inspection of the sailboat. I began on the bottom; bottom
painting was in progress. After inspecting the bottom, we
climbed a ladder and inspected the deck. The owner was with
me and after inspecting the deck, I followed him into the
cabin, that’s when the accident occurred.
I was still on the steps in the companionway, leading from
the deck down into the saloon. The owner was on the starboard
side of the saloon when I felt a shudder and then it happened….the
boat fell.
It fell to port. It landed hard on its port side and the masts
wrapped over the adjacent powerboat. My client fell to the
port side of the saloon and all matter of debris rained down
upon him. I was very lucky and steadied myself in the companionway,
watching him become buried and then emerge from all of the
large and small bits which had been dumped on top of him.
My first concern was his safety and health. He later said
he felt like he just played a game of tackle football, but
he had no broken bones, no concussion, and no serious injury.
Our concern then was the bottom painters, and we quickly scrambled
out to check. Everyone was unharmed.
The painters had moved the jack stands improperly and the
boat shifted, allowing the jack stands to slide up the hull
and the boat to crash down.
That evening I received two phone calls in my hotel room.
One from each boat’s insurance company, asking if I
could assist with the damage claims. I accepted the first
assignment, but was unable to help the second one professionally,
due to a potential conflict of interest. The adjuster was
a friend and long time client. She teased me for years about
going down to Mexico and knocking a boat over to get work.
The call to the powerboat owner was interesting, I told him
I had some good news and some bad news. The good news was
the boat was in good shape; the bad news was that there were
two aluminum masts wrapped over the top of it.
The sailboat was repaired and was one of the only boats I
have been involved with that was “re-gelcoated”
on one entire side. Gelcoat goes on smooth in a mold, but
is very rough when applied externally like paint. It required
several hundred labor hours to make it shiny again, but shiny
it was and the world cruise was accomplished.
The lesson I learned was the importance of safety in the workplace
and boatyard. There is a proper way to block and secure boats
while hauled. There are dangers and we should all be aware
of them, not just falling boats, but slippery surfaces, trip
hazards, electricity, etc… The accident happened in
Mexico at a very rudimentary haulout and blocking area, no
pavement or concrete, no travel lift and no chains in use
between jack stands, but even in the technologically advanced
area of Southern California, boats fall and accidents happen.
