I think I've been had...
 

by a shady boat storage marina in Florida.

A year and a half ago I trailered a new Scout Sportsfish 202 from Ma to
Florida and decided to store it a rack storage facility near Jupiter Inlet.
It turns out I never used it in Florida, however I did check on it from time
to time and paid the marina to clean and detail it a couple of times.

The boat had 5 hours on the engine meter (Yamaha 200 four stroke) when I
took it to the storage place. I never took the boat out.

Last week, I had my nephew pick up the boat and clean it up to sell. He
just called me and told me:

a) The boat has a waterline mark on the hull from sitting in a slip on the
ICW.
b) The engine meter now has 23 hours on it.
c) There is some minor damage (2-inch deep scrape) on one of the sides -
something that
would result from a failed docking attempt.

I called the storage place an hour ago and happened to get the owner. I
asked him if he could explain why the engine now has 23 hours and has minor
damage.
He denies that the boat ever left the rack and hung up on me.

Fortunately, other than the minor scrape, the boat is fine otherwise and the
engine runs fine. But man, does this crap **** me off!

Eisboch (venting)

Eisboch wrote:
by a shady boat storage marina in Florida.

A year and a half ago I trailered a new Scout Sportsfish 202 from Ma to
Florida and decided to store it a rack storage facility near Jupiter Inlet.
It turns out I never used it in Florida, however I did check on it from time
to time and paid the marina to clean and detail it a couple of times.

The boat had 5 hours on the engine meter (Yamaha 200 four stroke) when I
took it to the storage place. I never took the boat out.

Last week, I had my nephew pick up the boat and clean it up to sell. He
just called me and told me:

a) The boat has a waterline mark on the hull from sitting in a slip on the
ICW.
b) The engine meter now has 23 hours on it.
c) There is some minor damage (2-inch deep scrape) on one of the sides -
something that
would result from a failed docking attempt.

I called the storage place an hour ago and happened to get the owner. I
asked him if he could explain why the engine now has 23 hours and has minor
damage.
He denies that the boat ever left the rack and hung up on me.

Fortunately, other than the minor scrape, the boat is fine otherwise and the
engine runs fine. But man, does this crap **** me off!

Eisboch (venting)


My first guess would be a weekend joyride by one of the people hired to
"detail" your boat, or maybe the forklift operator. Little Miss Putout
was probably very impressed with her date's "new boat", and a little
beer
(see scrape) probably lubed the situation rather nicely as the date
progressed. Let's hope the unauthorized user (thief) was more skilled
in close-quarter manuevering with Little Miss Putout than with your
Scout Sportfish.

Second and slightly less likely guess is that the forklift operator
accidentally pulled the wrong boat from the rack for another customer.
The customer was about to say something when it occured to him that he
had a brand new boat to use for the day, a full tank of fuel paid for
by somebody else, and that he/she had always wanted to try out a Scout,
anyway.

Another only remotely possible scenario is that they pulled the wrong
boat from the stack for your nephew- and your fresher, lower-hour,
unmarked, and
actually correct boat is still sitting in the rack.

Final thought: Any possibilty your nephew has been getting a little
unauthorized use, and now feels compelled to fess up as the condition
of the boat, the hours on the meter, etc, are likely to be subjects of
discussion with potential buyers? ((Probaby not----the storage yard
would seem culpable or there wouldn't be a need to lie about the boat
never being off the rack. If your nephew had been using the boat, the
yard would have simply said, "We have launched that boat four different
times for your nephew, Mr. X"))

"Eisboch" wrote in message
...
by a shady boat storage marina in Florida.

A year and a half ago I trailered a new Scout Sportsfish 202 from Ma to
Florida and decided to store it a rack storage facility near Jupiter
Inlet.
It turns out I never used it in Florida, however I did check on it from
time
to time and paid the marina to clean and detail it a couple of times.

The boat had 5 hours on the engine meter (Yamaha 200 four stroke) when I
took it to the storage place. I never took the boat out.

Last week, I had my nephew pick up the boat and clean it up to sell. He
just called me and told me:

a) The boat has a waterline mark on the hull from sitting in a slip on
the
ICW.
b) The engine meter now has 23 hours on it.
c) There is some minor damage (2-inch deep scrape) on one of the sides -
something that
would result from a failed docking attempt.

I called the storage place an hour ago and happened to get the owner. I
asked him if he could explain why the engine now has 23 hours and has
minor
damage.
He denies that the boat ever left the rack and hung up on me.

Fortunately, other than the minor scrape, the boat is fine otherwise and
the
engine runs fine. But man, does this crap **** me off!

Eisboch (venting)

Welcome to the miserable world of rack storage in Florida. I've stored
boats at 2 different locations, and each one was a terrible experience that
just added one more angst to boat ownership that I really didn't need.

There are private boat rack storage/condos popping up all over down here.
They cost a fortune to purchase, but they appreciate in value, and they seem
to do a much better job at taking care of your boat and providing better
piece of mind than the rental places offer.

The boat business is where car dealers were 30 years ago. I got so fed up,
that I sold my rack-stored boat and went to a trailerable boat. When I got
the itch to get a bigger boat again, I bought a house on the water.

On Tue, 05 Jul 2005 15:33:17 GMT, "Eisboch"
wrote:

~` snippage ~~

He denies that the boat ever left the rack and hung up on me.

If you can prove it only ad 4 hours on it, take him to small claims
court - it's obvious he used the boat while it was in his custody.

Shortwave Sportfishing wrote:

On Tue, 05 Jul 2005 15:33:17 GMT, "Eisboch"
wrote:

~` snippage ~~

He denies that the boat ever left the rack and hung up on me.

If you can prove it only ad 4 hours on it, take him to small claims
court - it's obvious he used the boat while it was in his custody.

First if what your saying is true, you need to retaliate in a way that
gives you and other boaters satisfaction. Blast the Marina name every
where that you can, next do not pay the asshole, next sue or threaten to
, that's a bit of a motavator down your way, next go boating and reflect
THAT'S BOATING.

"Dry" wrote in message
...
Shortwave Sportfishing wrote:

On Tue, 05 Jul 2005 15:33:17 GMT, "Eisboch"
wrote:

~` snippage ~~

He denies that the boat ever left the rack and hung up on me.

If you can prove it only ad 4 hours on it, take him to small claims
court - it's obvious he used the boat while it was in his custody.

First if what your saying is true, you need to retaliate in a way that
gives you and other boaters satisfaction. Blast the Marina name every
where that you can, next do not pay the asshole, next sue or threaten to
, that's a bit of a motavator down your way, next go boating and reflect
THAT'S BOATING.

But that does not solve the problem....it is only being retaliatory.

"*JimH*" wrote in message
...

"Dry" wrote in message
...
Shortwave Sportfishing wrote:

On Tue, 05 Jul 2005 15:33:17 GMT, "Eisboch"
wrote:

~` snippage ~~

He denies that the boat ever left the rack and hung up on me.

If you can prove it only ad 4 hours on it, take him to small claims
court - it's obvious he used the boat while it was in his custody.

First if what your saying is true, you need to retaliate in a way that
gives you and other boaters satisfaction. Blast the Marina name every
where that you can, next do not pay the asshole, next sue or threaten to
, that's a bit of a motavator down your way, next go boating and reflect
THAT'S BOATING.

But that does not solve the problem....it is only being retaliatory.




BTW: Sorry to hear about your problems Eisboch.



















But then again, folks who can afford to buy his and hers 48+ foot Grand
Banks and a winter retreat in Florida (on the water with a screened in
swimming pool) deserve some grief once in a while. g

In article .com,
says...

My first guess would be a weekend joyride by one of the people hired to
"detail" your boat, or maybe the forklift operator. Little Miss Putout
was probably very impressed with her date's "new boat", and a little
beer (see scrape) probably lubed the situation rather nicely as the date
progressed.

I sense some projecting here Chuck.

I had similar fantasies while growing up, portions of which were
realized. Fortunately, I didn't have to steal a boat since my folks had
an Owens with plenty of mahogany and teak that required my attention.

Tell me you never did the same?

jps

*JimH* wrote in message
...


BTW: Sorry to hear about your problems Eisboch.


But then again, folks who can afford to buy his and hers 48+ foot Grand
Banks and a winter retreat in Florida (on the water with a screened in
swimming pool) deserve some grief once in a while. g


Methinks you have a couple of us confused in your mind there Jim. But -
thanks for the thought anyway.

Eisboch

Shortwave Sportfishing wrote in message
...
On Tue, 05 Jul 2005 15:33:17 GMT, "Eisboch"
wrote:

~` snippage ~~

He denies that the boat ever left the rack and hung up on me.

If you can prove it only ad 4 hours on it, take him to small claims
court - it's obvious he used the boat while it was in his custody.

When I first got off the phone with him my emotions ruled and I was ready to
call F.Lee Bailey.

After a while, though, more realistic thoughts emerged. First, I can't prove
anything regarding hours (although I have several people who know the whole
story). Bottom line is it just ain't worth the bother or effort. Sometimes
you have to accept the risks you take and accept the results. Having run a
business for many years, my gut feeling is that his is not long for this
world anyway.

Eisboch