Ugh!

Broke my 20 this weekend. Totally my fault. I was on port tack, and thought I was going to be able to duck the stern of a Hobie 17 sailing upwind on starboard. We weren't even going that fast. The bow of my starboard got caught in his aft wing pipe, and wrenched the tip of the bow (see attached photos). Tomorrow I call the insurance company and see how good they are when stuff gets expensive.

I'm insured for replacement cost of 7,000. Not sure this is reparable, as I saw a similar injury to another 20 that totalled it. In both the case of that sailor's boat, and mine, the front bulkhead was not damaged.

So...time will soon tell when I'll be back on the water! Hopefully soon!

Oh...and to top it off, the only damage done to the Hobie 17 was less than a dimes worth of gelcoat bumped off! I could have hit any other cat out there, and walked away from this little bow bender, but ohhhh nooooo, I had to hit a boat with wings!

UUUUUGGGGGGHHHHH!

Cheers!

Tim J.

Dave has fixed much nastier-looking bows than that. I'll have him look at your pictures when he gets off the water today and see what he thinks.

Okay, Dave looked at your pictures and he says if he were doing it, he would charge about $200 to do a basic fix to make the hull watertight and faired again. If you also wanted the bow painted with a perfect paint match, it would be closer to $500. And if you want the non-skid on the deck to match so it looks like nothing ever happened to the boat, it would be more like $700.

Obviously, he is not going to be the one to do it if you want it repaired, but this is just to give you some idea of possible costs if you can find somebody in your neck of the woods that does that kind of work.

As I thought, it is not a major repair -- the primary cost is in restoring it esthetically more than the repair itself.

I'm guessing you're probably right. In the past, I've always had my boat repaired by Tom Haberman, builder of the Supercat, and to say that I'm anxious for him to look at the boat is an understatement. Hopefully he's not out doing a month's worth of boat deliveries! Anyone out there know????!

He does fabulous work, and at one point, when I showed him a somewhat similar hull, he didn't think it was worth repairing. But, in that case the damage was on the lower part of the hull versus the top part where my damage occurred.

I have the boat insured, so insurance will cover it. Depending on what Tom has to say, I'm hoping to get it fixed very soon. Who wants to be stuck on shore???!!! Ugh!

Tim

My resident fiberglass magician, Tom Haberman, is going to get me an estimate this afternoon. Sounds like it'll be no problem to get her looking good again. Should even be able to get it done soon.

Life is good.

The morale of the story...always insure your boat!

Tim

No, Tim -- the moral to the story is....don't run into other boats.

[color:"red"]I've updated the diagram, as the original conflicts with my story...I'll keep modifying it, until I get it straight! [/color]

It was pointed out to me privately, that in my original post, that I appear to blaming the person I hit for this accident. I can see where it comes across that way, and let me apologize for giving that impression. This was completely my fault, and I also would like to apologize to John Volkman, the sailor who I hit.

The morale of the story is, avoid collision, avoid collision, avoid collision!

I was trying to duck his sterns, we even were discussing with each other that that's what I was going to do. I completely misjudged our speed in relation to his, and in a last ditch effort to head down even further, I caught his wing. I should have crash tacked, or done anything to avoid him, but my judgement of impending collision was too late.

I also want to make it clear that the only person I'm completely disgusted with here is myself. I found it ironic that I would collide with the only boat that could cause that kind of damage, but that was a situation that I put myself into, and now it is my deal to fix it.

I'm not hunting for sympathy either. That's the last thing that was on my mind. The point of making a post about my own stupid mistake is remind us all of how quickly accidents on the water can occur. Thank God no one had to end their season this weekend with a broken leg or worse.

My brother was upset with himself for not trying to fend off. I told him that he is not to ever try to fend off when we're moving under speed.

This will be an easy fiberglass repair. I'd much rather repair boats than people.

Avoid collision, avoid colision, avoid collision! Stay safe, and don't do what I did! I've attached a diagram to further clarify the mistake I made.

Regards,

Tim J.

Next time.....

Sheet out, slow down, and let him pass. You won't lose any height this way.

Bob Curry

If you can find Don Caldwell he can fix that damage. I saw a Hobie 20 with both bows knocked off and he brought it back to like new. The problem is finding him and not being in a hurry.

thom

It's amazing what a good fiberglass guy can do. I talked to my fiberglass guy today, builder of the Supercat, and am confident it'll be good as new very soon!

Cheers!

Tim J.

Post deleted by hobie541

No Mary, I won't give up!!! I just called the guy I hit...this is the right one (I hope! )

He said we were both downwind; he was starboard, and I was port. Here you go....

Tim

Now it's starting to make sense, even to me. This whole attempt to describe the circumstances of your accident makes it obvious why it is so hard to get consistent reports from witnesses at the scene of a crime.

Tim,

If only it was that simple. Imagine my surprise to see you coming in my direction with your sterns pointed in the direction you should have been going. Generally when a person is headed to C-mark they go that way! Well I hope it was a lesson well learned. Besides, you helped me out with the name of my boat. It has been christened CAN-OPENER!!!

John

Yes...that was a rather surprised look in your eye!

Tim! Dude?
What the heck! Were you guys racing at the time?
I'm sure you will be just finebut it still sucks.....I have a new stern on my boat where someone speared me. After the repair you can hardly tell.
The bridle fly bracket I have is not the one you want. You can probably get it from the catsailor storefront. (tic)