Marinette Boat Forum

The old timers referred to being on the hard as "dry dock" and on the Ohio River we see floating dry docks for tow boats and barges, but I think David is referring to a boat hoist or floating boat lift. This listing has a picture of a 32 sedan on a hoist:

https://www.yachtworld.com/yacht/1988-m ... 2-8330973/

And I'm sure someone makes a floating boat lift that can handle a 32. For example:

https://www.shoremaster.com/lifts/lift- ... ing-lifts/

You pay for the convenience (mostly to keep the bottom clean) and it's one more thing to maintain, but the peace of mind may be worth it.

We don't normally get a hard freeze in southern KY, and yes, a dry dock around here is a device you can have installed in your slip which can raise your boat out of the water when you are not using it. It is just a bunch of tanks with rails, like what is on a trailer, that get filled with water or air, depending if they are up or down. They are becoming very popular in our lake especially for cabin cruisers. It helps to keep the bottom of the boat clean. Not sure what other benefits there might be, but my boat would probably still be floating if I had one.

They recovered the boat today. They are calling it a total loss. They want to scrap it. I still don't know why it sank. What should I do? I can take $13k which is what is left after the recovery, or something less than that number, for the salvage price.

I don't have a trailer, but I do have a diesel truck that can pull it. I pull heavy machinery on a regular basis but understand I will need the permit due to the size.

Do I bring it home and work on it? Sell it? Should I hold it for evidence in case something comes of this? The insurance company has paid for the trailer rental through Friday. I feel like I'm being rushed to make a decision.

I'm going to the boat tomorrow to collect all of my personal items.

Hello David:

If you take the $13k, the insurance company will own claims against any third party. (Which they are unlikely to pursue.)

Good investigations take time and money and you are more likely than not to come up empty-handed. (I put dashcams in our cars after my wife was the victim of a hit-and-run so something like that might be a good idea for boats too--hmmm.)

Are you considering taking the settlement and then repurchasing the boat for salvage value? I guess it depends on how much they want for it.

A sunken boat is a big restoration project--others here can provide better information, but the soft goods will be shot, all the tanks need to be cleaned out, you'll want to re-wire the boat and a lot of the wood will be damaged. (Though you can replace a good deal of it from stock at your local lumberyard.) If you can buy a restorable boat at a reasonable price you may like that option best. I think that's what I would do. There are still some reasonably priced Marinettes out there that need the love.

Good luck.

Joe