Boat stolen and stripped

[Pusher]

Thanks for sharing your horror story so we don't also fall victim. Makes you wish the police did more bait and wait stings.

On the bright side, if you catch them selling through the-bay you could turn them in to the IRS for Tax Evasion... AFTER they serve their two hours in jail and get a slap on the wrist.

Good luck hunting the culprits down. Maybe also look for scrapes in the housing now to identify the out-drive with later should it pop up. I'm betting the dash panel will show up online being sold without gauges as that would be a specialty item... and easy for you to search for. Just a thought.

 

[mjf55]

jmarines, I too am sorry to see this happens. For us JR detectives that will be keeping an eye on CL and EB, can you tell us what type of outdrive it is? Alpha 1, Brovo, etc. Also, what brand gauges and how many / type. That way if one of us see something that matches we can alert you.
Do you have the SN of the outdrive. Not saying to post it, but I suspect you will need it in the event of any recovery.
Again, stinks when this stuff happens.

 

[Fun Times]

That didn't even cross my mind.. I'm now curious to know if they knew what they were doing and just didn't have time to put it into gear or they didn't know at all they needed to put it into gear. Would the outdrive receive damage by them not putting it into gear before removal?

The possibility of the intermediate shift shaft being bent is there since they aren't aligned up straight during removal but there have been many people that have removed them still in neutral and hasn't noticed any shifting issues. The newer ones for the Alpha Gen 2 drives seem a bit more susceptible to damage vs the original Alpha drives due to design... But the original design has it's faults as it can bend or break off too,
http://forums.iboats.com/forum/engi...lower-shift-shaft-broke?p=3867231#post3867231
Service manual says to check the shift shafts for being bent if the drive shifts hard... http://boatinfo.no/lib/mercruiser/manuals/mercruiser4.html#/26

For their sake though, lets hope for the best that it did bend or break off at the stern drive.ray2::encouragement:

 

[jmarines]

jmarines, I too am sorry to see this happens. For us JR detectives that will be keeping an eye on CL and EB, can you tell us what type of outdrive it is? Alpha 1, Brovo, etc. Also, what brand gauges and how many / type. That way if one of us see something that matches we can alert you.
Do you have the SN of the outdrive. Not saying to post it, but I suspect you will need it in the event of any recovery.
Again, stinks when this stuff happens.

Thanks guys for the kind words. The outdrive is a basic alfa 1 gen 2.. and the gauges were the originals.. I'll see if I can did up some pictures of the gauges from past photos. Not sure if I have the serial number of the outdrive or not. The boat title has the boat Vin number and motor Vin number.. just not sure if the outdrive number is part of the motor number.

 

[Silvertip]

The only thing that stops this nonsense is "being prepared". In this case a simple lug wrench cost a day of fun and obviously some time, money and frustration. Fact is, if thieves want something, they will get it. Years ago a friend had his snowmobile trailer chained to a light pole, Coupler lock installed. Wheels locked with a pair of leaf springs through the wheel slots also with locks. Sleds chained to the trailer. They cut the chain around the pole, sprung the coupler lock and dragged the trailer a couple miles to an alley where the sleds were removed and transferred to another vehicle. Local police obviously followed the skid marks but indicated the sleds were likely in upstate New York within two days. Never recovered. No spare, no lug wrench, and no jack = stollen trailer. Good tires properly inflated and not overloaded means those three items will likely never be needed.

 

[Patfromny]

I have traveled the country with a buddy towing his race car trailer and I can say that these trailer tires aren't nearly as quality made as automotive tires. They just decide to go. They do not last long. He was towing a whole lot more money than most boats are worth so he was fanatical about maintenence and he would still blow at least one each long haul. I always pack a box full of tools when towing my boat but that's because it is a 4 hrs trip. When towing it to the body shop I had nothing to change a tire. I'm certain that before this story I probably would do the same if my lake was a few minutes away. Never thought about it but should always have tools and the spare. Even if going around the corner.

 

[R055]

The only thing that stops this nonsense is "being prepared". In this case a simple lug wrench cost a day of fun and obviously some time, money and frustration. Fact is, if thieves want something, they will get it. Years ago a friend had his snowmobile trailer chained to a light pole, Coupler lock installed. Wheels locked with a pair of leaf springs through the wheel slots also with locks. Sleds chained to the trailer. They cut the chain around the pole, sprung the coupler lock and dragged the trailer a couple miles to an alley where the sleds were removed and transferred to another vehicle. Local police obviously followed the skid marks but indicated the sleds were likely in upstate New York within two days. Never recovered. No spare, no lug wrench, and no jack = stollen trailer. Good tires properly inflated and not overloaded means those three items will likely never be needed.

No matter how prepared you are things can still get stolen. Insurance is a must for most boats. I pay 31$ a month for comprehensive and liability, they would pay me 7k if my boat/trailer were to get stolen. I never understood the guys that don't get insurance for boats/cars/expensive toys.

 

[jmarines]

I did find out I do have coverage on the boat. $5500 agreed value on the boat and $1000 agreed value on the trailer. I'm waiting for the local surveyor to contact me to set up a meeting so he / she can evaluate the boat to see the cost of repair . I also have watersports endorsement so all of our towables will be covered. I guess paying that $260/yr payed off. My next question is what do people think about the cost of repairs.. am I looking at a total loss? The parts taken are as follows
Outdrive
Dash with gauges
Steering wheel
All the seat cushions
Motor cover
Carb
Bimini top
Dept finder

 

[R055]

I did find out I do have coverage on the boat. $5500 agreed value on the boat and $1000 agreed value on the trailer. I'm waiting for the local surveyor to contact me to set up a meeting so he / she can evaluate the boat to see the cost of repair . I also have watersports endorsement so all of our towables will be covered. I guess paying that $260/yr payed off. My next question is what do people think about the cost of repairs.. am I looking at a total loss? The parts taken are as follows
Outdrive
Dash with gauges
Steering wheel
All the seat cushions
Motor cover
Carb
Bimini top
Dept finder

They can total it at 75%(i think) the value of the boat. If your agreed upon value is 6.5k then the damage needs to be about 4.9k. Yes I think they're gonna total it or if it's close to 4.9k they might give you an option to total it and they keep boat or they pay for the repairs and you keep boat.

 

[Patfromny]

Even if they want to total it you can take the option of keeping for a lesser insurance check. You can fix the boat with used parts or just bargain shop and be out of pocket a bit but the check will help with alot of it

 

[R055]

Yup an sei outdrive would probably be the way to go. Brand new and 3 year warranty even if the damage is your fault.

 

[jkust]

That's a bummer for sure. They must've thought the gauges were valuable to take the dash panel. I don't get the carb theft....there's just very little value there.
Someone correct me here, but for cars, a theft is an automatic salvage title and totaled by the insurance is it not? I wonder how theft works with boats?

 

[dpoff]

I`m kind of thinking that the thief has the same boat being that the motor box was taken, along with the gauges.

 

[jmarines]

Another quick question... Since I have agreed value insurance what replacement parts will they use.... reman or new?

 

[Patfromny]

I'm not up on insurance for boats since my 5000 dollar rebuild is worth 2500 on a good day. I think they will just send you a check and it's up to you. As far as how they figure out the price either OEM or other, that should be written in your policies explanation. Or give them a call and ask.I had an extended warranty for my van for repairs and they used all oem. Apparently the only one of these types of company's that did so.

 

[jmarines]

Little update

Insurance hired a local surveyor to come out this past Saturday to evaluate the boat. He couldn't give me a exact cost of repairs until he did his investigation on prices. He did say I should take it to. marine Shop of my choice for a estimate so there was nothing overlooked. As I spoke with the marine Shop he informed me it would take some time to get a complete estimate because he would need to sub out a upholstery and fiberglass Shop. He did mention that some OEM parts were stolen that he would write up the estimate on replacing with OEM parts. He said just the outdrive I would be looking at around $3200 to $3500 installed. I didn't realize it would be that expensive for a outdrive.

 

[gm280]

jmarines, how much do you think the value of your entire boat is? I ask because the insurance isn't going to fix your boat if they view the value to have it repaired is more then the entire boat worth. They will offer to total the boat and nothing more. And that total will be less any deductions as well. JMHO

 

[jmarines]

The boat has a agreed value of $5500 and the trailer has a agreed value of $1000. Our deductible is $250 for the boat and $50 for the trailer. I'm not looking to get any extra out for the value of the boat .. esp since we already have a agreed value in place. My concern is if they will go ahead and repair it of just total it out. I'm hoping to find something out this week so the Mrs and me can decide what route to take and try to get out on the water before summers end.

 

[spoilsofwar]

With an agreed value of $5500 and the volume of things that were stripped off it, I would be amazed if the insurance co didn't total it.

 

[jkust]

My gut is because of the outdrive, it's going to be a total loss and they will then offer you to be able to buy it at the salvage value and deduct that from the agreed value amount they will pay you. Agreed value is a wonderful thing. My last boat was insured for the new price then 8 years later became a total loss and of course got the full agreed value. 8 years of use and got every dime that it cost back.