After 5 months of negotiations, I am delighted to report that we have completed the sale of our boat. The time scale has been so protracted because she has been in charter and some kind person managed to ground her in the last year or so, without reporting the incident. This has cost us dearly, both financially and mentally and I truly hope that the person who did this damage has a guilt complex, though I fear not.
Anyway, time to move forward. We have had some super holidays onboard and other than the past few months, have no regrets.
For almost twelve years we have enjoyed BVI and love all that the islands have to offer. A huge thank you to all who have come our way during that time. We have had a fantastic time and made some good friends, many of whom we will miss tremendously.
I am going to sign off, I think, to TTOL, which has given me great daily interest. No doubt we shall return to BVI as we have been so happy here in the past. But for now, at least, au revoir.

Congratulations!

Old saying "be happy when you buy a boat" celebrate when you sell.

If you are still here?

How did you managed to put this timeline and root cause together?

"ground her in the last year or so, without reporting the incident."

Did insurance deny coverage?

Who did the in the water hull inspections after your charters returned??

Congrats on the sale. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/toast.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/toast.gif" alt="" />

Well done on the sale Sue. Feels good doesn't it? That'll wear off though and you'll start looking longingly at boats sailing past while you are stuck on the sea shore. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

I don't know what type boat she had but if it was a monohull probably half the boats coming out of charter have some keel issues. Usually cracking around the keelboats. If it was a cat there can be similar issues. Not all charter companies dive the hulls after every charter and all boats show some signs of grounding so it can be missed.
It might be possible to get insurance to pay but you normally have to tell them when and how it happened. The real issue is resale value drops on a damaged boat just like a car even if fixed.
G

I can understand charter companies not putting a diver in the water after each trip, but these days, a lot could be seen with a go pro on a long pole.. Certainly obvious damage anyway that might then warrant a dive.. Not sure why more don't do that.

It's not hard. As an owner, we always dive and check the keels on the first day there. If you see chunks gouged out of the keel's leading edge, then you know that someone "grounded her in the last year or so without reporting the incident." We were with the same charter company as Salica and they did not routinely dive the bottoms. Most companies don't, but a lot of charterers damage boats and never report it, since they figure the charter company won't find it for a while and won't know which charter party did the damage. We often found gouges in the leading edge of one of our keels (catamaran). Burned me up every time but not much we could do about it! We would have to pay for the repair when it was hauled for painting, and it was usually below the insurance deductible so not worth reporting.

With all the technology available today, seems it should be possible to have something to detect a grounding..

I can guess too:

-Damage happened since the last bottom job.
-Damage happened since the last owners visit.
-Marine growth on the keel scars.
-Amount of damage done since the water intrusion started creating more damage than just the keel box fractures and stress cracks.
-In many cases you can see the stress cracks behind the keel by just lifting the floorboards without putting someone in the water.

What I am curios about is how this damage went hidden and why there was no underwriter with a charter operator involved to handle the loss.

To the charter boat keels. Just put a mask and fins on next time you are in a crowded anchorage. The battle scars going way up the keels are more than I could ever count.

Last guess... Did they take the boat from the operator, settling, and ending that contract before the damage was discovered?

Would a proper and complete independent survey have served the owners better?

In the post charter briefing, Horizon would ask, "how many times did you run aground?". I never asked to see if that casual question brought out the truth or not. I don't think anyone actually dives bottoms due to the extra expense on turnarounds. Diving bottoms at Nanny Cay is not an exciting option for a diver.

CYOA does every time.

Many do! Depends on the culture. Some shops want to shift the cost of any damages as close to the customer doing the damage. Others are more marketing oriented get them in get them out passing off damage cost across all the customers. I have watched divers in the water as soon as boats hit the dock. I have heard others asking kids..."Did Dad run aground?". I had one operator put a young female aboard to count every bowl and fork. I did pay for one bowl and one spoon.

Rent a car at the airport most never look up when you return the car. Enterprise inspects every inch 360.

Conch does it every time.

Pretty sure TMM dives bottoms.
On another charter We saw a guy diving bottoms in Nanny Cay and decided that was an awful job. Ewwww.

The Moorings also dives the bottoms.

TMM dives the bottom after every charter

Really? I've never seen that. It is certainly not something they do after every charter.

They are supposed to be diving every bottom before it goes out on the next charter. They were diving multiple boats every time I was down this year.

Horizon does have a diver check the boat after each charter. I know as I paid the bill.

May be the case but spent a lot of time at the TMM base when had our boat there for 9 years and never witnessed it. The only times I was not there was mid to late afternoon, but never saw it happen in early morning to mid day. Perhaps they put someone in water late afternoon to check. I am sure they do when suspect a problem. They do a good job overall.

I know some owners with Horizon who would vigorously disagree with you. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" />

Interesting.. I've never seen this and certainly never saw anything in the contract saying this was something they did either.