ooops!!! Ran aground,bent shaft, insurance claim coming, now what...

[Dan Payne]

Should not have drove it off myself (like every article I've read on the subject since 1965). What are some things I should be aware of in the boat yard-insurance estimate arena. ie. making sure all aspects of the repair are included in the estimate (haul-out, wash down, hull repair, relaunch, ect.). New shaft vs. repair of bent shaft. Any other ideas shared would be greatly appreciated.

[RGM]

I don't quite understand what you did exactly, but I've got a rough idea. Your insurance company will most likely limit their "involvement" to repairing/replacing items that were damaged in the specific impact event. In other words don't count to heavily on getting a new bottom paint job, maybe some touch-up in way of the specified repairs. As for the bent shaft, without knowing more about the damage, size and shaft material it's probably safe to say that a new shaft can be made and installed for almost the same amount of money as attempting to repair/straigthen the damaged one. How's the wheel? Besides, the insurance companies don't want you coming back to them 3 months from now claiming that the improperly repaired shaft vibrates terribly, wears out cutlass bearings and now you have transmission problems. Catch my drift?

[Dan Payne]

RGM, Thanks for the response, very helpful on the repair shaft vs. new scenario. The wheels "look" fine. I'm including a re-tune for BOTH in the insurance claim. There is signs of abraision at the blade tips of both. Can you really tell if the're out of pitch by just looking?