It is public record

B

BrentB

New member
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/ ... efs03.html

Auburn-based boat maker sued over sunken ship

Auburn-based boat maker C-Dory Marine Inc. has been sued in federal court by the Chesterton, Md., owner of a 2003 XLC 27-foot Orca cruiser that partially sank 19 months after he bought it.

The suit, filed Thursday, alleges that C-Dory breached express and implied warranties on the boat's hull and deck, because the sinking of the boat, Last Chance, was caused by leaking through-hull fittings that had no backing plates and were poorly designed and manufactured.

Also named as a defendant was Cutter Marine Inc., a Baltimore marina and yacht brokerage, which was storing the boat while attempting to sell it. The suit alleges 10 bases for liability of Cutter, C-Dory or both, including negligence and breach of contract.

It seeks to recover the $140,000 the plaintiff, David Bay, paid, which includes the $115,445 he paid for the boat and $12,000 in parts bought to repair the boat before it was found to be irreparable.
 
a sunking boat is not funny but having one named last chance is. Well that is bad publicity for c-dory. I wonder what if anything was wrong with the thru fittings and why it could not be fixed. I would think that drying out the hull and then fixing the holes should be striaght forward unless the water soaked into the core material. Is the orca hull built the same way as the c-dory? like I said before all products have problems, its how the owners deal with it. it maybe the fault of the owner of the boat that caused the sinking some how. or even cutter marine but adding holes for pumps or somthing. not enough info at this point but I want to keep a eye on this to see what can be learned and gained for it.
 
'03 model sank after 19 months ownership...when did it sink? 2005? 2006? 2007? Too many questions, as Tom said -- no mention of who installed the thru-hull -- $12,000 worth of parts? hmmmmm

Innocent unless proven guilty -- that's all I got to say

Caty
 
Heavens sake...a 2003 boat ??? and it's still the builders responsibility ???
I kinda think the owner has a buy-in on a deal like that... I check my thru hulls every year....especially the ones on my working tug...those are all Bronze and go into fiberglassed backing plates...
I am not sure what the working life of the plastic thru-hulls are...probably depends on the amount of sun and salt water they are exposed to...
I would think that if the boat was ever resold it would be the responsibility of the new buyer to have the boat surveyed.

Joel
SEA3PO
 
We can speculate on this until the cows come home, and we'll accomplish nothing productive. None of us (to my knowledge) are privy to the facts in this case.

That's not to say I'm not interested in this issue - I'm guessing many of us are. But it's certainly wise to withhold judgment until anything substantive comes out in the public record, or somebody here with first-hand knowledge and sufficient experience comments on the facts.

Until then...it's simply "he said/she said", albeit with a fair amount of $$'s at stake.
 
I agree and posted the newspaper article. Our local paper doesn't post lawsuits unless it is the big multi billion companies.
 
Joel is target on with owners responsibilities. The price of "parts needed to fix" looks interesting too.

I do not like all the lawyer stuff. We as boaters know we have holes in our boats. We have individual responsibilites to check them particuarly as we load them on/off trailers and drive them up and down the highways and byways of America enjoying our freedoms and waters. It does not look like this was a brand new just put in the water hull...but who knows. Time will tell I guess.

I had water varmets eat the covers/flaps off my thru hull/transom deck drains on my TC24. No big deal to me, they were a couple inches over the waterline. They also ate the transducer cord and had to replace it with Raymarine's tri-ducer and re-run the wires from one end to the other of the boat, thru the cabinets and stuff. A long 4 hours of work and some real weird positions.

What I did not keep my eyes on was the 3" exhaust tubes that C-Dory used on this boat and where they passed thru the transom. During towing back from Hilton Head,( a couple of seasons into the life of this hull) the caulking/sealant had dried/vibrations abound...and this allowed water to enter the boat once I totally refueled the tanks at the "cheap gas" prices on land rather than the 50-75 cents a gallon higher marina gas. With some other travel items around the transom area, extra/more than usual fuel load, the bottom edges were about 1/2" under water...just enough for the water to slowly enter the boat.

My boat, my responsibility, my bad.

Scot, Jeff and myself had an interesting phone conversation on the matter, but no law suit stuff...just boat stuff. It was a great feeling to be able to just call my friend the VP of the company (or what ever Jeff's title was when he was active at C-Dory), and he and the factory owner "share the moment" with me.

A great boat, and a mistake I had made on my maintenance. I called them as to just inform them of what had happened on my hull, and that they may want to consider putting the bilges in the forward sponsons too.

Bottom line was the water went forward and drained into the forward sponson area rather than just running down and into the bilge area just below the fittings. The water ran the "edge" of the "I-beam" that had a bit of extra glass on it...and the lowest part for and aft of that "I-beam" on that hull, just happend to be in the foward starboard sponson. The boat would "sink" until the water crossed over into the forward port sponson. Then, level out...until the water ran aft to the bilges in the aft section of the sponsons. The forward sponsons filled, further lifting the aft section of the boat (read...water up front...not in the bilge areas at the aft end of the sponsons).... then started a sea-saw like event with the boat filling with water until she floated level, the water then ran back to the bilges, pumped clear, until the bilges were "dry".....then it would start the entire "routine" over.

Once on the hard, I then mounted a small piece of plastic pot hanger chain under the drains as to make a "guter" from the bottom edge into the aft sponson area where the aft bilges were. Once I was happy this was working, I added some 4200 and went on with loving my boat. Now you bet your bippy each time I put the boat on the trailer...these areas got a lot closer look. Part of owning a boat.

So, if you have a TC24, learn from my error, treat yourself and your boats aft transom 3" tubes to some 4200....and go enjoy a great boat!

Byrdman
 
Back
Top