Lower Unit Insurance

[Steve Ericksen]

I blew my lower unit this morning at Franks and now I'm trying to figure out if this will be covered under my insurance. My insurance policy does not state this explicitly and my agent isn't in until Monday, it just says "Property Damage - $xx,xxx"

Naturally, one would think my damaged lower unit would fall under the category of "Property Damage."

Has anyone experienced this?

Thanks.

[Ken C.]

If it was damaged by striking a submerged object then depending on your coverage it may be covered. If it is a mechanical failure then probably not. If your insurance is for property damage only then that is usually only for damage you cause to other property. Read your policy & check with the agent or the company.

[Steve Ericksen]

Thanks Ken...I hit a submerged rock pile. The property damage that I'm covered for is for the value of the boat though, which makes me question whether or not its for damage I cause to others.

[TritonBrent]

I would say damage from hitting a rock pile is covered. State farm would cover it so i'm sure others will also. I havent heard anyone hitting anything in the track for a while. Can you give us a gereral idea where you found this pile at ? Thanks

[Ken C.]

1) Who are you insured with? If you are insured with any of the major companies, and coverage is for the value of the boat, most likely you are covered!

2) Please let us know where you were when you 'found' the rock pile - I don't want to find it either! So far I found one submerged piling out there - fortunately I was idling through and caused no damage other than to stall my motor

[Steve Ericksen]

Inamar is my holder, they're associated with ACE.

I was headed to Taylor from Russo's, it was high tide and everything looked alright but I was still only going about 20 mph. I can't tell you exactly where I was but I would say I was about 1/3 -1/2 mile from entering Taylor. Then the day was ruined about 20 minutes into the day.

How do you avoid this? I was watching my graph, going slow and being as cautious as possible...

[Hollywood]

It happens to the best of us. I once lost 3 lower units in a single year on the river. sTony and Cooch probably remember one of them. They took my trailer to come get me after Kota towed me in!

[Mike]

OOPS! Little Franks!

[mark poulson]

I've hear of people tilting their transom mount transducer forward, so they can see what's at the front of the boat, but I don't think that would help with barely submerged logs, and I don't know how fast you can go and still have it work.

[Ken C.]

According to my maps, Taylor doesn't actually connect with Franks Tract. Taylor connects to Piper at the southwest corner of Little Franks. Were you in the main body of Franks or did you venture into Little Franks as Mike suggested? I know there is a submerged island (Mandy?) in "big" Franks between the outlet at Russo's and the the outlet west of there going into Piper. I've never ventured into Little Franks but I hear its full of rock piles and shallows.

I would suggest next time you are at Russo's, stop in at the Hook and buy youself a copy of the Franks Tract Map. That'll help some but I've heard of other hazards out there that are not on this map!

Actually that brings up an idea for a new post...

[tommypV2]

hey Mike -
I think that same rock pile got me a few months ago. It's the levee between Little Franks and Piper, right? Anyway, yah the opening is huge, it kinda looks like the entrance to Taylor and that rock pile is in the middle of it. The opening looks huge because of the weather we had (blew out the tules that used to mark it) and the high water we have this year. I think it was Cooch that told me that it's the remnants of the levee wall that used to be there. That one really should be bouyed or marked in some way, but.. o well.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q ... 1&t=k&om=1

I limped in to Russos and Gramma Russo was nice enough to drive me down to Orwood where I launched from (tourney out of Russos that day) so I could get the rig and pull out at Russo's. State Farm covered it.

[Riplip]

Ditto...two years ago I found your sunken rocks during a very windy,very high tide situation I lost my visual landmarks that I use to navigate in that area for a few seconds, came off plane and BAM, that was it. Sawyer and Cook, no problemo...

[Guyle]

I just got mine outta the shop from that little franks rock pile. Seemed like the middle of nowhere. It only cost me 3 grand.

[jcruz]

Forget the maps - in Little Franks those rock piles are everywhere - and they for the most part will not show up in detail on a topo map. I would recommend all new fisherman cruise around all the major islands in the delta a few times on a washed out tide to get a feel for where these structures are.

[Steve Ericksen]

Tommy...you're right, that's the one that got me too. Just spoke with my insurance company and everything will be covered!!