Boat trailer stolen

S

South lake

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We decided to cruise the Ohio River this past week for the first time in 10 years. The trip was great until I went to get my trailer and retrieve my boat yesterday.

I launched the boat from a large marina in Cincinnati on August 4th. They had me leave my trailer next to their parking lot and assured me they would move it to the secured storage area shortly. When I returned yesterday they couldn't find the trailer. A review of their security footage showed that the trailer wasn't moved to storage that day and sometime in the middle of the night a white SUV pulled in, hooked it up and left.

Our boat is in a slip at their marina while I make plans to borrow a trailer from a fellow Tugnut and retrieve it. I've contacted my insurance agent, filed a police report, and had the initial conversation with the marina owner about their reimbursement of any out of pocket cost I will have including my $2,000 deductible. We'll see what they actually do.

In all my years of boating I've never known anyone to have a trailer stolen, let alone one stolen from a marina they were storing it at. Thought I would share this as a warning to make sure your trailer is actually in a secure space before leaving it.
 
Yeah, when something is stolen from you it is such a feeling of violation. Did you have the hitched locked? I assume since you thought the marina was going to move it you left it unlocked. I feel for you, the good thing though, after a while the hurt will dissipate.
 
That sucks Jeff !
Hate to hear that , hope the cruise was good though..........Maybe the Marina will step up.....
Marc
 
Thanks Marc. I spoke with the owner about that. It's clearly negligence on their part. In fact their guy who was supposed to move my trailer back into the fenced area was insisting he did so until we saw the security footage. We'll see what happens.

in the meantime I'm going to get the boat out of there Wednesday and then this weekend take it up to Lake Erie where I have it stored in the winter. Then I'll see about ordering a new trailer and have it delivered there. I want to get the exact same trailer that you sold me with the boat. I really liked it. It was the Pioneer Float-On.
 
No Mike, I didn't have the hitch locked. I took the lock off when I parked the trailer. They were going to move it into a fenced and locked area with about 100 other trailers. I offered to park it in that area myself but it was against the rules so,I put it where they told me to. I left it within 100 feet of the area where a dozen of these guys were working and there it sat until hours after they left when the thief showed up and took it. And no one knew it was missing until a week later when I returned. It takes a fair amount to get me really angry. This did it pretty quickly.
 
You kind of wonder if the guy who "forgot" to put it in the secure lot called his friend with a white SUV?
 
WE Hate Thieves. I bought a Club/boot for my trailer besides the tongue lock. If they were going to steal it, they would be dragging the tires from here to there.

We like our new Ez loader Alum trailer. Works and tows very nice.

Good Luck.
 
I think I would save my insurance and have the marina replace the trailer. It was their fault, not yours. Their insurance should cover it.
 
Here's an update on my stolen trailer experience. Mike of Just Dreamin' loaned me his trailer and I went back to Cincinnati Wednesday and retrieved the Get~Aweigh. It's at my house now and this weekend I'll prepare it for winter storage. Then I'll take it up to South Shore Marine in Huron, Ohio where I store it in inside heated storage.

Mike will meet me while I'm at Lake Erie and take his trailer back. Then he'll go with me to Loadmaster trailers in Port Clinton where I'll complete the order for a new trailer. Thanks Denny-O for the recommendation.

I have the money from my insurance company (less my $2,000 deductible) to cover the new trailer and the owner of the marina where my trailer was stolen gave me $2,000 to cover my deductible, so I'm whole financially.

The big takeaway for me from this is to never never leave my trailer at a marina until I see it moved to a secure storage area.

Second takeaway is thank goodness for tug nuts. It's how I met Mike and without his trailer this would have been a much more difficult experience.
 
Jeff: I'm glad you've reached closure on this really bad experience. As someone else has posted, this sort of thing makes you feel violated -- Boo Hiss. Shame on the Marina staff for letting this happen... I bet the Marina got their $2,000 from their Insurance Co... and of course as both Insurance Companies paid out we all get higher premiums next year... 🙁

How old was your trailer, and did your Ins Co. pay for replacement value ? Just curious.

Take care.
 
Barry, my trailer was a 2010 Pioneer Float-On. I was very happy with it. Marc Grove matched it up with my boat when I bought it and it was very easy to load and unload. My wife has MS so it's important to me to be able to single-hand that duty.

My insurance company has been super. I'm getting full replacement value for the trailer between my insurance and the $2,000 from the marina. my company will now go after the marina and probably in 6 months have their money back. I gave them a detailed account of what happened along with a copy of the police report.

This time I'm going with a Loadmaster trailer based on recommendations from several people on Tugnuts. I've already spoken with the folks there and they've spec'd a trailer for me that has a couple of things my Float-On didn't, including electric brakes and an RC30 electric winch with wireless remote which should make launch and retrieval even easier.

So in spite of the disruption, I'm coming out of this maybe even a little better than when I went into it.
 
Jeff: I'm pleased it has worked out so well for you. You deserve a well earned break.
 
Well, one final update on my trailer. I did go yesterday to look at Loadmaster trailers in Port Clinton, Ohio. They appear to be very well made. I met the owner's son who showed me around their manufacturing process and showed me a galvanized trailer that was already complete. Their price is right and I liked everything about the trailer he spec'd for me..... except.... I really wanted to get an aluminum trailer like I had before.

I also looked at South Shore Marine in Huron, Ohio. I've done business with Tom Mack and his team for over ten years. They carry aluminum trailers and have an inside trailer "expert", Kerk Ryan. I took my boat there on Mike Guthrie's trailer yesterday morning. While there I spoke with Tom and Kerk about an aluminum trailer with the specs I wanted: >10,000 carrying weight, >12,000 GVWT, electric winch with battery and box and wireless remote, electric over hydraulic brakes, 16 inch wheels, spare tire and mount, guide posts, and bunks the boat will sit on as well as forward bunks that will help guide the boat in place.

They hit the right price point and even agreed to throw in an updated brake controller to replace the aftermarket one in my F250 so I chose to go with them.

The decision was based on my personal preference for aluminum but that said I had no doubt the Loadmaster would have been an excellent choice as well.

So, now I can finally put this incident behind me. The Get~Aweigh is in storage for the winter, the new trailer is being put together, and we'll have to wait through those cold Ohio months until next spring when new life and a new boating season begins.
 
Jeff:

I was happy to read that the stolen trailer issue is almost behind you with what sounds like a very good selection for the new trailer. Instead of waiting the cold Ohio months out until you boat again what would you think about trying that new trailer out and tow GetAweigh down to Florida for a few months of sunshine cruising?

Jim
 
Jim, we've talked about doing something along those lines. We're thinking about taking a few weeks this winter to drive south and poke around looking for where we might take the boat next winter. It seems that the cost of a slip somewhere warmer wouldn't be any more than the cost of inside heated storage.

But we also seem to get busy during the off season. It's a problem with retirement... that busy retiree schedule 😎
 
You always have to be careful ,had my tralor stolen right from the yatch club in Montreal for my r21 ,now I triple lock it any where I go ,especially when the boat is on the tralor ,even sometimes remove the tires .
And seems the insurance companies never cover all the replacement costs and loss time
 
News bulletin! Six months after my boat trailer was stolen in Cincinnati, Ohio it has been found in Georgetown, Kentucky.

Yesterday I got a telephone call from the Georgetown, KY Police Department. My boat trailer was found in a I-75 rest area where it had been sitting for a few days. The trailer is in perfect condition. nothing removed. The spare tire is still on it, no damage to it, just sitting there waiting to be stolen again. According to the officer I spoke with, it still had the VIN tag on it, still had my name on it, even had the big WEFINGS Stencil on it.

So the mystery is where has it been for the past six months? why was it left intact and not even a wheel was removed? Why didn't they remove any of the identification?

Since the insurance company now owns it I put them in touch with the Georgetown Police. The claims department asked me how they should price it and I gave them Marc Grove's number (sorry Marc). If anyone is interested in a great trailer for an R-25, PM me and I'll get you in touch with the insurance company. There might be a good deal to be made.
 
Had the trailers tabs just expired? Many stolens get abandoned when the tabs expire as the thieves cant get new tabs and expired tabs draw attention from law enforcement.
 
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