Fire, Tribute, Insurance and ...

[pschnack]

Fire
Unfortunately our R-25 was consumed by fire on Monday night at 11:30 at her dock. I felt the need to post, I am not sure why. Though I have not posted often, I am a perpetual lurker and have incorporated so may of the wonderful modifications all of you have shared. Thank you all!

Tribute
Five Buoys had more than 100 guests in the last four and a half years from countries such as Denmark, Spain, France, and of course the U.S. (sailors, we host, in from all over the world for regattas; friends from all over the country; and exchange students). She's taken us to Catalina more than 20 times, and to my mom's house quite a few times too. She's hosted celebrations from birthdays to anniversaries to holiday weekends to even a funeral at sea. She's traveled the southern California coast from Ventura to San Diego, and raised about three thousand dollars for local schools. She was my pride & joy, and she helped show my family the love of the water and how to care for a boat. From Adventure Guides trips to ones where we just followed our boys in regattas, she's been the heart of our life on the water. RIP Five Buoys.

We do not yet have a cause of the fire, the report is due from the arson investigator in less than 2 weeks. I will share what the final cause was, just in case it is something for everyone to watch for.

Insurance
Please take a moment to go look at your insurance policy! Also go take pictures and an inventory of your boat. I had a agreed value clause that looks like it mostly cover the boat, but not the recent electronic adds (autopilot, and other fun stuff) and not the contents that add up very quickly as you start to look at replacing them. The stuff you don't think about much, chart books, binoculars, pillows, bedding, first aid kit, automatic life jackets, pillows, sleeping bags, masks, snorkels, sunglasses, flags, embroidered towels 🙂, you know the list. Our list ended up being about 2 pages, before I understood it made no difference with my insurance. It adds up VERY quickly.

And...
We are in the market for a R25 (most likely not SC), Cutwater 26, or possibly a R27 just in case someone is looking to sell. This was our long term boat so I kept her very well. Petroleum Jelly and Corrosion-X on every connection and anything that even thought of corroding or rusting along with regular maintenance. So I am hoping to find a boat that has had the same care, that I know many of you share, and will fit into our budget given the insurance.

Also I know it is a silly thing but if Andrew happens to read this, I lost my tan Ranger Tugs hat in the fire, and would love to replace it. 😀

I did post some pictures in quick album for "Five Buoys". I had always wanted to create a album to show off our modifications, again that so many came from all of you, but this will have to do till the next boat. Take care and be careful out there.

Peter

 

[Lenny and Louise]

Peter,
Our most sincere condolences. The pictures brought tears to our eyes.

 

[knotflying]

Devastating! Our thoughts are with you. Keep us posted as to the cause. Hopefully you will be back on the water soon with a new boat and your only concern will be what to name her.

 

[cruz-in]

So sorry to hear this. Always not good to loose a boat to fire, however, loosing a beloved and used one is particularly tuff.

Your post got me thinking about fire safety and egress from sleeping quarters in case of fire. Depending on cause/location of fire, exiting the v-berth in a fire could be tuff.

I guess this argues for having a fire extinguisher near the v-berth.

 

[Irish Mist]

So sorry to read and see pictures of your loss. So glad no one was hurt. I can not imagine how you must feel. Hopefully you are able to get things replaced soon and move forward. Looking at the damage it is hard to imagine they can determine a cause but they seem to have their ways. Good luck with all and look forward to seeing your posts with your new boat.
Mark & Jodi

 

[Andrew Custis]

Peter,

Very sorry to hear about your loss and thankfully no one was hurt! We would be more than happy to send you another set of hats if you would like to email receptionist@rangertugs.com.

Anything else you find out regarding the cause of the fire, please email me directly as I would like to be updated. andrewcustis@rangertugs.com.

Thank you!

 

[pschnack]

Followup...

If the investigation had found something boat related I probably would have started a new thread, but most likely cause is arson, so nothing to directly watch for on your beloved vessels.

Thank you for all your support.

We will be back with a new signature block, the plan is to stay in the Tugnuts family on the next boat. Maybe this time I will post the few modifications I made that I did not see in here as I redo them!

-Peter

 

[Levitation]

Peter,
First, what a bummer.
Now, do you have any idea why you would be a target of arson - exposed boat location/neighborhood/other boats burned recent past/your profession/the ex girlfriend from hell :mrgreen: ?

 

[S. Todd]

Arson as the cause of a fire is never a good conclusion, but is what the Insurance companies are left with when the fire investigators can not determine a natural cause. That can mean a denied claim until you prove you were not the arsonist. I only know this because I have a relative that just got done fighting with his insurance company over a house fire that occurred 11 months earlier. The insurance company finally gave up and agreed to pay the claim after they were faced with overwhelming evidence that the fire was not started by the owner (including absolutely no motivation to burn down a nicely maintained lakeside home that was paid for). Thus, if it really was arson, I hope you have a list of enemies to satisfy the insurance company that it was not you, or this might be a much longer battle than you anticipate. Good luck and best wishes to get back on the water without too much of a battle. No one in their right mind would destroy their own Ranger Tug!

 

[pschnack]

The good news was the arson investigator really only spent about one second asking a neighbor if the boat had been for sale or if we had taken anything off her recently. But we had talked the night of the fire and I am pretty sure we were never suspects. The insurance company was fine, they did have to wait till the report was complete, but they paid out right away, no issues. As I had said before CHECK YOUR INSURANCE as in this case it also might have helped that we are working hard to replace the boat and we did not insure for enough to match the costs to replace.

There are a number of leads, but my guess that we will not find out for sure as it may be hard to make the direct link. So it is hard to actually speculate. There was other vandalism in the neighborhood that night. It could be just some troubled kids. Anyway you look at it, it still is upsetting. But no one was hurt, nothing was damaged but the boat, contents, kayak, and a stand up paddle board. Dock was fine, the boat with 100 gallons of gas and a 100 gallons of air behind us was fine (that would have gone boom) and the boat in front of us other than being splattered with remnants of our boat when they put out the fire are all fine. So in that respect all good.

Currently looking at a used R-27 and a Cutwater 26, hope to be back on the water soon!