My Boat damaged by drunk teenagers

[Wayloncle]

So I had a nice day out at Shell Island.....until an Assclown threw a big liquor bottle from 2 boats away and hit my boat!

I was sitting on the beach and caught a glimpse of something flying, nothing to be alarmed of as seagulls are flying all over, then I here THUNK! And I see a bottle hit the water by my boat, right where my kids were swimming about 45 seconds before. The next thing I remember is being in the water with the bottle in my hand yelling at the 2 rental pontoons that were beached down from me. It's where bottle came from and there were no other boats even close enough to throw anything and hit mine.

There were two ladies in their late forties-early fifties and about 25 teenaged kids with the pontoons, the kids had been drinking the whole time we were out there. A couple started running their mouths saying no way can I prove they threw the bottle and it didn't hit my boat any way. I stopped them from leaving until I checked my boat for damage, it took me a minute but I found it, it hit the windshield frame right above the steering wheel.
I heard one jackass say "I can't believe you are getting upset over that little dent". I very calmly (not really) expressed to him that this boat is not a rental, I take in ownership of my things (especially the boat) and I worked hard to be able to afford having recreational items to enjoy.
One lady and one of the young guys were very respectful and she kept apologizing and said she would pay whatever it costs to fix. During this time the other pontoon, where the bottle came from, is loading up with kids and dumping alcohol and getting out of there. I said I wase calling The police to come out and of course she kept saying it wasn't needed, she knew we had her by the the the ahh toes since she had all those kids out there drinking.

I am a very calm person, but that got me fired up! But I kept my calm other than yelling at the guy that kept running his cock holster about it being "just a little dent". My wife on the other hand doesn't keep her calm so much, she was so mad half the crap she was yelling didn't even make sense

 

[sysinu]

Did you shoot them? This makes my blood boil.

 

[bronze_10]

Too bad the police didn't come..

 

[eggwhite93]

Are hey still going to pay for the damage?

 

[Andy S]

That really sucks, I hate irresponsible people. Just glad none of your 2 legged family members were hurt.

 

[soundshark]

That's pretty serious if you ask me. Throwing a bottle towards other people is a big deal. That thing can easily kill someone. If you did that on the street you would be tased by cops at the minimum, and then arrested.
Then there is the small issue of littering, I don't want our beaches to look like that.
That kid should have been handed over to the police.

What I learned from your story is to avoid those party boats as far as I can.

 

[SCSTWG]

I hope you followed through on this and got it taken care of. These boats are no different than cars. You see a little damage and think that it should be able to be fixed for a few hundred dollars and the bill comes in at $1800. I would have taken the boat registration numbers and called the police immediately and then gone about enjoying my day. Outside of someone from that group walking over to you apologizing and making it right on the spot (with cash), I see nothing but upside to getting the event recorded. I had a similar scenario happen to me many years ago where someone from out of state backed into my car. They apologized and couldn't have been nicer. Gave me all of their insurance info and ID information. I failed to get the police involved. When my insurance company contacted them, he denied even being in the state. Lesson learned.

 

[Julian]

That totally sucks....hope they follow through....

 

[Wayloncle]

She is going to pay for it, it just happened about 6:00 yesterday so I still have to get estimates to send her.
I called FWC and then called 911 who directed me to FWC main office, they recorded it and said if she doesn't follow through to call back and we can go after her insurance company. I took a photo of her driver's license, have all the registration from the boats and called the rental company. The rental company were jackasses as well, they kept saying their insurance covers their boats not other people's, I'm sure they get a lot of calls like this one.

We should have called and reported the under aged drinking as soon as we got there, it was obvious, and she never denied them being underage. She owns a business in town, she knows if she doesn't make it right we can raise a stink. I've never been a person to use social media like that but if she doesn't pay I'll be all over it!

 

[subysti]

Did you call the cops? If not then why not? If you did what happened? Ok forget my post. You posted at the same time i did. Glad to hear it.

 

[Big Shasta]

That's crazy, We've had a few issues with rental boats and drunk people but nothing this bad. It's why I have the marine patrol in my contacts list in my phone.

 

[McMark]

I would probably have lost it. Mojo on the boat repair and getting paid.

 

[beachbum]

This story fires me up as well... I'm getting really steamed just reading it... Pride of ownership, among many other things, is something that receives little respect.

 

[OperationROL]

This does suck, but it looks like you handled it pretty well. I believe I would have lost it. Disrespectful teenagers probably tops my list of things I hate. My wife is like yours. She would have been telling them off, then if they said something to her, I would have lost it. I believe this woman has a lot to lose and will make it right. The sad thing is they will probably have to replace that top windshield rail. I don't know how this can repair a dent like that otherwise.

 

[haknslash]

Damn that sucks! You handled it better than I would have. I don't have patience for irresponsible people. I'm glad the woman was sensible enough to step up to the plate and pay for the damages. Best of luck on the repairs!

 

[GTBRMC]

Scary and very irritating. Great job on keeping it under control. If you had lost it, very quickly you likely would have become the bad guy in the eyes of the law.

If you need to, don't be shy about going after the rental house. They are the vessel owners and absolutely are responsible in many ways. The initial "our insurance doesn't cover it" is just like the signs at the grocery store saying they are not responsible for cart damage: the primary purpose is to deter people with a legit claim from pursuing it.

On the positive side, nobody was hurt and your windshield did not get smashed. Crappy incident to have to deal with on a beautiful boating day.

 

[ToddW850]

@Wayloncle man I'm sorry to hear this! Ticks me off reading it. Hope she makes good on it.

 

[Wayloncle]

So I looked the frame up on YamahaSportsPlaza, looks like the frame and glass come as one piece? I called a local guy that works on jet boats he looked it up and said he can only get it as one piece with the glass, he has never changed a frame before but said it looks like a really tough job.
I remember reading about a couple people that took their glass out to tint it so it can't be THAT difficult. I don't want to change the glass because I'd have to get it tinted again:-/

I have the local Yamaha dealer sending me a quote, I tried calling one in San Antonio since that's where I'll be moving to in 2 days, but they are closed on Mondays.

 

[Shuck Water]

I would have called the police early on. Kids are just stupid these days. I can remember trying to drink underage in college, it was almost like a covert mission not to be seen by anyone.

Side note, what heck kind of bottle hit your boat, glass, plastic or metal??

 

[biglar155]

Boy, that goes on the "how to ruin a summer day" list doesn't it? Sounds like you handled it well.

To be honest, if it's me, I'm making sure she's busted for providing alcohol to minors. Anyone stupid enough to do that deserves what they get. I sure has heck don't want anyone pulling that kind of crap with MY kids.