They Stole our Sea-Doos ...Right off the Lake!

[Shovelmike]

I am glad you got your Seadoos back.

 

[lamajama]

The Seadoos were recovered by the RCMP three weeks after they went missing they were found in a marsh area covered in reeds at the North end of the lake apparently some kayakers found them along with one other ski that was also stolen that night. We were staying South of the bridge since the lake flows North to South there was no way they drifted they were purposely taken then abandoned. The ski was dirty from sitting in the marsh and was covered in finger print dust I had the keys so it was not ridden, no additional hours on the display, all my stuff was still in the glove box and storage bin and it still had a full tank of gas. After a good cleanup there are some scratches on the hull and staining on the seat which I am dealing with insurance to get repaired.

I was one day away from getting a pay out from insurance and getting a new 2016 RXT-X 300 I considered trading this in on a 2016 but the dollar difference was getting up there and I could not justify the extra since the 2015 is basically undamaged. Marios Seadoo was found in the same condition but he had some life jackets and other items missing from his storage compartment.

Glad they were relatively unscathed. I suppose they had used Mario's life jackets to do the theft perhaps although why the idiots would be concerned about a life jacket is beyond me.... I'm surprised it was at the North end as I thought that area was relatively populated enough that they would have been seen pretty quick. Seems like pretty dumb thieves - steal 3 and then probably no way to get them OFF the lake. Probably knew that questions would be asked towing them to a launch and probably had no trailer - or they would have had to steal one.

Makes me wonder if I've been lucky all these years or not. I'm sure the shininess of your machines probably helped a lot too!

Anyway real happy you got them both back so we can see some more vid's!

 

[Mickirig1]

Dumb kids with no idea how to profit from them. A real thief would of had a plan to get them out of the water. Transported to another country. Gone without a trace!

 

[lamajama]

I got quotes from Premier and Beacon. I went with Beacon even though they were $100 per year more than Premier, Premier only cover theft out of a locked facility where Beacon it was along the lines of taking reasonable precautions against theft. Beacon cost me $605 for a year with an insured value of $14K and a $1K deductible. Beacon were very good to deal with through the whole process and were ready to cut me a cheque for the full insured value and because it was a total loss the deductible did not apply. I got a call from the adjuster wanting to payout the claim the morning after I got the call from the RCMP that they were found.

Hi Chris,

After attending the boat show and seeing all the marine insurance booths, I started looking into other Co's on insurance. I seen the wording you wrote above and questioned
Beacon on it. My specific question was whether they are covered while on a buoy. Since they are NOT locked to the buoy (which ultimately could be cut from the chain
down into the water anyway) Beacon says they would NOT cover this theft, and basically intimated I was an idiot for not somehow locking them to "something"...

When your doo's were stolen were they on an "unsecured" buoy? When I'm at the lake, they are just clipped via rope to the buoy.

So ultimately this insurance is just for the liability while the machines are in the water as it's extremely unlikely they would be grabbed while
being stored or on the trailer outside of storage...

 

[3ftDeep]

The machines were anchored just offshore. There was a floating buoy, but they were attached by a rope and not locked. Chris has insurance but I won't bother, as I now have the SPOT Trace. Our holiday was long over by the time Chris settled with his insurance provider. If we had the SPOT devices installed last year, we would have recovered them that morning (they were hidden at the end of the lake).

 

[lamajama]

So not "locked" and Beacon covered Chris? If so, this is the issue with individuals deciding claims - I was told nope, but Chris got a reasonable adjuster I guess.

I would put the SPOT trace in but I'm kind of a dummy with wiring, or wiring smoothly anyway... I'd have to study your video! in my case I'm keeping the "insurance" as that's the only way
to get the liability that I know of. That to me is of more concern. I can handle the loss of the machines but not a liability claim.

 

[Tytan]

Definitely not locked and neither adjuster questioned this in any way I explained what happened and everthing went very smoothly when dealing with the claims adjuster at Beacon and their separate marine adjuster. I was reimbursed for a rental Seadoo I had got for a few hours, my time and mileage to drive up to Osoyoos and bring the Seadoo home, storage expenses in Osoyoos and to repair some very minor damage to the machine. I was impressed how Beacon handled the claim with no run around or BS I switched my option motorcycle insurance to Beacon beacause of how well I was treated with the marine claim.

The only thing I can think is maybe they changed the wording on watercraft policys.

 

[lamajama]

They very well could have. The Beacon policy now at least, reads "The insured property will be moored and/or stored in a reasonable, safe and secure manner at all times."
and as I say, the underwriter said NOPE to the moored on a buoy situation.....He said (thru the broker) that "they had a few claims last year"...one was probably you...!:thumbsup:

The Premier one I currently have says "This theft coverage restriction does not apply where the personal watercraft is: onboard or tied to your yacht, on top of a dock
whilst locked and chained to that dock, or on a boat lift system attached to a dock or land". I have not heard back from them yet on the buoy circumstance.

Odd as I see probably 40-50 buoyed on Shuswap as I cruise the lake....all with no insurance I guess...

 

[Mickirig1]

The GPS trackers are getting cheap. I keep getting the advertisements about $24 dollar GPS tracker modules. Small and stick then anywhere. We have them on our Ambulances at work. Some drunk stole one on a call. Dispatch tracked them down turn by turn, street by street.. The police were able to box him in a mile later.

 

[lamajama]

Hey Chris,

What is the subscription cost? I can only see a $99.99 rate on the USA website. Is there a CDN subscription or....? And no issues with being "buried" under the fiberglass hull etc?

This crap with the no theft insurance while sitting on the buoy is starting to annoy me...

 

[Tytan]

That's what I paid, $99 US for a year subscription.

No problem getting a signal through the fibreglass I have the unit mounted high in the hull to keep it away from splashing water and to help with signal strength so far no problems. I have it wired to the Seadoo battery and it has it's own internal batteries in case the Seadoo battery gets disconnected.