Repairing the Adamo

As many of you know, we were hit by lightning in Venezuela. The damage was mainly to the electronics: Autopilot, depth sounder, VHF radio, Stereo, alternator, automatic battery selector and various light bulbs on the mast. We also had five small holes blown into the hull where the lightning escaped from the stays. These were all above the water line, so no threat to the boat.

Despite the strike, we stayed on the river. I guess we wanted to enjoy what we came to see and were subconsciously procrastinating on the upcoming unpleasantness (dealing with insurance and repairing the boat back in Trinidad!)

We were mentally prepared for much more damage. We contacted our insurance company and they e-mailed over the process for filing a claim: two estimates for each item, followed by endless forms and several weeks of delay in getting a response. Once the claim is approved, you can start on the repairs. When all is fixed, then they make you sign a release and two weeks later you have your money (minus the huge deductible). If you have been following the blog, you know how long it takes to get one estimate to get work done on you boat in Trinidad, much less two quotes for each repair job. That could take over a month! Then you have to actually get the people to show up and do the work.

After the shock, we said NO THANKS to that. Sue notified the insurance company we would not be submitting a claim and I went into the "Crazy German" mode to do the repairs myself. 11 days later, everything but the autopilot was fixed. We shipped that back to Raymarine in the US for repairs via Fed Ex. Getting the package picked up by Fed Ex took seven days. The Fed Ex guy kept finding something wrong with the paperwork (lots of customs forms for exporting to the US). Every time I called the company I got a different story and also a different price. The price issue is important because you have to leave cash for the pickup and it has to be correct change. It actually became kind of humorous. The marina office would call to give us our daily notification that the package was still there. Could we come down and make the necessary corrections?

Our buddies on L'Aventura were dealing with their own problems with customs, trying to get a freezer part into the country. I figured if I showed up looking like this at customs maybe something might get done.

But they require "proper attire". Sense of humor still intact after the lighting strike. All is good and we are looking for our next adventure.