badmonkey

Well as some of you know, Wendy and I had a bit of an issue with Chillin last summer. Not actually summer since we only got to run it 7 times from when we purchased it. Our last run was May 30th 2015. Story goes like this.... Ran the boat to Cambridge, MD for a weekend at the Hyatt to celebrate my gorgeous wife's birthday with a group of friends. Some of which rode along in the boat and others drove themselves there for a weekend of fun in the sun....great food, pool, golf, spa, great meals, tons of laughs. Left at 1030am on Friday morning out of our Marina in Pasadena, MD. Took the scenic route through Kent Narrows, down Eastern Bay to the Choptank river. Water was flat the entire run. Full sunshine. Nice easy run. Don't think we ever went faster than 50MPH. Arrived at the Hyatt's marina and docked the boat. Had some beers on the docks admiring our boat. listening to music, enjoying laughter with friends all the while a storm is brewing...[ATTACH=CONFIG]551900[/ATTACH]. The boat sat all weekend in its slip. Sunday morning after a weekend of tearing it up with friends and sporting the major hangover it was time to run the boat back home to Pasadena. Water reports were good with exception that winds were up directly from the south at 15-20MPH pushing the water straight up the Chesapeake Bay. The report showed 2-3 footers. No big deal. Got out of the Choptank river with our heading due North. By the time we got to the mouth of Eastern Bay the waters were now tightly stacked 4 footers with some considerably large holes. Typical Bay waters. We were running with them. Piece of cake. We were running at 55MPH and boat was a dream. First time I had her in any water to speak of. Boat was purring. Staying right on top, no slamming, absolutely awesome....Size matters. Big difference than our previous 26' Scarab. Looked back at Wendy as she was sitting with her girlfriend Michelle in the back seat. Michelle's husband Chad up front enjoying the wind in his face. Wendy had a huge smile on her face. She stands up to the back of my bolster seat and says "I am so happy we bought this boat. No more getting beat up. The ride is amazing. Can we go faster?" When do you not do what your wife asks...LOL. Of course we go faster. As we get under the Chesapeake Bay bridge continuing our heading North we start letting the boat stretch its legs. As I can hear the girls in the back seat laughing enjoying themselves, I review gauges and see that we are running at 85MPH. WOW, I think. This thing is amazing. I am on top of the world. Beautiful wife, amazing daughter, successful business, awesome boat, the luxury to do what we want...life is GOOD!!!

Now the NIGHTMARE !!!. AS previously mentioned major hangover. What better for a hangover...that's right more beer !!! We removed all belongings from the boat and the girls went home. Chad and I stay at the marina to wash the boat and put it to bed till the next time. We of course first flushed the motors. Have some beers, which truthfully were not making me feel better...lol. Once we finished flushing the motors I told Chad we were done and going home. I would come back tomorrow afternoon and wash the boat. I had enough...time to go home. Covered the boat up and left. Well, two days later I finally get time to get to marina...start washing the boat from our weekend of fun. The norm, inside, outside, bottom.... Well I notice a crack in the bilge area.[ATTACH=CONFIG]551895[/ATTACH]. I figure its just a surface crack on the liner NO BIG DEAL. Tend to it in the Fall when I pull the motors for the winter. Then I find this on the bottom..[ATTACH=CONFIG]551896[/ATTACH]. Crack line showing on the hull bottom roughly 2' forward of the crack in the bilge area. Both just on the far back portion of the hull. Well this is not good. I proceed to have several "experts" look at the issue...These freakin people are idiots...Experts. MY ASS. I proceed to remove the motors because was told it could be catastrophic if we run the boat in its present condition. NICE, there goes the freakin summer, all the poker run plans that we had already paid for...I'M PISSED. WTF, all this money for this boat supposed to be in perfect condition...what the hell has happened. I can only imagine what it will cost to fix this thing. It needs to be repaired. Boat goes to an "expert" in Annapolis, MD. (don't use this guy...lol). After a month of him going thru the boat, taking tons of photos,[ATTACH=CONFIG]551897[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]551898[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]551899[/ATTACH] emailing back and forth with the folks at Formula, no one has an answer. The Expert says it will could cost $50K to fix...Formula says nothing !!! Go figure. Finally Formula offers..."bring the boat to us and for $90 an hour we will find out whats wrong with the boat and go from there. Not happening... Well I've already paid the EXPERT over $1300.00 to give me zero answers....The only thing I was told is that it appears possibly that the boat has possible delamination issues, oil canning, etc, etc, etc. As I said, no answers...just guessing. Well now I am not paying $50k to fix it. I'll patch and sell or sink it.... Boat comes back to the house....As it sits on the trailer and makes me want to vomit everytime I see it. I eventually contact Dave Sikorski (AKA Glassdave). Dave and I speak and send him all the photos. We come up with a plan. Dave is kind enough to make it one of his winter projects. Now I feel a bit better. I am going to get it fixed properly by a true EXPERT, I am going to completely gut this boat. New paint, new cockpit interior, new rigging, fresh powdering coating, new GPS the works. DO NOT WANT THE BOAT AS IT IS. We are changing its name the whole 9 yards.

Now its November 14th. Tow the boat to Dave's shop in Ohio. The process is starting...[ATTACH=CONFIG]551901[/ATTACH]. Dave gets into it, guts the interior out, removes all the bilge rigging, starts his cutting and grinding and figures out that when manufactured, Formula forgot to make sure that the plexus liner was completely install to the bottom of the stringers. There had been a 1/2" gap from the bottom of the hull and the stringers.This had allowed the boat for 15 years to "oil can" or "flex" within the bilge area which in turn showed its ugly face on my clock....[ATTACH=CONFIG]551902[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]551903[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]551904[/ATTACH] For those of you that know this boat, she had been handled with kid gloves by previous owner. We had the boat surveyed. There were zero signs of abuse....hardly, the boat was documented all over this sight, was a token Fastech for Formula. We and the previous owner had no idea. ...(I have additional photos from what Dave found that I am unable to upload right now for some reason)..Anyways, the boat is getting fixed....I will post additional photos of the plexus liner issue and others...the boat stripped of its factory paint job, etc. later. I am NOT going to share any renderings of the new paint scheme nor of interior, etc. All those will come when she is finished. I am also not sharing its new name...USCG Documentation paper work is being processed for new name, things are going along nicely. Dave sees light at the end of the tunnel, XT-Innovations is working on the interior and we are getting excited to have a brand new boat. Kinda funny when I told Wendy that we were not buying another project boat...WTF !!!!...lol

To be continued.....


Chris

badmonkey

Photos below are of the stringer showing the gap from the bottom hull, plexus liner that you can see has a hole worn it the corner from its shifting for 15 years, a outline photo to place where damage relate inside to outside and the boat with no factory paint left......[ATTACH=CONFIG]551907[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]551908[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]551909[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]551910[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]551911[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]551912[/ATTACH]

More to come.....

Chris

badmonkey

What I forgot to mention is...there is NO stringer damage to the boat at all. We are actually completely structurally sound. Dave checked every inch of the boat. The bilge area is the only problem area. The cause of the damage is due to the improper installation of the plexus...left a gap at the base of the stringers allowing the boat to "flex" - "oil can" causing the cracks. We would assume that quality control at Formula missed this one...Thanks Formula... Wait till you see this thing when finished....Thought "Chillin The Most" was nice...


Chris

lastcall02

Can't wait to finally get some runs in and some raft ups with you guys this summer! Glad things are finally going well for you as I've seen how stressed out you've been (shows in your golf game....kidding). Can't wait to see the final product, brother!

badmonkey

Thanks Brad. Stress was an understatement. Speaking of golf, we need to go do that soon...

Rattlesnake Jake

iTrader: (2)

Damm. I know you told me you had some structural problems and that Dave was fixing them Chris, but I didn't think they were that bad. Good that you brought it to the right person and hope you have a better season than last. I'm sure Dave won't disappoint you.

Wally

iTrader: (1)

Just curious if you have shown Formula Daves findings and if they have said anything about it? Doubt it but still wondering....and your in good hands with Glassdave He would be fist on my list for such a repair as well.
Good luck with the soon to be new boat

badmonkey

Wally, Am certainly sharing the findings with Formula. Unfortunately I really do not see them doing anything to help us out...They are quick to say that the hull warranty is expired...true it is but you < Formula> did not complete due diligence when completing the manufacturing process of this particular boat. We will see what happens. I will certainly keep all informed of what we find out.

Chris

rak rua

Heck of a story, you wouldn't expect that from Formula.
I'd be politely keeping them well informed, she's way out of warranty but something like this might have them thinking. Sounds like you'll get a nice 'new' boat, maybe Formula will do some customer relations work and help somewhere. Keep pushing, nothing to lose.

Good luck.

RR

badmonkey

Polite email has been sent with all documentation. We hope that Formula gives us a pleasant response but not expecting it. We will see what happens. Lord knows we certainly never expected this from Formula. Thanks for the encouraging words RR.

Chris