Okay....marina finally called to say there was a large hole in the starboard bellows, and once the boat got down to the rear rubrail, which they said wasn't wasn't sealed for sh!t and let in a TON of water..

Now...I replaced my Alpha's before Mem. Day and the bellows looked fine - bought them used from a fellow OSO member and all looked/worked great.
My marina is telling me that a hole in the bellows may be considered owner negligence and that the insurance company might not pay out on this.
Thoughts? Similar experiences....??? Farmers is my insurer, but they go through a special "marine division" for boats.

I'm pretty nervous about whether they'll pay out on this....

It's not negligence if it got punctured that day. How would they prove/disprove this? Good Luck man!

Man, G-force. I didn't know your boat sank! I hope everyone was ok.
I'm sorry to hear that. I really hope it turns out ok. I would say they should cover it.

Welcome to the sunken boat club of the USA. mine sank from a dry rotted plug, the boat was wet docked for 2 months before this so it was not forgotten.

She sank 2 days after I went out on it....was all buttoned up at the dock and just went under.

So what is considered owner negligence? Not putting in a drain plug I understand. Not checking your hoses every once in a while I understand. But how often are you expected to check your bellows?

And I DID take a cruisers 4' wake really hard (all 32' out of the water!!) the last day I'd gone out on it - any chance that might have caused the hole?

My friend had a leaking bellows on one side for quite a while. One day the batteries died and the bilge pumps stopped , the boat sank and he got the boat totaled. He got a bunch of money and they gave him the boat.

Check the bellows really carefully for teeth marks. It seems like every waterborne rodent loves the taste of bellows. It may be that one of our furry freinds bit through the thing.

insptech is right. i have heard of critters chewing holes in bellows, seems they like the rubber or somthing. i guess its not all that uncommon. good luck with the ins. co. man

I had something hit the plastic cover on my mercathode electrodes this summer and one of the plastic pieces that broke off, sliced my bellows and water feed line. Took me 3 weeks to find the slow leak that resulted. My water line is only used to cool my drive so I didn't see any engine temp changes.