I played golf this morning just like I do every other Saturday. The forecast was for showers and storms developing later in the day. We had been experiencing similar weather for many days prior to this with late afternoon showers which brought with it thunder and lightning.
Our weather normally comes from the south and once it reaches us it tends to hug the Great Dividing Range to the west with the worst of the weather effecting towns to the north like Ballina, Bryon Bay and Tweed Heads.
But on this Saturday afternoon the storms that battered Sawtell remained out over the ocean and we experienced the worst weather the area has received in many years. The storm lasted just over an hour with twenty minutes of hail, some the size of golf balls. We watched as the hail stones belted down on our gardens stripping leaves from trees, cracking windows, denting our awnings and causing considerable damage to our Bushtracker.
Every surface on the van has been damaged especially the top. It looks as though someone has taken to it with a ball hammer, however the four solar panels on the roof came through unscathed.
We are insured with CIL and have sent a series of photos to Bushtracker on the Sunshine Coast who will provide CIL with a quote for repairs. A CIL assessor has inspected our van and informed me that we will require a total re-skin.
That's a shocker Ross.
ReplyDeleteThe aircon looks totalled. Fortunately, it will come out of BT looking brand new.
That's the only upside to all the damage.............
ReplyDeleteWhat about the roof of your house Ross?
ReplyDeleteIs it tiles or tin?
The roof is tiled and has been inspected and we were surprised there were no breakages. Only one broken window and our rear patio awning looks like the roof of the BT, so it will need to be replaced.
DeleteThat's good Ross, it could have been a lot worse.
ReplyDeleteI'm amazed that the solar panels escaped without any damage.
It might be worthwhile having a think about any changes you want done while being repaired. EG we would not have the dometic air con next time around as it is next to useless in NQ.
ReplyDeleteJohn
Thanks John. I will be contacting BT next week after CIL approved our repairs. A total van re-skin will allow us to make any necessary changes. Bye the way they quoted 156 hours for my repairs.
ReplyDeleteDon't want to make light of it but gee i HOPE that happens to ours at some stage ...... i would love to get a complete re-skin of the BT and like Stoz mentions opportunity to change over the noisy A/C
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas to you guys, one day we will meet :-)
Forgot to add, If any of you have travelled through Bingara NSW you may have noticed just about every house has a new tin roof, it's amazing what a difference a new tin roof does to old homes.. ... Your BT will be as good as new
ReplyDeleteAfter getting over the initial shock of the damage, we are now looking forward to having the van look new again. Yes it will allow us to make any changes whilst it is being re-skinned.
ReplyDeleteWe are scheduled in week commencing 28th April.
Wishing you both a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.