Hi Everyone! I'm new to the forum but I wanted to share an adventure we had in our 2016 X17Z a few weeks ago in July.
We are relatively new to RVing having got our brand new hybrid last summer. We've done around 20 nights in it since getting it in June of 2016. We live in Whistler, BC and this July I took a trip to a downhill mountain bike race with my 14 year old son to Kicking Horse Ski Resort in Golden, BC (about an 8 hour drive away).
We were staying at an RV park that is right next door to and managed by the Golden Golf Club. The race went well and we were spending a quiet final evening in the trailer watching a movie on Netflix on the iPad together. We could hear that the wind was getting kind of strong outside so I poked my head out the door to have a look.
The trees around us were really starting to sway and bend hard. I could hear what sounded like the snap of lightning in the distance but then I realized that it wasn't lightning. It was actually the sound of large trees over on the golf course snapping off and falling!
I told my son that we should probably get out of the trailer, jump in the car and head for a more open area so we could ride out the storm. So, we jumped in the car and drove down the lane of the RV park. Literally 30 seconds after we drove away, I looked in the rear view mirror and could see a huge spruce tree snap off halfway up the trunk and the top half of the tree fell directly onto our trailer crushing it!
We were in shock! So, we ended up waiting out the storm for about 10 minutes in the open golf course parking lot and after it blew through we went back to the trailer to have a closer look. The attached video tells the tale:
- Roof crushed
- Leaf springs flattened
- Branches stabbed through roof like spears
- Tent ends ripped off
- Awning ripped off
- Frame twisted
- Side panels buckled
So, we called the insurance company and spent that night in a hotel at the resort. We went back the next day to deal the aftermath. It was decided that we would climb over the logs and get all the trailer contents out and into the car and then drive home and leave the trailer for the insurance adjuster to deal with. Our trailer insurer (ICBC) was great about it all and they were able to tow the trailer to a tow yard after the golf course superintendent got his crew to removed the logs with chainsaws.
It took about 3 weeks to come to a conclusion but the trailer ended up getting written off and we've just picked up our cheque for the full declared value. We are picking up our new 2017 Jay Feather 7 22BHM tomorrow and are headed out for a 10 day trip through the BC Okanagan wine country and also Winthrop in eastern Washington.
Hopefully we can salvage some great camping for the rest of the summer after this debacle but luckily my son and I came away unscathed!
What he said!! WOW
Linear Mode
