Progressive sign and glide towing is great

[brownoarsman]

Cadence, you are certainly reading this wrong, and I do take offense. I would never sail my boat in between two bridges with strong shifting currents, which is what marks the Bahia Honda anchorage, if I believed that I didn't have the engine for a backup. That would be foolish to put oneself and one's property in such a situation.
My engine failed in this precarious position, and rather than contract a much longer tow, which some would likely have done, to get out of Bahia Honda, I sailed to marathon. Non-operative engine is covered in my policy. If the tow boat wanted to take me to my home port, well, it's a long way to Boston. While tows do charge from their home and back, and the tow operator charged an hour for his time to and from my starting and ending location, the tow operator drops you at a location of your choosing. What you seem to suggest is that a tow operator should pick you up and then only take you back to his house, regardless of where that may be and regardless of whether the boat owner would then have to contract another tow to get to a location to effect repairs. That would serve no one but the tow operator. Indeed, towing me to the tow operator's location at my 5 knots of safe tow speed would have cost the insurance company more. I did everything I could to mitigate this impact.


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[Cadence]

Originally Posted by brownoarsman

Cadence, you are certainly reading this wrong, and I do take offense. I would never sail my boat in between two bridges with strong shifting currents, which is what marks the Bahia Honda anchorage, if I believed that I didn't have the engine for a backup. That would be foolish to put oneself and one's property in such a situation.
My engine failed in this precarious position, and rather than contract a much longer tow, which some would likely have done, to get out of Bahia Honda, I sailed to marathon. Non-operative engine is covered in my policy. If the tow boat wanted to take me to my home port, well, it's a long way to Boston. While tows do charge from their home and back, and the tow operator charged an hour for his time to and from my starting and ending location, the tow operator drops you at a location of your choosing. What you seem to suggest is that a tow operator should pick you up and then only take you back to his house, regardless of where that may be and regardless of whether the boat owner would then have to contract another tow to get to a location to effect repairs. That would serve no one but the tow operator. Indeed, towing me to the tow operator's location at my 5 knots of safe tow speed would have cost the insurance company more. I did everything I could to mitigate this impact.


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Sorry if I read it wrong. I took is though you had left with a failed engine.

Sorry again,
Cadene

[brownoarsman]

Not to worry, sorry if I overreacted. I know it's a community on CF and I've come to rely on it heavily as I figure out this cruising life and how my boat fits together, so I would hate to get a reputation as a schmuck that may preclude further assistance when I encounter my next big problem!
Still, sign and glide worked out great, and it could save people a hundred bucks/year, but of course that savings is ephemeral if one believes it could put them or their boat in danger, or result in a huge bill. So if you're happy with and trust BoatUS/SeaTow, then by all means that peace of mind is easily worth $100. For my part I had a great experience, but I hope I never have to use any of these services again!


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[a64pilot]

Last year was my first year owning a sailboat, went with Progressive as they were easy, 100K Hull, .5 Mil liability, 1,400 a yr.
This year at renewal, price went down to 1,200 a yr, same coverage. I added the dinghy to the coverage and it dropped the price slightly? I guess maybe a multi-boat discount or something?
Insurance to me is a mystery, it seems at times to defy all logic.

But by all means, have some kind of towing insurance, at least in Panama City it seems as if towing start at $400 if you have a pontoon or ski boat, and goes up from there.

[brownoarsman]

I've been so consumed with fixing this engine, that I forgot to submit my insurance claim. Sign and glide/compass marine called the tow company to get the amount, cut the check, and then called me to figure out where to send it! Proactively trying to pay me for an insurance claim?! It's amazing. Blue cross/blue shield could learn something.


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[Cheechako]

a) Hard groundings are a big problem for sailboats also.
b) Hard grounding can become a salvage operation, as a tow operator will tell you. My understanding is they will make 2 or 3 attempts before it becomes one.
c) Don't buy the basic policy for marine towing. I ran out of fuel and wanted a jug or tow (~1mile) on the ICW to the nearby marina.. It would have been $600 according to the tow operator. Not covered by my insurance. I opted to anchor and dingy for fuel the next am.

[brownoarsman]

One of the conditions for a tow with sign and glide is that there be water around the boat, so this certainly wouldn't cover getting washed way up a beach (unless the tide would come back and cover you). To be honest, I'm not sure what the other tow insurance policies are in this circumstance.
However, if it becomes a salvage operation, one can always turn down the tow, I believe. I'm not sure many tow operators would be interested in the salvage of an $8,000 boat. If you become legally mandated to remove the boat, your liability insurance (with deductible) should kick in. Not saying this is a good idea, just saying that you should know your options under whatever insurance you have.


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[SSGLIDE]

[QUOTE=brownoarsman;1797857]I read a lot of questions online about this insurance policy before signing up for it, but few people had any reviews so I thought I'd offer my experience. My diesel was non operative and I had to get into the Marathon Marina from my anchorage in Bahia Honda to seek expert help. On advice from CF members, it was determined I shouldn't try to sail it onto the ball.
Thinking I'd save everyone a bit of money, I sailed the boat out of Bahia Honda and called sign and glide en route. Notably, I reached a rep right away, no holding or anything. Rather than let me reach Marathon, they wanted to send the tow right away! I talked them down from the ledge and we set up a waypoint where I'd call them.
They called Towboat US, I got picked up a mile south of the marathon bascule bridge and dropped on my ball. Bill was $450. I paid it directly, took a photo of the bill and texted it to sign and glide, and they are putting a reimbursement check in the mail overnight (I actually told them just to regular mail it to save them $s since I'm here a while). Fantastic! They even called to make sure I was alright when I forgot to call them after getting the tow, and called the tow captain when they couldn't reach me.
My understanding is that there are some restrictions on sign and glide, for instance I don't believe it covers hard ungroundings from my talk with the progressive rep (but that's really a motorboat problem), and they reimburse tow operators a max of $300 an hour. If you don't call ahead, you get a regular mail check rather than an overnight.
I'm pleased as can be with the whole experience.


VERY glad you were satisfied with your experience!

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

a) Hard groundings are a big problem for sailboats also.
b) Hard grounding can become a salvage operation, as a tow operator will tell you. My understanding is they will make 2 or 3 attempts before it becomes one.
c) Don't buy the basic policy for marine towing. I ran out of fuel and wanted a jug or tow (~1mile) on the ICW to the nearby marina.. It would have been $600 according to the tow operator. Not covered by my insurance. I opted to anchor and dingy for fuel the next am.

I called Tow boat US. Never asked me a question other draft the to make a marina in less time. Maybe the best $100 I ever spent. 12 years ago and not a grounding just an engine that went south. $700+ cost and a signature from me was my cost.

[Captain Bill]

Originally Posted by AnchorageGuy

One more comment on Progressive from my personal experience. We insured with them ONCE. They really gave us a lowball price for insuring our boat the first year. Then when it came up for renewal we saw a very significant increase in our premium. No claims, nothing changed. When I contacted them to ask why, their response was, because we can. We switched to Seaworthy and saw a major reduction in our premium. Bait and switch? I'll leave you to decide. Chuck

They did the same to me. About a 50% increase if I remember correctly. I also dropped them. No claims on my part either.