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SVTatia · 27-01-2014, 14:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by YoloSF

...*Please* keep this on topic and help us with our questions and don't lecture us on the risks and dangers of going alone

Thanks

Quote:

Originally Posted by YoloSF

...I'm curious as to how people manage the risk of getting hit by lightning and frying some very expensive electronics. I've done some research on this and there doesn't seem to be any proven way to prevent it from happening. In these cases, $2k seems very reasonable instead of $25k to replace everything I'll have on board, no? I'd like to see some more comments on this!

You kinda confused me... On topic or fired electronics?

Anyway, have you checked with the the boat owners - the bank/finance company?
They are interested in their money, not you, so if you get insurance they will be the beneficiaries - in case you don't come back so to speak... And if they are the beneficiaries, do they have their own insurance requirements? Just curious.

Tday01 · 27-01-2014, 21:11

I had good luck with Ace Insurance via Morgan.Wells@jackmartin.com.

We took a direct lightning strike in Brisas Anchorage, Panama (along with 5 other boats in that storm alone). >$30k and nearly 5 months to repair. Insurance was worth every penny!

There are steps you can take to mitigate lightning damage (e.g. Marine Lightning Protection Inc.)

2Ripples · 28-01-2014, 12:40

On the lightning insurance option, some insurance companies have lightning deductibles, some not.
Curious how others would evaluate this business case for a boat in the Caribbean for 12 months - I don't think there is a right or wrong answer, just looking for inputs.

Rounding off the numbers, to save $1,800 per year, is it worth having a $9K deductible for lightning damages ? (this on a $300K boat with no real expensive chartplotters and such).
With $1,800 per year savings, you can afford some electronics being fried, but are still protected for the major event as with Tday01.
But then again, I'm sure Tday01 was happy not to have a $9k deductible

Neptune's Gear · 28-01-2014, 13:58

Hi, we use these guys Edward William and have found them very reasonable for bluewater cover. You will find that you will not be allowed into many marinas without insurance cover. I disagree that "most" circumnavigators are not covered, that is changing due to the difficulties not having insurance now causes.
These guys covered me for Solo Ocean Racing, as well as cruising, and I'm about to renew my policy again. Might be worth looking into for you.
Lightning Protection. Nothing is 100%. We have the mast step connected to a keel bolt. In the Malacca Straits we had lightning hit the water 20m either side of the boat simultaneously, yet we suffered no damage.

Tday01 · 28-01-2014, 14:34

On the lightning deductible front. Ours was $250 for electronics and navigation equipment and ~$5000 for the rest.

The $9000 deductible for lightning damage might be worth if a) you are not going where lightning is commonplace. Florida and Panama come to mind. Panama is terrible in the rainy season. We met at least 20 boats that were hit. We had two hits, one near miss in San Blas that took out an EchoCharger and battery monitor and a direct hit in Panama City that fried everything (including the magnetic compass!). You might not think you have much in the way of electronics, but consider you will probably be replacing old with new unless you have a huge amount of time.

Chart plotter ~ $3-5k
Autopilot ~ $2-5k (depending whether the ram gets fried)
Wind meter, knot meter depth sounder ~$1k
VHF - ~$500-$700
Antenna splitter ~$300
AIS ~$700
Instruments ~$3-400 each
Radar - $2-4k

On top of that you have to add network cables (3 of 5 of ours were burnt out), shipping, duty and installation (double the equipment cost). If you have an older system, you might have to replace the lot for compatibility reasons.

We had ~another $9k in "hull damage" (generator, senders, watermaker, panel switches, melted grounding wires...), and that was stuff we mostly installed ourselves.

Clearly if we had been in the US, it would have cost less (apart from labor) as we could have sourced discount and used replacements, but in Panama its full retail +shipping.

If I had my time again and was going anywhere near a lightning hotspot, I would go for the low deductible.

Tony

tdoster · 30-01-2014, 09:24

Insurance is for old people... I did a lot of cruising in my 20's, grew up and started a family and real job @ 30. In my 20's, I didn't need thousands of dollars in equipment and found that if you are friendly with the rich old people, the stuff they throw away is really good stuff. Learn to install the new stuff they buy and equip your boat with the old stuff.

At 25, risking losing your boat is not that big of a deal since there is a lot of time to make it back up. A way different mindset we had way back then compared to what we have now as we get the kids out of the house and ready to go back out again. As we get older, our recovery potential is much less, thus we have to pass on risk to someone else - ie insurance. We also have to protect the nest eggs we have.

So, buy a good solid inexpensive boat and start the journey and quit worrying about insurance other than a good raft and eprib. Spend the next 5 years eating Top Roman and seeing as much as you can, then decide what you want to do when you grow up and worry about insurance later.

Neptune's Gear · 30-01-2014, 12:23

sorry tdoster, don't agree. There are MANY places you cannot go now without insurance, most marinas, Singapore, etc etc etc

ausaviator · 30-01-2014, 12:34

Quote:

Insurance is for old people... I did a lot of cruising in my 20's, grew up and started a family and real job @ 30. In my 20's, I didn't need thousands of dollars in equipment and found that if you are friendly with the rich old people, the stuff they throw away is really good stuff. Learn to install the new stuff they buy and equip your boat with the old stuff.

Sounds like a "it could never happen to me attitude."

So you're in town buying provisions only to find that when you get back to your boat and it's just sunk because someone ran into it and then fled.... what are you going to do then? Move back in with mummy and daddy?

tdoster · 30-01-2014, 14:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by ausaviator

Sounds like a "it could never happen to me attitude."

So you're in town buying provisions only to find that when you get back to your boat and it's just sunk because someone ran into it and then fled.... what are you going to do then? Move back in with mummy and daddy?

I don't know if you remember your 20's. You took a lot of chances and felt pretty invincible and most important, could bounce back from about anything.

You just gave an analogy and we could banter back and forth to possibilities, probabilities, and finally come to the conclusion we should not even leave the house, much less the dock.

Reality. If I headed all the advise when young, I would have never left the dock, never took the jobs I took and never got a chance to see what I did in the world because I would never have had enough money or something was missing that someone said I had to have. Mitigated as many risks as I could, and accepted the rest other than the minimums of liability only was transferred to an insurance company.

30 years later it is a far different story. And this is from someone who spent the past 20 years in the Insurance Industry doing IT and Actuarial work. Just my opinion, it is everyone's own choice.

And what happens when your boat sinks and fly by night insurance does not pay your claim because they call it a maintenance issue?