1) Speak with an attorney to discuss the below steps, & any other actions which you may consider taking. As almost without question there will be a good bit of tap dancing on the part of the
insurance company, & not in any way which favors you.
2) Start assembling; ship's
logs, recipts, user
manuals, &
maintenance logs for every upgrade, modification, & bit of TLC which you gave the boat, to show the insurance company why she was worth more than the lowball sum they're offering you. And document everything, right down to the gucci
winch handles, & high $
winch grease that you routinely used.
Along with this, make a detailed listing of everything onboard, it's age,
history,
purchase cost, replacement cost, condition, etc. All the way down to the 7 cotter pins in a drawer in the nav desk. This includes personal
gear too, not just boat stuff.
3) Find the boat & start taking pics for your own records. And document her location, azimuth she's facing, heel angle,
rigging condition,
water levels, bottom conditions...
4) If possible, figure out how to refloat her. And when doing so, be sure to
record water levels at the time. As if they're still higher than normal, refloating her will be super time sensitive.
Also, be sure to document everything. Via pics, contracts with towing vessels, & cranes, recipts for equip. purchased to refloat or tow her off, etc.
5) Needs be, & or with insurance approval, start stripping off as much usable
hardware &
equipment that you can off of her. And document the time involved, tools used, etc. Including wetsuits purchased, ditto on tools & such.
Along with that, erecting
oil booms if needed. And taking steps to stabilize the
hull to prevent further damage.
6) Get several private 3rd party quotes on all of the above, sans insurance company recommendations on who to use. Particularly as these guys will be in demand at the time, & thus their rates will be higher than normal. Along with the fact that they won't necessarily working in normal waterways, given that storm surge &
wind can place boats in "unique" places, or well above tide lines. Thus forcing salvors to operate using more extreme measures than normal in order to refloat or
salvage boats. That & to remove them if unsalvagable.
7) Document all of your pre-storm prep, including extra
gear purchased to help with same. And measures taken to well secure boat.
8) Get contact info of other boaters who had boats in the same area as yours. And perhaps start some info sharing of the above ideas, if/when advisable or advised to.