New Sailor Qualifying for Insurance

[TheGoldenFleece]

We just got back from the boat show">Annapolis Boat Show, and wow! Having never been on a big blue water boat, they are amazing!

We are hoping to set off on a 5-year circumnavigation in 5-10 years, and one thing I’ve learned from some of the sailing vlogs out there is that if you’re not an experienced sailor, insurance companies won’t cover you on some of the longer crossings (i.e. Galapagos to French Polynesia).

After investing what these beauties cost, I can’t imagine doing anything without coverage. Paying a crew to come on board and sail with us would be my last choice, so can I just log a few crossings as crew to gain the required experience to qualify for coverage?
Do I have to have experience on that specific crossing, or will having a couple good crossings, regardless of where, assuage the insurance companies fears?
Does working a crew in any capacity qualify? Or would I have to skipper?

I imagine this all varies from insurance co to insurance co, but even any anecdotal evidence of what might be required would be appreciated.

FYI, I will have all my ASA certs, if that makes a lick of difference.

Thanks in advance for your answers!

[billknny]

Sailing Lesson One: Do not believe anything you see on sailing vlogs.

We never had an insurance company ask about previous sailing experience when writing a policy. I wish they would, I have a LOT of experience and never a claim and would be happy to save money because of it.

That might differ with some companies, but you'll have no trouble getting insurance.

[Salty Possum]

Someone somewhere will insure anything.

[sailingunity]

It totally depends on what you want to do and what kind of boat you have. I had never owned a boat before, and bought a 47 foot ketch with no sailing classes but many years of experience on my dad's boats. The only people that would insure me was Boat US (Geico). The lack of bluewater sailing is generally the reason most insurers gave me for turning me down, I probably called half a dozen.

[TheGoldenFleece]

Originally Posted by billknny

Sailing Lesson One: Do not believe anything you see on sailing vlogs.

That’s why I come here for the real advice!

[Snore]

There are many ways to do this.

The concept I recommend is find a delivery captain who is an ASA Instructor, and sail with him/her. It can be nothing but a few day sails. Working with a GOOD delivery captain on your boat will be worth the cost. Learning how to tack your boat, and reef your sails with a competent instructor is a small expense with large dividends.

If I was in Texas, I would offer my services. But I am sure there are some TX based delivery captains who are ASA Instructors. It is important they are Instructors since you want someone who is comfortable teaching.

If you go on the delivery, don’t expect to learn a lot. That is a delivery, and unless you budget time for training it is tough to squeeze in quality one in one training.


Oh and congrats on the new toy!!!

[Salty Possum]

I just bought a 31 foot sailboat with ASA 101 and 102 years ago and having a dinghy once. I got quotes from most companies that I contacted.

[getyourbone]

Simply get some experience.

Showing some experience on boats moving from smaller to bigger is what I found to be what they were looking for when we had our boat.

They didn’t want to insure us for a price we felt we could afford. It would also limit us from going where we wanted to when we wanted to do some extent. I also found that they seem to draw the line at a certain size… Getting over 40 feet and being first time sailors seems a little iffy for most insurance companies. Even at 37 feet our boat turned out to be difficult but we did find a couple companies had extremely high rates. Had we been looking for a 30 foot boat I think it would’ve been very different.

our boat sank and we almost died... in hindsight I guess we could have afforded that insurance that we were offered. I do believe that our level of experience was clearly part of the equation as to why we sank and more specifically why became almost deadly.

[wrwakefield]

Consider contacting a broker [not agent] of marine insurance directly. They will enlighten you for free... [...and I doubt you will have any issues getting insurance.]

We insure through IMIS - Al Golden. Straight answers. Competitive pricing.

It is also worth developing an understanding of Marine insurance, and how it differs from what you may be used to [home, auto, etc.]

If you are interested, here is our [brief] page about some marine insurance considerations [with links to external resources] we think are worth being aware of, and why we chose what we did.

Best wishes with your planning.

Cheers! Bill

[hellosailor]

Insurers generally want to see:
Experience
Credentials/training
Adequate crew

And you may find you also can get a discount if you take the Safety At Sea seminar and the USPS boating course, beyond what ASA certs would get you.

In terms of experience they want to see years and sea miles in a similar type vessel, i.e. same general size. And in terms of adequate crew, if you're sailing solo trans-Pacific, it is unlikely anyone will insure the crossing. They may ask for two or three souls on board--all with similar experience and credentials.

The folks at IMIS are true professionals, I'm sure that if you call and ask if they have a few minutes, they'll be glad to give you current specifics and advice. And in a few years you may be calling them back for insurance as well, because they are very good at comparing things like cheap policies and showing you what has been omitted to make something else cheaper. Professionals.