lift out blues just ahead

[Piere]

Just one week to go till lift out , doom and gloom for the next 6 months.
Hoped to go for last sail this weekend but guess what , it blew and rained for nearly the entire w/e.
And just to put a final downer on things my insurers have requested a survey before next year . Not that this is a problem as I have always maintained my boat to the best of my abilities , but you never know what may have been overlooked do you !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just fork out another £150 at least to be told your boat may be ok. Anyone know a good surveyor in the south east (kent). that will give an honest survey appraisal without tearing your wallet off you or your boat to bits??

So what do we do to alleviate the withdrawal symptoms while thw boat is sitting on the hard.
I'll have to get out the computor game i bought last year called VIRTUAL SKIPPER3 , endorsed by our immortal Ellen "its an awesome game".
No really its great fun


<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[webcraft]

1/ Why not stay in the water?

2/ Why not change your insurer to one who does not require a survey?

3/ Why not charter abroad during the Winter?

- Nick

<hr width=100% size=1><font size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.bluemoment.com>http://www.bluemoment.com</A></font size=1>

 

[Piere]

hi nick

1,my mooring is a nightmare in winter Eesterly storms

2,never considered changing insurerers . is ther an insurance Co out there that doesn't insist on a survey on a boat 25 years old???????????

3, I get all my holidays crammed in from April to September. no time off for rest of year. Go to holland annually and hop over to france at evry chance and visit all south east ports possible in time allowed. so no time left to charter , nice thought though.

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[MarkJohnson]

With an 'oldish' boat, I think you will find most insurers require a survey every few years.

My 30+ year old H27 required a survey after 7 years of ownership, that was after a survey at purchase.

I actually thought it was a good idea, as it kept me up to date with a professional assesment of the old girls condition. As it was, I had unwittingly refurbished the main cabin hatch, and had not replaced it properly. It would have come off in a capsize!

Not that I would have sailed in those conditions in a coastal boat..........

As for the 6 months out of the water, I guess its up to you to tell your insurers how long you want to sail it each year, and they will no doubt adjust the premiums accordingly.

And the berth-mooring. Can't do much to that unless you find something better. (more money again).

My three months out of the water are spent planning next years cruise, almost a sgood as sailing it.

Regards

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[webcraft]

I changed insurance companies to <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.drlmarine.com>DRL Marine</A> because they did not requie a survey an allowed me to leave my boat on a swinging mooring out of season (with an increased excess).

- Nick



<hr width=100% size=1><font size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.bluemoment.com>http://www.bluemoment.com</A></font size=1>

 

[FullCircle]

Ditto webcrafts reply. I have a 1979 Jouet 680 - no survey and allowed to leave it on the swinging mooring till I want to come out - Not Yet!!!
They were very striatforward to deal with - I paid 136 quid for the year full comp


Jim

<hr width=100% size=1>Our engine will never wear out - it only runs for 5 mins before packing it in again.

 

[Piere]

hi mark j
I have insurance for the time in and out of the briny and my premiums are quite good . however the last survey was 1995 hence the insurers request.
yes mooring could be better but i don't think the boat would be used much in the harsh winter temps. so best to be out . but still find that time hard to bear.
h27(do you mean a Hurly 27) whats your honest opinion? one that I have cosidered!!!!

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[Piere]

Cheers webcraft
shall look up DRL MARINE .
just bear one thing in mind . an old sailing friend of mine once gave me this sobering thought. A cheap and easyly obtained insurance policy is only as good as the one time when you want to make a claim. will they pay out ?
I have a for and aft drying mooring and check these link by link twice a year.
If you are a swinger can you check the ground tackle??
Thanks for your reply
Piere

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[oldharry]

The really nasty snag in the 'no survey insurance' racket is in the small print. Look hard and you will find something like "... warranted that the vessel is maintained in a seaworthy condition." or something like that.

So you have to make a claim - how do you 'prove' the vessel is/was seaworthy at the time of the accident? A fault - ANY fault in the boat which you could reasonably be expected to have found and dealt with could invalidate the insurance.

A 24 ft motor sailer was torn from its moorings in the last hurricane, and wrecked on a sea wall. The claim was refused on the grounds there was a fault in the steering gear. The owner knew of the fault, and was trying to source spares to repair it at the time if the storm.

BUT the vessel was declared 'unseaworthy' and the claim refused. The Insurers attitude was - ' tough, if you dont like it - see you in court' And THAT was a major and very well known insurance company many of you use. ( I am told they dont sell 'no survey' policies nowadays)

The only defence against a boat being declared unseaworthy is to ensure you have taken 'all reasonable steps' to ensure the boat is in good condition.

How do you do that? Yes you have guessed it! Get a Survey report for yourself before anything goes wrong....


<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[AndrewB]

Three recommendations for Kent surveyors were given <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.ybw.com/cgi-bin/forums/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=pbo&Number=537738>HERE</A>, back in July.

I went with R.D.Johnson who was commendably thorough, but by no means cheap.

 

[JohnL]

Surely a survey is only as good as the surveyor who did it and when he did it. bit like an MOT on a car. A boat may not be seaworthy at a later date for some reason, if there is a claim I would have thought a loss adjuster would say wether the claim was valid or not. Are all insurers as bad as they are made out to be? A guys boat in our club sank in a storm, on its mooring, the repairs were going to cost more than the boat was worth, the insurer payed up and sold him the old boat for a nominal sum, he re built the boat at a fraction of the boatyard quote.

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[RTB]

OK here's another spanner - I got a quote which seemed reasonable until I read that they not only want the survey - which I have and it is within their dates - but they want a VALUATION as well. My surveyor didn't quote a value when I was buying, although we did discuss it - but hearsay is no good

<hr width=100% size=1>Ssgoodthis....intit?

 

[dickh]

Make sure you tell the surveyor it is an "Insurance Survey & Valuation" and you should get a better deal. Most insurers ask for a survey every 5 or 7 years.

<hr width=100% size=1>dickh
I'd rather be sailing... /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

 

[Evadne]

I\'d second that

A thorough, nit-picking survey is useful when you're buying a boat but for insurance purposes anything in print will have to be remedied as the insurance company sees fit (e.g. gas bottle storage improvements, rigging replacement, keel bolt removal.) Definitely a case of going round with the surveyor and getting a verbal precis as he or she goes along. In practice I've found that I if present the insurer with a schedule for carrying out the requirements, and as long as its done in reasonable time, then they don't check on me and are happy to re-insure.

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[oldharry]

Re: Good condition - or ogod condition?

Yes , but very few of us are qualified builders or surveyors. To take all reasonable steps could include getting professional advice on the state of the boat. In any case, if the insurers surveyor says it is not, then you have at least some comeback by claiming you were told by a professional it was, and had therefore taken all reasonable....etc. In any case you can then also throw it back to your own surveyor to argue the toss.

Just gives you a much stronger starting point when its your opinion versus that of the insurers.

<hr width=100% size=1>