Orca attack map (Portugal/Spain/Gib)

Our boat is in the Caribbean. We plan to sail back across the pond and spend next summer cruising through the Azores and Madiera before moving on to the Canaries and back to the Caribbean for the winter. We also would like to visit Portuguese mainland but we really don't think we will do that with the risk of attack. I wonder how many other yachties are giving this cruising ground a wide berth these days?
 
geem said:
Our boat is in the Caribbean. We plan to sail back across the pond and spend next summer cruising through the Azores and Madiera before moving on to the Canaries and back to the Caribbean for the winter. We also would like to visit Portuguese mainland but we really don't think we will do that with the risk of attack. I wonder how many other yachties are giving this cruising ground a wide berth these days?
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We have two friends on the way back , one has just passed Finn the other is in the Ria's no sight of any Orcas to their relief.
 
sailaboutvic said:
We have two friends on the way back , one has just passed Finn the other is in the Ria's no sight of any Orcas to their relief.
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We passed through last year. Falmouth to Bayona to Cascais to Algarve. Stopped in Sagres for the night. Left there to head East and an X boat got hit by Orcas less than 10nm away. It does feel like running the gauntlet. We saw the lifeboat going the other way to tow them in. I think we will just give Portugal a miss. Not really what we want to be doing
 
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geem said:
We passed through last year. Falmouth to Bayona to Cascais to Algarve. Stopped in Sagres for the night. Left there to head East and an X boat got hit by Orcas less than 10nm away. It does feel like running the gauntlet. We saw the lifeboat going the other way to tow them in. I th8 know we will just give Portugal a miss. Not really what we want to be doing
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One of tho boat I posted we just heard was 2 miles from an attack this noon , boat had to be towed in .
 
nortada said:
Or attacks by Orcas excluded from the cover.

Rather than have to pay for recovery of damaged vessels and possibly worse, it would be more in the insurers interests to try to reduce passages in areas of risk.
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We have third party insurance only. Worried if we would be covered if sued by orcas for dentistry work. Please advise.

- W
 
nortada said:
Or attacks by Orcas excluded from the cover.

Rather than have to pay for recovery of damaged vessels and possibly worse, it would be more in the insurers interests to try to reduce passages in areas of risk.
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I can possibly envisage Orca damage being excluded at certain time of the year but don't see how they can reduce passages from Brittainy to Gibraltar, there are thousands of boats passing through that area every year as well as tens of thousand based there.

In some cases, the major cost is towing and possibly salvage which isn't covered under third party. IIRC, a couple of years ago a guy was charged €4k+ for a 60nm tow back to Cascais.
 
Graham376 said:
I can possibly envisage Orca damage being excluded at certain time of the year but don't see how they can reduce passages from Brittainy to Gibraltar, there are thousands of boats passing through that area every year as well as tens of thousand based there.

In some cases, the major cost is towing and possibly salvage which isn't covered under third party. IIRC, a couple of years ago a guy was charged €4k+ for a 60nm tow back to Cascais.
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Agree but insurance companies could reduce the number of passages by refusing cover, in high risk areas, during certain times of the year.

Many cruisers would not be prepared to sail without (as they see it) adequate insurance and to decline cover would protect insurers from possibly some very high claims.

If you were the insurer would you prefer to refuse cover or charge suitably adjusted premiums❓ Refusing cover is the more cautious approach and insures hate hard-to-measure risk.

Suspect the insurance issue will continue to just bounce along until a seriously large claim surfaces.
 
Graham376 said:
In some cases, the major cost is towing and possibly salvage which isn't covered under third party. IIRC, a couple of years ago a guy was charged €4k+ for a 60nm tow back to Cascais.
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Our insurance covers wreck removal up to £15k - presumably if you sink in a marina entrance or something. Otherwise we are only covered for damage to other vessels or structures.

If we lost our rudder 60km off Cascais I suspect we would just have to try to make our own way somehow to an affordable distance from shore.

- W
 
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