Tidal Stream Atlases & Personal Insurance

[julesB]

With a couple of friends this year we are taking a trip from Plymouth to Santander. 2 questions? Does anyone know of where we might get travel insurance (medical etc) if one of us gets ill or injured. It must be more difficult if we are 'making our own way there' by yacht.

Secondly, anyone know of any tidal stream atlases for Bay of Bioscay and Santander: Admiralty Atlases don't go that far south as far as I can see

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[qsiv]

SHOM publish tidal atlases for Biscay - having said that they are pretty slack.


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[pandroid]

Ordinary Travel Insurance will do if you are only away for a short period. For longer periods, the Yacht Insurers have 'yachtsmen' policies. We got ours from St Margarets (but the Yacht is insured with a different Insurer)

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[snowleopard]

slack? anything but, we had 6 knots against us going round ushant ;-)

 

[bedouin]

Some travel policies explicitly exclude crewing on a boat, or even any waterborne activity. You have to check the small print. My yacht insured (Pantaenius) also do a travel policy that includes sailing which we used both for cruising and dinghy sailing holidays

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[Brian_B]

If you've not done so already you should also check your yacht's insurance. Some exclude Biscay unless you have additional crew.

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[Sailfree]

Having done a number of trips cross channel with full confidence in my fully comprehensive multi trip, one payment travel insurance I asked the question what if I am taken ill mid channel, taken on board a french lifeboat, deposited at a french hospital am I covered for medical expenses and partner for hotel expenses while she wipes my fevered brow. The question went up and down the providers staff referred to the underwritter with each person alternately interpreting the text in completely different ways. Once I asked for confirmation in writting that I was cover they all managed to quickly decide that the insurance I had paid for the previous 2 years would not have honoured a claim. Go to someone like Bishop Skinner who advertises RYA approved multi trip insurance for yachties.
I recently discovered that holiday insurance would not cover the cancellation charge for a carribean holiday being taken shortly after a skiing holiday. Which holiday insurance do you claim off if a broken leg prevents you going on second holiday? Solution again was through Bishop Skinner.
With all insurance I have found you are Insured up to the time you make a claim then you have to prove none of the micro print on the back page excludes that particular risk.
Recent skiing holiday my partner genuinely lost her expensive sunglasses complete with the ski suit belt they were firmly attached to. Our failure to show all of the following :-the police report, original receipt, box they were supplied in made it pointless to take the claim further!

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[alant]

McMillan/Reeds Almanac should be ok for most of it, particularly for any 'difficult areas such as Ushant etc.

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[charles_reed]

Buy the SHOM atlases whilst you're over in France, they're more comprehensive and larger scale than the UKHO ones especially useful for the la Rochelle area.
The Macmillan Reeds are OK as a fallback, but too small scale to be used in confidence and also have some (UKHO induced) errors.

MedMan gave me a very good insurance lead to Agency Underwriting Ltd 01206 577770, they have a Mariner's policy which is appropriate for yachties and at a very reasonable premium. I can't vouch for the most important feature, how good their payment service might be.

As far as medical cover is concerned Form E111 is best, I've found both French and Spanish hospital services to be slicker, better equipped and medically comparable to UK. Primary care is probably inferior in Spain to UK but France is better than UK urban areas.
Up till now I've used the travel insurance provided for "free" by my bank, which has proved OK, but my commercial conscience is troubling me as it's really for occasional travellers abroad.

Whilst Santander is OK, mooring is pricey and overcrowding rife - I'd suggest making your landfall at Ria de Viviero - most pilots haven't awoken to the fact that there is an excellent little marina up the canal past the fishing harbour at Cillero. It's far superior to la Coruna or Gijon and more likely, in season, to have room than Santander where you'll probably end up miles from the town, being terrorised by aircraft below 500' on approach to the airport.

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[DeeGee]

If you have a laptop and a big fat purse (£80 if I remember rightly) buy the Admiralty's own TotalTide. It should be pretty much the most accurate you can get, and it will zoom in and show you the whirlpools in the puddles!!



<hr width=100% size=1>Black Sugar - the sweetest of all