When is a boat "offshore"

[Seajet]

I agree, check your insurance, and get it in writing !

If an e-mail, print it; asking people for their name is always a good idea, note it down, and it prods that person to make sure they get it right !

 

[Malcb]

I queried it with my insurance, Bishop Skinner, as I'm limited to UK waters only (I'm usually single handed) and I needed to cross Lyme Bay and would be outside the 12 mile limit. They gave me the OK for that as it would have been a bit picky as the route from Portland Bill to Brixham only just goes outside the limit.

 

[duncan99210]

Found this definition which essentially says 12 - 200 miles is 'offshore'. Link is here http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/page-5628

 

[VicMallows]

Or, perhaps, not get quite so hung up on "INSURANCE" ?. Does nobody accept, and maybe even invite risk any more?

 

[Seajet]

Or, perhaps, not get quite so hung up on "INSURANCE" ?. Does nobody accept, and maybe even invite risk any more?

The OP was asking the insurance point of view; a lot of us have heroically crossed Lyme Bay, but now we are asked, were we covered ?

I'm not the type who pays ambulance chasing gits to claim compensation if I fall over and break my arse, but it would be nice to think my insurers who I pay handsomely every year might hold up their end of the bargain if things go pear-shaped...

 

[padge]

just checked my small print

I'm only covered inland/inshore , channel islands and IOM but not the bit in between.

but i am covered if I hit an Iceberg in the marina

 

[VicMallows]

The OP was asking the insurance point of view; a lot of us have heroically crossed Lyme Bay, but now we are asked, were we covered ?

I've often wished I'd chosen to be Lawyer (my father was one) rather than an Engineer. I would however happily stand up in court and defend the case that DARTMOUTH to POOLE is an Inshore passage as reasonably construed.

 

[Searush]

What happens then if you go past the arbitrary "limits" imposed by your insurance co? Do you drop off the edge of the known world, do they send a submarine to sink you, do they tell the RNLI not to rescue you, does your boat turn back into a pumpkin? I don't think so, I simply wouldn't worry about it.

What could possibly go wrong?

 

[timbartlett]

...I know that in the middle of Lyme Bay you can't see Berry Head or the Bill but I have a feeling you can see Golden Cap. I looked on a chart and that would be about 18 miles away. It is 191 mtrs high apparently and my eye will be about 3.5 mtrs above sea level but its years since I left school to calculate whether that means I can see it....

Very late into this thread, but FWIW:
The distance to the visual horizon (in miles) is about 2 x square root of height of eye (in metres).
You can expect to see a light when its horizon and yours touch i.e. at:
(2 x sqrt <height of light>)+ (2 x sqrt <height of eye>)
So if there was a light on top of Goldencap (which there isn't) then you'd expect to see it at 2x13.8+2x1.9 = 31.4 miles -- so long as the meteorological visibility was good enough.

The same principle applies to lots of other things, but with different multipliers, eg for radar the multiplier is 2.2 and for vhf it is 3.

All of these are rules of thumb. They are approximate, but good enough for most purposes. Please don't start arguing about whether it's 1.976 or 2.03, or telling me about fresnel zones. Or that Reeds dipping distance table gives a different answer.

 

[[70521]]

Out of sight of land?

What about when it gets dark?

 

[[70521]]

but i am covered if I hit an Iceberg in the marina

I am looking forward to seeing the film!