With the peak hurricane season of September and October upon us, the nation's largest recreational boat owners association is asking all boaters if their vessels and insurance are ready to weather the storm.
"Boats stored ashore are far more likely to survive than boats in the water," said Carroll Robertson, vice president of claims, BoatU.S. Marine Insurance. "When a hurricane is near, calling your marina at the last minute won't help. Now is the time to review your marina's contract and rules for hurricane preparation and cement a plan with them. While most marinas do a terrific job in hurricane preparation, frenzied workloads and mother nature can conspire to work against you."
Robertson adds that boats stored ashore, including trailerable boats, should be relocated as far as possible above the anticipated storm surge. Boats on storage racks, davits and lifts should be put on trailers and taken inland.
If you plan on leaving your boat in the water, be sure you'll have everything you'll need to secure it well in advance. If your plan is to leave it at a slip, review your inventory of dock lines, chafe protection and other items such as fenders and duct tape. After Hurricane Fran in 1996, the BoatU.S. Catastrophe Response Team estimated that as many as half the damaged boats at marinas could have been saved by longer and thicker dock lines and adequate chafe protection - the first items to sell out once a hurricane "warning" is posted.
If you plan on moving your vessel to a hurricane hole - a canal, river or harbor that offers better protection - it's important to remember that the storm surge may be ten feet high or greater. Seawalls and jetties that might otherwise protect your boat could be underwater. One other consideration: Plan on moving your boat early, as soon as a "warning" has been posted. Otherwise, you may find the best spots are already taken or that bridges have been locked down to evacuate automobiles.
When all else fails, an up-to-date insurance policy can mean success or failure in quickly returning the vessel to its pre-storm condition. Boat owners should review their coverage and update their policies if expensive items such as electronics have recently been added. BoatU.S. also offers a new Hurricane Haul Out coverage that will pay half of all costs associated with pre-storm haul out - up to $500 - for as little as $25.
For more information on Hurricane protection, BoatU.S. publishes a free brochure, Hurricane Warning: A Guide to Preparing Boats and Marinas for Hurricanes and also has a free Hurricane Planning Worksheet that takes boaters step-by-step through the storm preparation procedures. For both of these free valuable tools and for other information on hurricanes, visit
http://www.boatus.com/ or call 800-283-2883.
BoatU.S. - the nation's leading advocate for recreational boating issues before Congress and the federal agencies - provides its 535,000 members with a wide array of consumer services including a group-rate marine insurance program that provides over $7 billion in hull coverage; discounts on over 40,000 boating related products; a fleet of more than 400 towing assistance vessels; discounts on fuel and slips at over 670 marinas; and a subscription to BoatU.S. Magazine, the most widely read boating publication in the U.S. For more information visit
http://www.boatus.com/ or call 800-395-2628.
Posted: 9-12-2002
