Piling Bites Sailboat-Advice Requested

[Warren Milberg]

Ross: re Insurance.

Is there a certain age of a boat when hull insurance cannot be obtained? I have a friend with a 1966 Pearson Ariel and he was able to get hull insurance. I hope you have liability insurance....It's a litigious world out there.

 

[CalebD]

BrianW,
It looks worse than it is and is actually easier to repair then it looks.
I had very similar piling damage on my boat that I repaired.
In a nutshell: I got some 1/8" poplar plywood and cut pieces to make a mold on the exterior of the hull that conformed to the contours of the boat, fabricated some custom clamps to hold the pieces securely in place and used fiberglass cloth and epoxy layers to build up the repair. Fair (or sand) the repair then re coat with gel coat. Apply rub-rail.
You can't easily see the repair on my boat. I used West System epoxy for the reasons SD noted and because I had used it before and found it fairly idiot proof.
I suggest you check their website for tons of helpful information on how to use their product to do all kinds of repairs. http://www.westsystem.com/

 

[Ed Schenck]

Ross, hull insurance?

This thread might have taken a turn. Although I enjoyed reading all of the technical aspects of f/g repair it should always have been about insurance. At least a quote from a couple of sources is necessary to understand the "depth" of the problem(no pun intended).

But Ross, how old is your boat that you cannot get hull insurance? I never heard of that. My boat is a 1979 and State Farm never questioned it. And the recent rudder repair and strut straightening was not questioned, even with only one quote.

 

[Ross]

This thread might have taken a turn. Although I enjoyed reading all of the technical aspects of f/g repair it should always have been about insurance. At least a quote from a couple of sources is necessary to understand the "depth" of the problem(no pun intended).

But Ross, how old is your boat that you cannot get hull insurance? I never heard of that. My boat is a 1979 and State Farm never questioned it. And the recent rudder repair and strut straightening was not questioned, even with only one quote.

1968 Islander. Age your boat ten years and see what the response is. I have had on line quotes interrupt the process and tell me the boat is outside their underwriters limits.
Edit to add: Warren, Liability insurance oh yes. Just like cars there comes a point when the insurance company charges more than they will pay for a loss. I think that it matters not what a survey says your boat may be worth when it comes time to settle a claim we are faced with the golden rule: HE who has the most gold rules.

 

[sailingdog]

One thing to be careful of, if you're bringing this up to your insurance company. If they decide you were negligent in not securing your boat properly, they may decide to not renew your policy. Most marinas require an insurance policy nowadays, usually with $100,000 minimum liability or so. Mine requires $300,000 liability. Repairing it yourself would avoid the risk of getting dropped by them.

 

[Steve Dion]

Brian:

Actually you will be a lot happier with a cold six pack or two. Just sit back on the dock and watch an expert do their thing. This will also save you the price of the book.

I watched my glass guy do mine. I have asked some fellow sailor to find the repair and they cannot. The surface matches perfectly and it is not detectible with the "human" eye.

If/when you go to sell the boat, this will not be an issue that you will ever need to explain if you get a pro to do it.

Besides, how long have you been paying insurance on this vessel and you have probably never had a claim.

 

[Tim R.]

Forget online Ross. Call Amica at 800-24-amica. They told me when I got my policy that they do not have a limit as long as the survey looks good. That was 2+ years ago.

No affiliation. Just very happy with their products. They usually rank right at the top for customer satisfaction.

 

[Ross]

Thyanks Tim, I will check them out. Presently I have progressive for liability.
Ross

 

[Scott On Eagles Wings]

Ross my insurance was added to my homeowners/personal liabilty policy. I was able to list my three sons on the policy as wekk, They simply required a certificate of seaworthyness. Not a survey. The boat does have to be out of the water for the inspection however. Our boat is 1980.

 

[Tim R.]

Scott, a policy for a 23 ft. Oday would be considered a boat policy. Larger boats require a yacht policy and insurance companies will not generally allow you to add them as a rider onto a homeowers policy. Not trying to get into a boat vs. yacht thing but I went through this when I had my San Juan 21 and eventually moved up to my Pearson 28.

 

[sailingdog]

The cut off limit between boat and yacht policies seems to be 26'. If the boat is longer than 26' it is a yacht, and requires a yacht policy from what I've been able to find out.

 

[Scott On Eagles Wings]

Sailingdog and Tim,
That is correct even with my policy. I was thinking about the age of the boat and not taking into account the lenght.

 

[Ross]

Back to the strength of the repair question. I just spent the last two hours reading "strength of repair of composite glass reinforced structures" . This is what I have learned, I think. All repairs properly done with glass cloth and either epoxy or polyester resin will be strong enough but will not be as strong as the original structure unless the repair extends beyond the extremes of the damaged area. If the damage was in a critical area then adding reinforcements to the inside will leave the hull fair and still retain the strength of the hull.
West marine allows that a repair made with polyester resin in their testing achieved about 70 percent of the strength of an undamaged section and epoxy achieved about 81+percent in the same test. This was with a 12:1 taper on the repair and it was acknowledged that a longer taper would improve the strength.