'89 or Older, $20K, 30' - Insurable?

[CaptBrosnan]

I am buying a 20 year old or older boat for under 20k
and going to live in the abacos for 8 months
is this sort of boat insurable or am i just going to have to be careful

[night0wl]

short answer...no

[Pblais]

Long answer is I have. The problem comes in when you say how long you plan to be there and if it includes hurricane season. At that point you only really need liability. Failure to have liability means they sieze the boat and throw you in jail until they can blackmail your relatives. Not every place is this bad but it depends on how bad the liabiltiy was and who it was you did it too. You may end up being considered a rich US citizen from Texas with lots of money stashed back home.

On a boat in that price range you want liabilty and don't want to pay for a claim on your own boat.

[nautical62]

I've owned 3 boats that I took on cruises from the U.S. to the Abacos. One was 1969 Westerly Centaur (26-feet) valued at about 10K. One was a 1981 Telstar 26 Trimaran boat at around 16K and my most recent boat is a 1988 30-foot Hunter valued at about 26K which I purchased about six months ago. I insured all these vessels for us coastal waters and Bahamas including Turks and Caicos. The Telstar took a bit of negotiating, but only because it was a 26-footer on a trailer with an outboard. All other insured boats and quotes were very straight forward. To the best of my knowledge none of these policies limited the duration of my cruising time, but I did have a U.S. home port on the policy. I know all included summer sailing. I've had both liability only as well as more comprehensive policies.

The first boat required an insurance survey. The second (Telstar) which had a liability only policy had no survey and the last boat I had insured based on the purchase survey. Prices ranged from about $350/year for the liability coverage on the Telstar (4-5 years ago), to $1,600 for the more recent and more comprehensive insurance on my Hunter. I have a second operator on this boat so have fairly comprehensive insurance including towing insurance. Prior to purchasing my Hunter, I looked at and received valid insurance quotes on an early 80s Morgan OI 30 and mid 80s Endeavour 32. All of the boats mentioned were at least 20 years old years old at the time they were insured or a quote was given.

I'm not in the insurance industry, so I can't speculate on your situation, but that's mine for what is is worth. I recommend you call a couple insurance carriers or agents and ask specifically about boats you are interested in.

All the best.

[nautical62]

P.S.- when you talk to insurance companies it might pay to say "cruise the Abacos" instead of "live there".

[dubW]

84 Pearson 27 - $280 Full coverage, liability 100K, 10K Replacement. Plus $149 Sea Tow. Erickson 23 - $125 liability only. Penguin - nada.
Rider applied outside of Bahamas/VI/PR general area. So, I pay about $550 yearly, all total.

[CaptBrosnan]

Thanks dub good info