First timer insurance questions

[Gunner065]

My wife and I have an accepted and signed Offer to Purchase a 2010 R25 SC On Vancouver Island.

Any Tug Nuts located in Southern Vancouver Island? Which broker would you recommend?

Friends of ours have been insured with Sea First Insurance Brokers for years and have nothing but good things to say about these brokers.

I am now at the insurance quote step of acquiring the boat and have a few questions regarding coverage limits:

How do you figure out the limits that you want (or are these described/listed in the marine survey?):

1. Hull and Machinery (including Electronic Navigation Equipment) - I would expect that this will be provided part of the marine survey;
2. Auxiliary Motor (is that the dinghy's motor or is that an auxiliary/trolling motor for the boat itself?)
3. Personal effects
4. Other (would towing and assistance fall under this bullet?)
5. Protection and Indemnity?
6. Medical Payments?

As well, there is a Terms and Conditions, what type of information would an owner put in there?

Thanks

 

[SJI Sailor]

Assuming that things work similarly in BC as in Washington State, insurers / brokers will have a couple of set packages that are targeted to the relevant class of boat and that define all of those things that they propose to be suitable. Once you have 3-4 quotes (from at least two brokers), you can compare them to see which one you prefer.

In other words, they do most of the work, and you just have to choose among them relative to the level of risk (e.g. deductible amount) and coverage (e.g. cruising range) that you prefer.

 

[scross]

Gunner,
Assume you’ve offered on the 2012 R-25SC that the RT dealer had for sale. Nice looking boat! Congratulations!
Get a couple of quotes and read the fine print about insurance coverage. The amount of coverage for personal property onboard, towing coverage, and other aspects really does vary A LOT between companies. Claims are pretty rare but ask around and see if you can find someone who had a claim and how that went.
Earlier you were asking about alternators. My recommendation is go with more solar and think about doubling the house batteries from two to four. Adds weight, costs more to maintain, reduces storage space but doubles the amount of time on the hook. The two extra batteries can go on the port side where the generator would have been located. Can’t say enough about the Victron MPPT solar controllers! That with a 200+ watt solar panel and proper energy management practices could give you up to a 5-6+ days on the hook without moving.
PS: That 2012 Hunter Green boat is really equipped. The only item I find a problem for extended cruising off shore power is the Kenyon alcohol/electric stove. I hated that unit in our old boat because of the alcohol side of it. Get a good Magma grill for the cockpit rail and do as much cooking on it as you can when on the hook!

 

[Chimo]

Gunner

We run an R25SC out of Van Isle in Sidney. I can probably answer a number of your questions including the insurance one. We’ve been boating here for the last 12 years and have shopped insurance several times, always going back to the same broker Harbord. If you would like the contact info. drop me a pm. It sounds like you’re going to be the owner of a great boat. Glad to help if I can.

David

 

[Gunner065]

scross, I did not look at the 2012. On a sunny Saturday afternoon, we walked around "opened" marinas and looked at tugs available. Initially looking at two R23, but decided that it would be too small for. As we're walking around, a couple is having lunch at the back of their R31. They gave our contact info to one of their friend who owns a R25SC. Then...here we are. We toured the 2010 boat, impressively clean in and out, you could have had lunch in the engine bay, which was it for me.

The model with are looking at purchasing doesn't have a Generator, but I actually like that. It has a diesel stove/heater, no propane onboard whatsoever (which I like) and already has 130W solar panel and Victron MPTT. It is well equipped and IMO in outstanding condition.

We are looking at the Magma grill has an upgrade, any model you'd recommend?

 

[scross]

Gunner,
We went with something like this:
https://magma.factoryoutletstore.com/de ... mid=121086

There are better magma units but they are quite pricey for some small differences. You would need a rail mount to go with the grill. Some folks like the kettle shape but we really need all the cooking surface size that the rectangular models offer.

Glad you got the diesel cooktop/heater - we love ours. Use kerosene instead of diesel to power it. Less messy to work with. The key to using that unit is to push the on/off switch only once then wait! It takes some time go through the to start up cycle. If you start pushing the on/off switch more than once it will go into crazy mode and not work. The reset process is not complicated if you’ve pressed the switch multiple times but we’ve only had to do that twice in 5 years. Press the switch once and be really patient! The heater is great on cool mornings!

PS: I’d consider upgrading that solar panel if the Victron and wiring will support it. Installed a “standard sized” 180 watt panel on our boat that was state of the art way back in Nov 2019 but is now obsolete. You can get Newpowa 200 watt standard sized panels now for under $190 USD from Amazon.