put a portapotty on it and I’ll come and drink on it at anchor!
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Boat insurance holey @#%@...
- Thread starter basmn
- Start date
put a portapotty on it and I’ll come and drink on it at anchor!
Mad Mike
Well-known member
Decades ago when the OPP announced they were going after drunk boaters I spoke to an OPP officer at the Sportsman Show. He basically said it didn't bother him if a couple of guys out fishing took a beer or two each and kept them out of sight, sipping as desired. Taking a 24 and waving the cans around was a whole different thing.
Unfortunately, the privileges were abused and it's now zero tolerance.
I haven't figured out the psychological importance of alcohol and how it seems to be so often mandatory for it to be present before people can have fun. I can't help but feel the rules make the problem bigger.
We weren't a big drinking family but there was usually some booze around and even well below "Legal Drinking Age" I could have asked for a glass of what was going around and it was no big deal. Put in the "Legal Drinking Age" thing and suddenly at age XX you are a man. Take a drink a day earlier and you are a criminal and/or rebel. I can't help but think the rules make the situation worse.
I have abstainer friends, a buddy that was a classic alcoholic, and friends that can live with or without the stuff. For me, it depends on my mood, a glass of wine or a short beer and rarely a mixed drink, more often a glass of water. Life is good.
Ive been very active for decades in boats , the big swing in police action came when they sort of got forced into it. People walking a pier see a boat pass with everyone holding a cocktail, it gets a picture taken and sent to the locla cops with a WTF note. People think its awesome to have a cute 'funny ' boat name thaty involves alcohol , how many boats do you see it the marina with cocktail glass logos and names like Happy Hour. It perpetuates the stories. Drown a few fisherman and its caues is being overserved and you get enforcement.
Interesting fact ' you can goggle it , vast number of drowning from boats , guy is found with his zipper open, peeing off the boat...
The huge number of folks getting into boats with personal water craft, and the ease of getting an operators card has lead to a lot of incedents , and injury and claims , which is driving up ins costs . Very seldom do boats hit each other in the middle of the lake, ( it does happen) , its almost always in a channel , docking or leaving , and thats why boats that move a lot pay more ins.
Sailboats in comaprison are really quite cheap to insure , its the seasonal care and feeding thats painful.
Interesting fact ' you can goggle it , vast number of drowning from boats , guy is found with his zipper open, peeing off the boat...
The huge number of folks getting into boats with personal water craft, and the ease of getting an operators card has lead to a lot of incedents , and injury and claims , which is driving up ins costs . Very seldom do boats hit each other in the middle of the lake, ( it does happen) , its almost always in a channel , docking or leaving , and thats why boats that move a lot pay more ins.
Sailboats in comaprison are really quite cheap to insure , its the seasonal care and feeding thats painful.
I remember back "in the day" my Dad would mix a drink and hand it off to the lockmaster on the sly. He was crafty. You never know when you'll be a bit late making the last lock and it wouldn't hurt to be on good terms with the guy who could say "hold it I see one more boat coming"
Well .... that 'back in the day " stuff is getting harder to keep going. Those guys running the swing bridge a couple years ago that miss timed the swing and did several million dollars damage and closed the welland for a couple days, empty beer cases found in the lock operators office. Then the guys in Oakville that kept a log of who brought beers when getting a summer mid haul bottom wash (fired) . The list is endless.
I'll admit years ago we did some distance races on amphetamines , and stopped in Niagara because nobody was sober enough to clear customs in Youngtown NY . It was endless summer. But that crap ended a long time ago for us and our friends. The impaired boating charge , now being tied to your driver licence should be enough to smarten anybody up. I understand by the time the courts are done with you its many thousands in fines, without getting into the moral and social responsibility, which maybe should come first.
I'll admit years ago we did some distance races on amphetamines , and stopped in Niagara because nobody was sober enough to clear customs in Youngtown NY . It was endless summer. But that crap ended a long time ago for us and our friends. The impaired boating charge , now being tied to your driver licence should be enough to smarten anybody up. I understand by the time the courts are done with you its many thousands in fines, without getting into the moral and social responsibility, which maybe should come first.
Aren't they ~$60K? I'm surprised how cheap boat insurance is. I'm paying ~$100 for my 30hp tinnie on my home insurance (rate roughly unchanged for years). They won't insure any larger motor.
I'll check with my brother and see who he has insurance with for his boat.
Xhumeka
Well-known member
Yeah, in the grand scheme of things $650 for a year of insurance isn't horrible by any means, I'm just surprised it's more than motorcycle insurance. I would have thought biking was a much more risky activity than boating, but other factors at play I suppose.
Thanks for checking with your brother, appreciated!
For most of us, it's not.
Boat insurance? WTF?? My buddies that have their watercraft on smaller lakes don't bother with it.
I guess it's all fine and dandy until OPP decides to target THAT particular lake...
or until you pull a Kevin O'Leary
I don't care about OPP. I care about not being bankrupt. The odds I need boat insurance are incredibly low but people get dumber every year. Lots of swimmers just bobbing in the middle of the lake for no reason. It only takes a few waves and a moment of inattention and a tragedy happens.
EDIT:
OPP doesn't care either. Boat insurance is optional in Ontario.
I don't believe that it is required by the OPP. I don't have insurance. I doubt any of the boats in my neighborhood do. My boat cost $12,000 and is the 3rd nicest boat in the neighborhood. It's a 18ft pontoon boat with a banged up prop on a 60hp. It's not fast, it's hard to sink, not nice enough to steal.
Funny enough, the police are always out at my parents place on crow lake/river/beaver creek but I have never once seen them on Rice Lake/Trent River. Been stopped on the Crow many times and was never asked for insurance or even registration. Usual questions include: does your whistle work when wet? does that rope float? do you have a paddle?
OK then I stand corrected...insurance is optional in Ontario for something...wow.
Most marinas and yacht clubs will not give you a slip without 2mil liability. Lots of cottage boats have no insurance, and lots of jet ski guys are finding you still have to make payments on the personal water craft once you have bounced it off your buddy and holed the hull.
My “big boat” ins ,30ft went up $35 to $400ish , the 24ft race boat is $320 and my inflatable 6hp is $80.00 .
Worst thing we are seeing now is guys way under value the boat ( no financing involved) to keep insurance down. Loose the mast of a 30ft boat it’s often a 30-35k problem , and you declared the boat worth 25k.
Or you power boat sinks enough at the dock to flood two marine inboards , you tanked 20k in motors on your 12k boat .
Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com
My “big boat” ins ,30ft went up $35 to $400ish , the 24ft race boat is $320 and my inflatable 6hp is $80.00 .
Worst thing we are seeing now is guys way under value the boat ( no financing involved) to keep insurance down. Loose the mast of a 30ft boat it’s often a 30-35k problem , and you declared the boat worth 25k.
Or you power boat sinks enough at the dock to flood two marine inboards , you tanked 20k in motors on your 12k boat .
Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com
The operators card test was mostly legalities when I took it. Knowing how to actually operate a boat is optional.
Remember the operator's card doesn't have a photo so you need to carry photo ID as well to prove it's you.
Putting a low value on the boat would only affect what the owner gets if it is damaged. However the potential costs of damaging a more expensive vessel or passengers also exists. Those unknowns scare insurers. If your boat sinks it has to be salvaged and there could be environmental charges. They were $10 K per boat for a fire at the marina we were at when a row of slips went up in flames.
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