Cavitation
Boat insurance term, area: Exclusions
Cavitation occurs when vapour bubbles form around a turning propeller and collapse again moments later, each implosion driving a tiny shock into the metal. Over a season those shocks eat into the blade edges until the surface turns pitted and rough. A propeller poorly matched to the engine or a bent blade are the usual causes. The boat stops reaching its familiar revs, but the erosion itself only shows once the boat is lifted out. Because it builds up over months rather than striking at once, policy wordings place cavitation among the exclusions, next to rust, corrosion and osmosis.
What to check: Does your wording name cavitation alongside rust, corrosion and wear, and does it treat propeller damage from a grounding or a collision separately? If a machinery extension is offered, read which causes it lists, because that list is usually a closed one.
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A general explanation in our own words.
What applies to you is set only by the wording of your own policy.
