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A bronze seacock with a lever handle in a boat's bilge, a black hose held by two clips, one of them rusty, a puddle of water below and a wooden bung on a length of cord

Magazine / Series

At the mooring: water, storms, lightning and persons unknown

A lot of damage does not happen under way. It happens at the mooring, with nobody aboard: a hose gives up, leaves block the cockpit drain, a gale works the lines, lightning finds the mast, and in the morning nobody knows who did it.

This series works through the usual cases on the pontoon and ashore: water, storms, lightning, persons unknown, theft, fire and fuel spills. Each part shows what a claim turns on, and what you can put in place beforehand.

8 articlesNAMMERT Assekuradeur GmbH

Articles in this series

  1. A bronze seacock with a lever handle in a boat's bilge, a black hose held by two clips, one of them rusty, a puddle of water below and a wooden bung on a length of cord Part 1 of 8· 7 min Water in the boat at the berth When a boat floods at her berth, the claim turns on one question: a sudden event or gradual wear. Why the failed part and the maintenance records matter.
  2. Open cockpit of a white sailing yacht at a wooden jetty in autumn: the round floor drain is covered in wet yellow and brown leaves, the teak sole and winches glisten with rain, a nearly bare branch hangs above Part 2 of 8· 7 min Leaves in the cockpit drain Leaves block the cockpit drain, rain fills the boat. What a hull wording usually says about weather and upkeep, and where the exceptions lie.
  3. Two mooring lines under tension with chafe protection and a rubber snubber on a cleat, wet timber pontoon with fallen leaves, an empty sailing yacht blurred behind on grey water with whitecaps. Part 3 of 8· 8 min October at the berth In October the boat is still afloat and the owner is at home. Three clauses in a hull wording decide who pays for an autumn gale at the berth.
  4. The masthead of a sailing yacht in a marina after a thunderstorm: a split, blackened VHF antenna, sooty aluminium, a wind instrument and a burnt cable end, with masts and clearing dark clouds behind Part 4 of 8· 7 min Lightning at the berth After a thunderstorm the chartplotter stays dark. Whether a hull claim succeeds depends on proving lightning was the cause, and on evidence kept early.
  5. Stern of a well kept motor boat at its berth in autumn: the grey cockpit cover has a long slash, teak sole and cream upholstery show underneath, yellow leaves on the canvas, a cleat with a mooring line in front Part 5 of 8· 7 min Damaged at the berth and nobody saw it A dent in the hull or a slashed cockpit cover, and no one saw a thing. What to check in a hull policy and why the line between damage and wear decides.
  6. Side view of a dark grey outboard motor on the transom of a trailer boat in winter storage, a locking bolt with a stainless steel cone nut fitted in the mounting bracket in place of a standard bolt, gravel with autumn leaves and a chain-link fence behind Part 6 of 8· 7 min Locked or not When an outboard, a trailer or a trailer boat is stolen ashore, the first question is how it was secured. Which clauses to find in the wording and what they ask.
  7. Saloon of a sailing yacht in autumn: a grey heater on the teak shelf, beside it a seat cushion with a charred hole and soot marks on the timber, light coming in through two portholes Part 7 of 8· 7 min Fire on board in winter A fan heater keeps the cabin dry until the cushion chars. How hull wordings define fire, why scorching can fall outside it, and what matters afterwards.
  8. White motor yacht alongside a pontoon, with an iridescent diesel sheen on the dark marina water held in by a yellow floating oil boom Part 8 of 8· 7 min Diesel in the marina Diesel from the tank vent, oily bilge water pumped overboard: the two exceptions that decide a water pollution clause, and what to check in your own wording.

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