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The boat in winter storage
Short answer
A good deal can go wrong ashore: storm on the cradle, a shed fire, a crane lift gone wrong, frost and theft. Check what your wording says before the boat comes out.
Owners think of a boat as being at risk when it is moving, but a good deal of damage happens with the boat ashore and the season over. Wind gets under a cover and takes the frame with it, a cradle goes over, a lift drops a hull, water sits in a system nobody drained and freezes, and a compound full of unattended boats is an easy evening for a thief. None of that depends on you being aboard, which is why the months out of the water deserve a look at the wording rather than a shrug.
Two points decide most winter claims. The first is the period of cover. A policy written for a season only is cheaper for a good reason: it stops exactly when the boat goes ashore, which is when much of the risk begins. If you take that route, know what you are giving up: with our season policy there is no cover from 1 November to 31 March, in winter storage included. The second is the lifting and handling clause, because the crane, the travel lift and the yard trolley are the moments with the highest value at stake and the shortest time to go wrong, and wordings differ on whether damage during a lift is your matter or the yard's. With us, crane and lifting damage and theft of parts are covered from Basis Plus, and frost is excluded in every tier.
It is also worth being clear about the shed. If a building full of boats burns, the building is insured by whoever owns it, and your boat is not. Your own hull cover is what answers for your boat, whatever the yard's insurance may or may not do. Ask the yard for its terms, keep the storage contract, photograph the boat as you leave it, including the cover and the props, and drain what the manual says to drain. Reasonable care is not a formality: several wordings expect it in writing.
Worth remembering
Afloat
is where owners expect the risk to be
Ashore
is where plenty can still go wrong
The months the boat does not move are the months the wording is worth reading.
Questions
What owners ask us about this
Is my boat covered ashore?
Only if the period and the wording say so. Our season policy gives no cover from 1 November to 31 March. A season policy usually stops when the boat comes out, which is the point at which storm, fire and theft claims become more likely, not less.
Who pays if the yard shed burns?
The building is the owner's matter, the boat is yours. Your own hull cover is what answers for the boat, so read its fire clause and keep the storage contract.
Is damage during a lift covered?
That depends on the lifting and handling clause and on the yard's own terms. Ask both before the boat is in the slings, not afterwards.
What am I expected to do over the winter?
What a careful owner would: drain the systems, secure the cover and its frame, and look at the boat or have someone look at it after heavy weather.
Related
Not sure whether you qualify?
Whether it is “The boat in winter storage” or another question: send us your residence and the flag your boat flies. You will get a straight answer in one email; including a no, if that is the answer.
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