Downeaster Yachts.com - Forum: General Sailing

Scott Carle on Varmints and Critters Aboard

Thu, 24 Mar 2016 06:22:31 -0400

Dang... that is more than a mouse.. turbo mouse!!!!!!!!!

Eclipse on Varmints and Critters Aboard

Sat, 27 Feb 2016 19:36:52 -0500

Some of the wildlife we have seen on or around the dock in south Florida: anoles, basilisks [aka, Jesus Lizards] geckos, iguanas, opossums, raccoons, squirrels ... Eclipse had been closed up and unattended for 6 weeks ~ when re-visited, come to find, some kind of varmint or critter, I suspect a rather large mouse, found it's way aboard [via the louvred teak companionway hatch board ?], gnawed on almost everything and proceeded to leave its calling cards everywhere ! ! ! !

Aaaaggghhhh!!!! Neither a pretty sight nor smell ... everything has to be removed and, if not washable, thrown away ~ and the boat disinfected.

This is / was the cushion on the port settee fold-up back-rest / upper bunk ...

In case you're wondering about the stainless steel nut in the pic. above ... I 'wash' my hands under running water [old sailor's tip] with it [instead of soap] after cutting garlic ~ works wonders, no smell whatsoever!

I bet the rascally 'rodent' was surprised biting into this ...

I hope the b'tard choked!

Eclipse on marine insurance

Sat, 27 Feb 2016 12:52:35 -0500

Looking to lower the insurance premium price on Eclipse ... discovered Kevin Curran, a non-DE boater from the Pacific Northwet, who lists several insurance co. links on his site : All Things Boat. FYI ~ NBOA uses Progressive, a non-starter! Anchor Marine uses Geico, almost 3.5 times the present premium. Foremost, that Scott mentioned, uses Farmers Insurance Co. and could not give me a quote for FL on the 29th Feb. 2016 as their system is incorrectly programmed for leap years!

Many boat insurance providers offer discounts for boats that have passed the completely free : Coast Guard Auxiliary 15-point boat safety inspection that confirms your vessel is in compliance with all safe boating requirements.

Kevin recommends a State boater education card or boating license : requirements ... I have a Florida Boating Safety Education I.D. Card that lowers my insurance premium.

FYI ~ was informed, BOAT/US do free surveys for member's boats of a certain age. If you own an older boat, your insurance company may reimburse you for a claim at a ‘depreciated level’ ... ensure your boat insurance policy is based on ‘Agreed Value’ as, that is what you are paid in the event of a total loss with no deduction for depreciation.

In California, Sullivan & Strauss Agency, Inc., known as : SkiSafe or SkiSafe Insurance, has California Insurance License #0642474. It is domiciled and maintains its principal place of business at 1 Hollow Lane, Lake Success, NY 11042. Tel. 1 800 225 6560 They offered the lowest ‘Agreed Value’ premium of all [$1,514.00 less than the current Co.] on condition I provide a recent survey by a qualified NAMS or SAMS surveyor. No can do!

Prior to buying ye goodly vessel Eclipse in Annapolis, MD, R.M. Stimson [NAMS certified marine surveyor] surveyed her and I quote, 'This boat is not equipped with approved holding tank.' Have been wondering what that rather large grey plastic box-like thing below the V-berth is ever since!

Scott Carle on My cruising and sailboat racing videos

Tue, 31 Mar 2015 18:35:19 -0400

lol.. i have done some 5 to 14 minutes videos in the past and figure there is about one hour of editing to every minute of video roughly. its a lot of work.

Scott

Jonathan Oasis on My cruising and sailboat racing videos

Tue, 31 Mar 2015 17:23:55 -0400

At long last I've joined the ranks of sailors with episodic film posts. I haven't reached into vlog territory yet, maybe that could happen too. So here are a few sailing videos which might be of interest. At least, the high def scenery is great. I have others on my "JonathanOasis" patreon and youtube channel.

First is my recent coastal race film. The main race problem being lack of wind for any speed along this beautiful stretch of coast. I've finally found out that we were the last boat standing in this race even after sunset, everyone else threw in the towel. This day race turned into a great sunset cruise.

JonathanOasis Sailing the Southern California Coastal Race Series 2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWN67r2OY_s

The second video I'll mention here is the first in a series of race videos from recent One-Design ocean races (NOOD's). If you want hot foredeck footage this is it because in the next episodes everyone gets to see my real messy spinnaker hoist and in a later race, 2 crazy penalty turns.. with me on the foredeck handling relentless tacks and gybes and cleaning up the mess. A lot of fun.

JonathanOasis 2015 San Diego NOOD Regatta [Ep. 1 of 5], on Kraken, Beneteau 36.7

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JmEsO66zkY

Now you might be thinking, what's up with sailing on someone's 36' Beneteau? Well the owner used to have a Downeaster 38 ("One Love"). So that makes him hip. Cruising plans changed after having babies and now he races the French boat. The Downeaster is clearly a better cruising boat I have to say though.

The time and equipment cost involved in pro-editing these films is way more than I'll likely gain back from advertising revenue. Sailing or sailing videos just are not that popular in terms of viewership. Just in case though and to make my videos easier to follow, I set up a patreon web page for anyone to subscribe to be notified of new episodes or pledge for future videos. The link is http://www.patreon.com/jonathanoasis --- I will be producing some of my previous Downeaster footage too, this summer in between racing videos. My old footage includes my Downeaster rigging replacement videos which could be informative and entertaining.

Jonathan Oasis on Favorite Sailing Video Blogs

Fri, 14 Nov 2014 20:32:49 -0500

I like these a lot, great high quality & high content videos.

Drake Paragon http://www.youtube.com/user/drakeParagon

S/V Velocir http://www.youtube.com/user/svvelocir

Atom Voyager http://www.youtube.com/user/atomvoyager

Cruising Lealea http://www.youtube.com/user/vega1860

Scott Carle on marine insurance

Sat, 28 Jun 2014 08:52:16 -0400

We were really tight on money and I ended up finding a guy to do the survey and traded a website with him for the survey. Worked well for both of us as he had wanted a website and I needed a survey. He is the one that recommended the insurance company that got me the quote for 400 dollars. So it really worked out for me.. I went from 1600 dollars for insurance and 600 to 700 for a survey for a total of 2400 dollars down to 400 dollars. It went from unfordable to ok I can do this.

Scott Carle on marine insurance

Sat, 28 Jun 2014 08:49:02 -0400

interesting .. progressive wouldn't cover me without the survey. Actually no one would.

Scott

Patrick Twohig on marine insurance

Sat, 28 Jun 2014 00:49:42 -0400

Yeah, progressive gave me the policy right away. But I basically pay more for not having a survey, I suppose having more expensive insurance to get the boat home is better than sailing uninsured. However, they don't cover more than 75mi offshore, I'm not sure if I can request additional coverage for that.

Rick on marine insurance

Fri, 27 Jun 2014 13:09:49 -0400

and to answer the question how far, we want to do the ICW from SE Florida to Maine next year and the Bahamas the year after that. Hopefully the first mate gets used to longer crossings and we can head for the Virgins and the ABCs after that.

Rick on marine insurance

Fri, 27 Jun 2014 13:08:20 -0400

the survey is the rub. My surveyor mentioned a couple things he recommended be fixed before the boat leaves the dock which I thought was harsh but good for bargaining as I was able to take another 11% off the price but Boat US said sure, we'll insure it as long as everything is done before you "navigate." Everything they were asking for was my entire first year time and material budget and all the work was slated for next winter (sorry you northerners) when the weather is perfect and in my yard, 2 days away from where she is. I need someone to cover me for the initial trip. I have a price coming from Bluewater Insurance (who haven't asked to see the survey yet) and Offshore Risk who hasn't either.

I'll try progressive next.

Thanks!

Patrick Twohig on marine insurance

Fri, 27 Jun 2014 04:25:37 -0400

How far do you need to go? Progressive insures my DE38 Cutter for ~$700 yearly and they did not care about a survey. I'm "only" allowed to go 75 miles offshore.

Scott Carle on marine insurance

Wed, 25 Jun 2014 15:46:30 -0400

allstate would have covered it for 400 or 600,, forget which if i had other policys with them. Geico would write it also I think but it was 800'ish. all of them are going to require a current survey with stuff fixed and signed off on by surveyor before they write the policy.. downside of old boats like ours.

Rick on marine insurance

Wed, 25 Jun 2014 15:20:04 -0400

ok, I'm impressed. Boat US quoted me $3,685.00 for the east coast and Bahamas: minor medical coverage, hull and liability.

I'm trying my auto insurer right now. I'll ask around the boatyard next.

Scott Carle on marine insurance

Wed, 25 Jun 2014 09:07:56 -0400

Talk to some of the fishermen and find who covers them and then see if they write private policies. I had a 1800 dollar a year quote from Boat US and ended up getting better coverage from a local company for 400 a year. I think the actual insurance company they quoted me for is called Foremost? I would have to look. The De38 is just over the length limit they write policies for sail boats on. The agent I have talked them into a waiver for the extra foot of length. I think it was 42 or 43 ft limit. But the little guy agent was willing to go to bat for me and get it done. The next nearest policy was 600 dollars and all the rest were 1800 and up.