Hi there, I was hoping that someone would be willing to share their itinerary and favorite spots for a sailing adventure in the San Juan Islands. I know many of you have made that trip. It would help me a lot in planning my first trip. I emailed a while back about a damaged M23 mast and wanted to provide an update. The adventure to resolve the insurance claim took about 2 months. When you create a boat policy, you establish an agreed value. Unfortunately, the agreed value doesn't mean much when it comes to whether or not the insurance company will perform repairs on your boat. I have Progressive insurance. The insurance company first performs their own evaluation of your boat's worth. In my case, they found one "comparable" boat, a San Juan 23. They used the value of that boat to assign a value of $5,500 to my M23. Quite frankly, I found this to be offensive. I worked hard to find my own documents to establish a higher worth. I used the survey I had performed on the boat just prior to when I bought it, numbers from the sale of an actual M23, and the opinion of a yacht salesman. These documents established a value of $12K to $15K. They then determine the repair cost. They determined the mast replacement would be between $10K and $12K if I took it to a boat yard. Because the repair cost was substantially higher than then the "value" of the boat, they deemed the boat to be a total loss. I once again fought to find a lower repair cost. I used Gary's advice and contacted Buzz at Ballenger Spars. We determined that if I transported the mast myself by towing the boat to his shop, the cost of repair would be about $5500. He sent me a quote and I forwarded it on to the insurance company. I thought this was a big win! I had provided a higher value and lower repair cost. None of this was considered by the insurance company. They still deemed the boat a total loss. This is where the agreed value comes into play. They give you a choice of handing your boat over and getting the full agreed value or keeping the boat and getting the agreed value less the salvage value. My understanding was that if I kept the boat, I would be forced to get a salvage title. This would result in no longer being able to get collision and comprehensive coverage and also, not being able to sell the boat for any kind of reasonable amount. I was about to cancel the claim completely and pay for the repairs myself when the insurance company found that in Washington State, if the "value" of the boat is determined to be less than $10K, they state doesn't issue a salvage title. After lots of verification and phone calls, we decided to take the payment and keep the boat. Since no salvage title is required, we can use the money to get the boat fixed, have it surveyed and deemed seaworthy and then the boat can be re-insured. So....I'll be able to repair the mast and come away with a PROFIT! I just don't get it....Maybe I'll buy a new outboard. Thanks to all those that provided support and suggestions. It turns out that Buzz at Ballenger Spars is the guy all the boat yards in the Pacific Northwest use to have their masts built. I contacted two other boat yards in addition to Buzz. He told me that both of them reached out to him. There you go....Buzz is the guy on the west coast. The M23 mast is quite large. Substantially larger than the M17 mast. I couldn't see any kind of easy way to do this job myself. Gerry On Sun, Jan 1, 2023 at 7:00 AM Jim Sadler <jimsadler@jascopacific.com> wrote:
Have any of you skippers used hf ham radio on M15? I have 20 w G90 and would like to work 10 m at sea. What have you rigged for antenna?
Capt Jim K6OFE (73) SV Pelican
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