After getting the survey results, I followed up with our insurance (similar to a house - you want the insurance to be in place at closing). Unfortunately, it is too old for State Farm or the regular insurance companies - they won't do anything older than 1984 - so I reached out to a couple people our broker recommended.
Two different insurance brokers came back and said they could not insure our boat. We started getting worried at this point, and discussed the possibility of canceling the deal. We were still looking, and doing our best to find a solution - but given the survey results - the leaks, the age of the chain plates, the bulkhead rot - and our own experience - 0 years of owning a boat - it was not looking good. The marina requires at least liability insurance, and they don't even want to offer us that....
We were told that if we got the work done, and got it resurveyed, and hired a captain, they MIGHT insure us... but we decided to back out and resume our search for the right boat. The day after we backed out, we did get one company that said they would insure us - but with all of the above qualifications - it would have to be pulled out of the water, put on the hard while all the work was completed, and then we would each have to get sign-off from a certified captain after a minimum of 50 hours time EACH on the water in the boat.
It is kind of a sad day because we all loved the cal, but given how much that boat was stretching our budget already, we just can't commit to it right now. We have decided to try and find something a little smaller, and a lot cheaper, and a lot newer, that we can pay cash for, and have a nest egg to get things fixed, and get insured simply through State Farm.
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