Carver Owners Forum

Hi everyone,

My wife and I have a contract on a 2002 396 scheduled for haul-out/survey in a couple of weeks. Pending no issues and the closing goes well, we are going to need some training by a USCG licensed skipper for insurance purposes.

The boat is moored in Wildwood New Jersey so we would prefer a skipper near that area and who is very familiar with the Carver line, particularly one similar to ours. But that is definitely not a requirement - just a wish list! Any offers or recommendations?

Thanks so much!
Kyle

I would not get hung up on a captain that "knows Carver" that is really irrelevant if you just want to learn to operate the boat.
Best wishes to you!

I agree - the more I thought about it the more I realized I would rather spend time learning how to do things like pick up a mooring ball, anchor, dock, navigate, etc. Thanks for reinforcing that!

I am a newbie and have my sights on a Carver 366 MY. I was concerned about being insurable since I have never owned a boat larger than 18' bass boat. I have operated my buddy's 22' center console for 25 years when we fish on the coast, but that is not my boat and not a 37' boat. I joined BoatUS and requested a quote. I spoke to a Geico rep and we reviewed my application and he said they would not insure me because I had never operated a boat this length.
I'm sure I'm not the first to retire and want to do the great loop without ever having owned a boat this size. I will take the state safety course and hire a captain for training to learn. I need ideas to see where I can find affordable insurance before I purchase a boat. I have reached out to my home and auto agent, but i have no idea if they insure boats.
I appreciate any suggestions. I enjoy this forum.

You get a lot more credibility with the insurers if you have a USCGA or Power Squadrons boating class. Not just the minimum safety class, but the good 8 to 10 week (only a couple hours once a week) class.

You can take the Power Squadrons class online now, but I really think you get much more if you're in a classroom with a bunch of other new boaters and hear their questions too. Lots of time to chat with the "teacher" too and other students.

Check around with other insurers. I had Progressive and I don't recall them asking about experience, but I had the boat a while before I switched to them so that might have covered me.

The best advice has already been given. I would take one of the boater safety courses Coast Guard Aux or Power Squadron. Many insurance companies give a discount on rates upon completion of the course. Years ago I went a step further and took a Captains Course mainly for the extra knowledge that could be gained. In addition to the 5% discount I got from taking the Coast Guard Aux course I got another 15% discount upon completion of the Captains Course. My reason for taking the Captains Course was not go obtain a Captains license although I thought about it. It was because of the knowledge gained from that course.

Good luck to you.

I got quotes through Markel (via USAA), State Farm, a private broker and finally through nboat.com. We also were moving up from a 22ft center console (the largest boat we previously owned) to the Carver 396 so it was a pretty big jump. This is how things came back for us:

Markel - wouldn't insure us because the marina the boat was at was greater than 2 hours from our home. If we wanted to move it to a closer marina they would provide coverage but required 8 hours of training.

State Farm - provided coverage with almost no stipulations (not even a survey) but would only do "actual cash value" and not "agreed value" which we did not like. Also had to be north of Florida during hurricane season.

Private broker - rates were about $1000 higher than the other three quotes and the underwriter wanted 50 hours of training!!! Yes - FIFTY HOURS!!!

nboat.com - This ended up being written through Progressive insurance and had no geographical stipulations or training requirements.

Markel, State Farm and nboat.com all had premiums of approximately 2% of the cost of the boat and the private broker rate was almost 3% of the cost of the boat.

In the end we went with the Progressive policy through nboat.com due to the comparable rates, no geographical restrictions and no training requirements. They did want an out-of-water survey but we were already planning that for our peace-of-mind so that wasn't really an issue.

Even though it wasn't required, we did end up doing some training through the selling agent.

Hope that helps!
Kyle

Wow what great responses. I will pursue the Coast Guard Aux or Power Squadron courses. Of course I need and want to learn. Thanks so much for these responses. I hope I am a new Carver owner soon.

Funny, I bought the same boat (2001) in 2022. I have the training certificate from the Coast Guard and 50 years of experience and never had a claim. At first I got insurance from Progressive then they dropped me 2 weeks later because they said the boat was older than 20 years.