Are you prepared for hurricane season? Protecting your marine investment consists of more than just having sufficient yacht insurance, although comprehensive coverage is very important.

The East Coast of the United States has been battered by hurricanes and super-storms in recent years, and experts predict that hurricane activity is going to increase. While the last thing recreational and commercial boaters and marine-related businesses want to hear about is more storm activity, especially in the Atlantic, we need to prepare for the worst and hope for the best, as they say.

Here’s what our yacht insurance specialists would like you to know about hurricane preparedness for your boat or yacht:

• Create a hurricane plan.
• Review your marina, dock, or storage facility contract to determine what steps you are obliged to take in the event of a hurricane warning. Take the opportunity to also find out what the facility’s hurricane plan entails. Ensure these details are recorded in your plan.
• Protecting your yacht requires thought about the damaging forces of a hurricane: driving winds, lashing waves, and high water (also known as surge). Consider how you will secure your yacht at a dock or in storage. To guard against high tides inland, longer dock lines correctly positioned can protect your vessel.
• If your boat is on water with a hurricane en route, find a safe harbor. Somewhere sheltered from the open seas and protected by trees is best, and a sandy shore is even better – much gentler for a yacht to be washed up here than on rocks.
• If you need to leave your yacht at a fixed dock, the odds of your vessel surviving a hurricane are greatly improved when you use longer dock lines and chafe guards carefully arranged around your boat—almost like a spider web. Boat U.S. and other marine resources have fantastic illustrations to demonstrate this method.
• If your yacht is stored inland, secure the vessel and trailer with strong ropes or chains to something like pad eyes. It is also a good idea to remove some air from the trailer tires and secure them with cement blocks.
• Make a list of all the items that should be removed from your yacht if a hurricane is predicted. This might include electronic items, sails, and other expensive equipment.
• Check where your yacht insurance policy is stored and review your coverage.
• Get the supplies you will need in advance to secure your yacht. It is better to have items such as dock lines, chafe guards, fenders, and duct tape before a big storm hits than having to fight crowds of last-minute panicked boat owners.
• Ensure that someone trustworthy and capable knows your plan in case you aren’t able to take appropriate action. It is always wise to have a backup – or extra help – when disaster strikes.
• Execute a mock run through of your plan to test how long it takes. A test run is valuable for timing and practice.
• Monitor weather conditions and be ready to take action. Ideally, you will have between 48 and 72 hours to prepare.

The other very important step for hurricane preparedness is to review your yacht insurance coverage before hurricane season starts. Aside from benefiting from adequate coverage and extras like hurricane haul-out protection or marine salvage, it is essential to have the basics in place. Insurance companies will not take new insurance applications or requests for increased coverage once a hurricane or super storm is predicted to hit an area.