There are several other notable distinctions regarding PWC-related accidents and fatalities. First, most PWC incidents occur on either borrowed or rented vessels and tend to occur during the first hour of operation. Second, most PWC incidents occur while the operator is cruising, as opposed to wake jumping or spinning, and they typically occur at moderate speeds (i.e., below 30 mph).

Third, most PWC incidents occur when riders are alone on a vessel. Accident rates tend to decrease significantly when two passengers are on board and very few accidents occur when three or four passengers are riding a single vessel. Finally, alcohol use tends to be substantially lower in PWC incidents than in boating ones (Branche et al. 1997; NTSB 1998).

Lowering your insurance rates by decreasing your dinghy deductible. Reduces your deductible to $100 for claims relating to dinghy or motor theft or damage.

Personal watercraft are a type of recreational boat designed for riding entertainment. Because PWC are powered by an engine and intended for the transport of person(s) on water, they fall within the Coast Guard category for motorboats. Although the Coast Guard tracks statistics on a recreational vessel type (Class A inboard motorboat) that includes personal watercraft, the Coast Guard has no official definition of personal watercraft.

The first commercially successful personal watercraft, the Jet Ski, was introduced by Kawasaki in 1974. Models from the late 1970s and early 1980s were designed for a one-person, stand-up operation. During the mid-1980s, the sit-down style became popular, and it now accounts for 97 percent of the units sold.

Most PWC sales are controlled by five companies12 that actively market between 30 and 40 different models designed for one, two, or three persons. Current PWC sales run about 200,000 units per year, and the 1998 models range in cost from $4,799 to $9,399. PWC constituted more than one-third (36 percent) of all new recreational boats sold in 1997 and represent $1.2 billion of annual sales.13

For higher value boats, you can avoid a full policy deductible for claims related to navigational electronics by purchasing a lower deductible of $250 per incident.

Recreational boating raises a number of issues for coastal resource managers and the public, including noise complaints, safety concerns and various environmental impacts. Although much information is available about these issues, relatively little is known about PWC-specific impacts or how they compare to those of more traditional vessels. This lack of information impairs the development of scientifically-sound resource policy and undermines the effectiveness of PWC management initiatives.

Personal Effects Coverage: Personal effects coverage is for non-boating related equipment such as fishing equipment, stereo, water skiing or other sporting equipment, and clothing lost or damaged while on board.

It takes a lot of hard work to run a boat yard and very specific boat yard insurance to ensure all that sweat and toil isn’t jeopardized by unexpected accidents, storms, or other damaging events.

The risks a boat yard operator faces are unique to a marine business, requiring boat yard insurance that offers protection for assets and marine facilities, employees, and clients on the water and on land.

It takes an insurance broker experienced in marine businesses to fully understand the complexity of coverage requirements unique to each boat yard. There are various policy options available, which can be customized into a comprehensive insurance package.

Here are some of the options available:

• General liability – sometimes even excess coverage is purchased to offer coverage for the premises, liability for a product, or work in progress
• Property
• Marine liability – protecting you from claims of liability and property damage (including property your marine business cares for or controls)
• Marine hull, protection and indemnity – securing replacement value coverage for any vessels, equipment, machinery, or other accessories you have is often wise as well as liability coverage in the event a third party is injured
• Boiler and machinery – highly specialized equipment is often best covered by policies specifically designed for the risks associated with it
• Marine cargo insurance – if you ship or store goods, obtaining coverage that protects the cargo from point of origin to the destination (including if it is lost, stolen, or damaged in some way) is advisable
• Commercial property – this protects the buildings, contents, and even loss of income in the event of things such as fire, storms, floods, damage caused by vandals, etc.
• Pollution – boat yards are in a unique situation where pollution could have a detrimental effect on the running of their business; there is liability insurance available for things such as storage tanks and there is also coverage for site pollution for certain circumstances
• Employees – many states require boat yards acquire special insurance coverage for workers compensation issues and employee practices liability is another option many employers will choose
• Commercial automobile – if you have a vehicle for boat yard business, it should be covered with a policy that includes liability, comprehensive, collision, and more
• Umbrella liability or a broad Bumbershoot liability policy – to offer your boat yard higher limits of liability insurance

Noise is a ubiquitous complaint among beach-goers, waterfront property owners and traditional boaters who express their dislike of the high-pitched whine of PWC. Environmental advocates who contend that PWC noise compromises the integrity of marine and coastal environments by degrading quality of life, destroying recreational experiences and threatening wildlife, also highlight noise issues.

PWC industry officials, on the other hand, emphasize that technological innovations such as baffles, insulation and resonator-equipped mufflers have significantly reduced PWC noise and that newer models are two to eight times quieter than older ones (PWIA 2000a). Their claims are backed by studies suggesting that, under analogous operating conditions, PWC are no louder than similar motorized vessels (Noise Unlimited 1995) and that PWC comply with all existing noise regulations.

When buying personal watercraft insurance here are some additional coverage options for your boat you may wish to add.

*  Accessory coverage
*  Trailer coverage
*  Agreed value or market value hull coverage

There is some concern regarding the release of oil by recreational motorboats, particularly with older vessels that drain excessive fuel from the crankcase directly into the water. However, vessels manufactured since 1972 usually have scavenging devices that recycle the lost fuel and reduce oil throughput. Therefore, with regard to boating-related emissions, most researchers are concerned about the release of BTEX compounds (the primary constituents of gasoline), MTBE (a combustion-enhancing fuel additive) and PAHs.

Several studies suggest a correlation between BTEX, MTBE and PAH field concentrations and motorized recreational vessel use. These concentrations often increase throughout the summer boating season (May to September), with distinct spikes occurring after peak boating dates such as the Fourth of July and Labor Day (Allen et al. 1998; Allen and Reuter 1999; Miller and Fiore 1997; Oris et al. 1998; Reuter et al. 1998).

These tend to diminish within weeks or months after the boating season and, given our present understanding of aquatic ecosystems, do not appear to significantly degrade overall water quality (Revelt 1994; Warrington 1999). However, BTEX compounds, MTBE and PAHs have been linked to acute and chronic toxicity in fish (Balk et al. 1994; Juettner et al. 1995; Tjaernlund et al. 1995, 1996) and may adversely affect fish growth and zooplankton survival and reproduction (Oris et al. 1998).

Moreover, they may impact the surface microlayers found at the air-water and sediment-water interfaces. These ecologically vital layers support bacterial colonies that influence aquatic nutrient levels and sustain the planktonic and larval communities necessary to uphold aquatic ecosystems. They also serve as a spawning ground for many sport fish. Therefore, surface microlayers may be vulnerable to small and/or temporary increases in recreational boating-related pollutants (Warrington 1999; Von Westerhagen et al. 1987).

A boat policy provides for much broader protection than a simple endorsement to your homeowners policy.  Get coverage that is based on the full value of your watercraft, with appropriate liability limits, and an assortment of coverage options that are right for  you. Enjoy your time on the water even more knowing you are protected with these important coverage options.

* Physical damage
* Increased limits on liability
* Medical payments
* Uninsured watercraft
* Total loss replacement option
* Personal effects coverage
* Emergency Assistance and Towing

The number of PWC accidents involving injury varies by State. California reported 385 PWC-related accidents during the 1996 boating season, resulting in 298 injured persons, 8 fatalities, and $508,000 in property damage. Although PWC accounted for 16 percent of the registered vessels and 14 percent of the fatalities in California, they were involved in 45 percent of all recreational boating accidents and 55 percent of the persons injured.

Collisions with another vessel made up the majority of recreational boating accidents (69 percent), and of these collisions, 71 percent involved one PWC colliding with a second.6 Similarly, Florida had 751,153 registered vessels in 1996, 9 percent of which were PWC, yet PWC accounted for 37 percent of the accidents (464 of 1,260), 48 percent of the persons injured (389 of 804), and 7 percent of the fatalities (4 of 59).7

In Minnesota, PWC accounted for 3 percent of the number of boats (23,844 of 758,666), yet they were involved in 29 percent of the accidents (41 of 139), 45 percent of the persons reported as injured (22 of 49), and 17 percent of the fatalities (2 of 12).8 The Safety Board could not determine whether PWC are over-represented when compared to other types of recreational boats or if usage type varies by type of boat because accurate data on usage and exposure time for different types of recreational boats are not available. (Exposure data are discussed further in chapter 2). PWC injury reports taken from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) of the Consumer Product Safety Commission and analyzed by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) showed that over a 6-year period, the number of PWC in operation increased nearly three-fold (from 241,500 in 1990 to an estimated 760,000 in 1995), while the number of PWC-related injuries increased four-fold (2,860 in 1990 to an estimated 12,000 in 1995).9

According to the CDC analysis, the rate of PWC-related injuries (injuries per number of PWC) requiring emergency medical treatment was 8.5 times higher than the rate of injuries from motorboats. The Safety Board notes that many PWC accidents analyzed for this study involved injury but no reported property damage. The Board suspects that PWC-related injuries are not reported on boating accident forms but are being treated at local hospital emergency rooms (and are thereby entered in the  NEISS data of the CDC).

Extend your lay-up period: Insurers are willing to cut your premium during those days or months when you are not using your boat.

Although the number of recreational boating fatalities has been declining, the number of PWC-related fatalities has been increasing (table 1–1, and figures 1–1 and 1–2). The increase in PWC fatalities is proportional to the increase of PWC in operation. Coast Guard information indicates that 8,005 recreational boating accidents were reported for 1996, of which 2,868 involved PWC. Personal watercraft in use in 1996 represented 7.5 percent of the State-registered recreational boats, yet PWC accounted for 36 percent of the 1996 reported recreational boating accidents, 36 percent of the total number of vessels involved, and more than 41 percent of the persons injured in those boating accidents.

Coast Guard statistics on 1997 recreational boating accidents have not been compiled; however, preliminary information from the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA)4 indicates there were 83 PWC fatalities in 1997 (additional data from a 1997 NASBLA survey are given in appendix B, and preliminary data by States are in appendix C).5 Including NASBLA’s preliminary numbers in the National Transportation Safety Board’s study on personal watercraft serves two purposes.

First, PWC fatalities decreased in 1996; by considering 1997 numbers, it is evident that the decrease in 1996 did not indicate a reversal in the increasing number of fatalities for 1991 through 1995. Second, the Safety Board’s study collected and analyzed injury information on 27 fatalities that occurred during the first 6 months of 1997; NASBLA’s preliminary numbers for 1997 indicate that the 27 fatalities analyzed are about  one-third of the expected number for that year.