Hal brings out excellent points.  I have hit one container (in a racing boat off Mexico--only reason we didn't loose the boat, was that it had a 3" thick balsa core and fairly heavy glass inside and out.  It was in 8 foot seas and 50 knots of wind at night, we were going 8 knots.  We would have possiably lost the boat, but all gotten into a liferaft and triggered the EPIRB.  I have had 12 near misses at sea with large ships (to the point of taking evasive action).  I know of another half a dozen boats which were hit, and where the crew surivived with a damaged boat.  I also have lost at least a dozen friends who were run down at sea (Presumably) and either some wreckage found, no reckage found, or parts of the rigging on the anchor of the ship.  (Good reason to stand a watch at all times).

The boat could capsize or pitchpole--again I  have been following voyages for a long time and have personal knowlege of a number of instances where people survived--in fact in nearly all cases the people survived and lost the boat.  I have been in storms where it was possiable I could have lost the boat.

There have also been "games" played by fishing boats in Mexico, where they have tried to hit yachts and collect payments.  I was so challanged.  I "escaped' by acting crazy--my boat was faster than the fishing boat.  I held my course (right of way) but at the last minute, turned and got on the tail of the fishing boat--he tired to outrun me, but I stayed right on his tail--he went out to sea--shadowed us for awhile, but then left. Another friend was hit by a boat under the same circumstance, in about the same place.  It cost her some money, boat damage--and she gave up boating.

When I was young, I had more earning power and little to risk.  Today I have investment power, but no earning power--so would be far more likely to have insurance.

Also I always had my boat paid for--no loans.  I also had living expenses put aside for the peroid of the cruise--not touching my primary investments.  I could have "afforded" to loose the boat--It would not have been "pleasant".  I have several friends who had no insurance, and their boats went on the beach.  They were highly motivated to get the boats repaired and afloat.  After the Cabo Storm, about 10% of the boats were gotten off the beach and repaired in Cabo--and continued their voyages.

I feel if you obey the laws, it is very unlikely that a boat will be siezed by a foreign government.  In my discussion with Al Golden I recollect that he gave me a figure of 1.8% of the value of the boat for a year, two person, world coverage (with some weather exclusions)--again I am not pushing Al's company--just a comparison.  That was only a few percent higher than my coastal insurance.  Also Al commented that they do a bit of screening in asking the questions on the insurance application.  Something to the affect the motivation of a person to have knowlege and a safe boat would count for a better risk.  I have had insurance companies do trip surveys--look at the boat, the gear and give me a test on navigitation etc.

My personal feeling is that if you get insurance (and I do today) I would cover the replacement value of the hull and at least a million of liability--probably more. The more you have to risk--the more you need insurance.  If I had a $100,000 boat, and little or protected assets, I might consider going bare.  However places like Portuagal (as Scott mentioned) required insurance for a cruisng permit.  I just used a liablity umbella--and I don't think they knew the difference.  They also demanded a certified raft.  I didn't have one--but finally mentioned the world Balsa (attempting to convey that my hard dinghy had floatation) and this resolved the "Life raft" problem.

There are ways of protecting assets--and your attorney and accountants can give you that advice.

Getting insurance is a personal choice--but there are some very unhappy people in my part of Florida who wished that they had more insurance after Hurricane Ivan.

Bob Austin

Here are a couple of good books I recommend for anyone living aboard or long
range cruising. They're really aimed at personal privacy issues, but have a
lot of good hints for how to handle "being a Gypsy". Ever tried to get a
drivers license with no street address? Mail? The second book covers asset
protection as one posted mentioned.

"How to be Invisible" by JJ Luna
"Hide Your Assets and Disappear: A Step-by-Step Guide to Vanishing Without a
Trace" by Edmund Pankau

This might be a good time to point out that you can help support this list
by purchasing books through Georgs' link at Amazon.
http://www.trawlerworld.com/bookstore_index.htm It also works for anything
else Amazon sells.

Keith
__
Good judgment comes from experience. Unfortunately, the experience usually
comes from bad judgment.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Austin" thataway4@cox.net
<snip>

There are ways of protecting assets--and your attorney and accountants can
give you that advice.