Coastwise Waters?

[RatFish]

Does anybody know the official definition of "coastwise waters of the continental United States”?

 

[RatFish]

Re: Coastwise Waters?

^Bump

 

[Drowned Rat]

Re: Coastwise Waters?

Waterways from shore out to 3 nautical miles are known as "Territorial Seas". Is this what you are looking for?

 

[RatFish]

Re: Coastwise Waters?

I have been looking over different insurance policies and most say "inland and coastwise waters". I was wondering if there was an "official" definition for coastwise waters.

 

[Jack Shellac]

Re: Coastwise Waters?

I don't know the official designation, but here all waters out to three miles are State waters. After that, they're Federal out to 200 miles,I believe. I imagine that's just "insurancese" language indicating that they won't cover you out on the high seas. Never thought about it myself, but may be prudent to know just in case.

 

[KCook]

Re: Coastwise Waters?

Just guessing here , but as long as your departure and arrival ports are on the same coast you may be Ok. Interesting test case would be the Ft Lauderdale to Freeport hop, which is not all that great a distance.<br /><br />Kelly Cook

 

[Boatist]

Re: Coastwise Waters?

My standard insurance was out to 20 miles. I had to pay extra to get coverage out to 30 miles and the text had to be writen into the comments section.

 

[kdmiller8251]

Re: Coastwise Waters?

Best bet, ask the insurance compaines.. That way there is no suprises

 

[tcube]

Re: Coastwise Waters?

RatFish,<br /><br />According to The Transportation Institute's Seawords Glossary (http://www.trans-inst.org/seawords.htm#c): COASTWISE - Domestic shipping routes along a single coast. <br /><br />According to their site, The Transportation Institute was established in 1967 as a Washington-based, non-profit organization dedicated to maritime research education and promotion. <br /><br />That's the only reference I could fine to coastwise in an internet search.<br /><br />Tcube

 

[RatFish]

Re: Coastwise Waters?

Thanks everyone for your input. I'm going to give my insurance company a call and see what they have to say. I'll keep you posted.

 

[Dhadley]

Re: Coastwise Waters?

I would say that the insurance companys defination is the only one that counts. Especially if you get into a situation where you want (expect) them to pay.

 

[RatFish]

Re: Coastwise Waters?

tcube, you pretty much "hit the nail on the head"! The honorable mention goes to KCook for an excellent guess that's on the mark.<br /><br />Ok, here it is... <br /><br />INAMAR, the carrier I'm insured with, defines "coastwise waters" as the "waters along a single coast". For me, since I'm in NJ, that is the Atlantic seaboard. I specifically asked INAMAR about mileage limits and they said, "there is no limit". They would cover me no matter how far out in the Atlantic I go! It would be interesting to see what would happen if I filed a "total loss" claim and was out a couple of hundred miles in the Atlantic with a bow rider! <br /><br />The customer service rep did advise me to use "good judgment" and not venture out to far or into unsafe waters.<br /><br />Thanks all.