Give me $50k I'll break the other legLOL

There is absolutely no way to definitively protect yourself. You set up as many walls as possible for those who may be inclined to sue. These barriers may range from putting the boat in an LLC with zero assets other than the boat to having people sign the most over the top, in your face waiver ever drafted. People will still sue but its one more barrier for the plaintiff's attorney to jump to get to your personal insurance and umbrella.

I was talking to an attorney I know and he said I will have to get out on your boat this summer. I said sort of as a joke that I will need a waiver signed. His response was " I will sign a 30 page waiver....and then I will have it thrown out before you can say out of court settlement" Those were his exact words. We were kinda kidding around, but honestly a waiver means nothing and can be argued that you knew before hand that there was risk involved because you asked for it.

I am very selective of who goes on my boat.

Ain't that the truth!

Is that in Canadian dollars? If so.......it's not so bad.

Wow. I want to see some law licenses here. Lots of legal advice being thrown around. Nothing will keep you from being sued, but depending on the law in your state and how good your attorney is, you can probably draft a waiver that will not only insulate you from liability, but will also probably get the putative plaintiff to pay your attorney fees. Not that I would know...

I was thinking the same thing!

There is a reason I don't have a back seat (liability seat) in my 28 Skater, Very few people have been for a ride,....I bought the boat for Me to enjoy hauling ass!!! If I wanted to entertain on the water it would be on a cruiser or pontoon

Many years ago a friend was coming into a channel on his boat. A good friend and somewhat drunk passenger decided he was going to dive in the water from the back seat, the captain was unaware of the stupidity that was taking place. Well the dumb azz broke his neck when he went head first into the sandbar at the edge of the channel. Unfortunately he lived. Of course the azz sued the owner of the boat since it was obviously his fault and I'm sure you can guess who won.

Ever since then I've been somewhat paranoid. It's sad but I very rarely push the boat hard for this exact reason (well that and unneeded wear/stress on the engines), unless the water is pretty smooth. More often than not we have visitors on the boat and unfortunate reality is if anything happens you know there's a damn good chance of being sued as a big "thank you" for having them on the boat.

It seems the ones that don't care about this liability are typically the folks that don't actually own chit themselves...

This is exactly why you never "carry the minimums" on your insurance. I have people say that to me often, thinking that it's going to save them a ton of money on their insurance. The reality is, on a v hull, the difference in cost between $100,000 and $300,000 in coverage is only $40 a year, a year! To go up to $500,000 is only another $40! (roughly).

I have found that often times when the word "liability" is thrown out there, the person I am talking to only thinks about what they cause to others while operating their boat, forgetting about the passengers aboard their boat.

When it comes to liability and medical payments on your policy, CARRY THE MAXIMUM possible. No one intends to hurt another or cause damage to others but accidents happen. You can be the safest boater in the world but there are factors on the water that are beyond your control...IF you got sued by an injured passenger on your boat, what is more costly? $80?or the extra $400,000 you have to come out of pocket for or sell off in assets to cover the judgment? Take the extra insurance. If you get sued, it will be the best $80 you ever spent.