Hurricane Florence

There’s always some uncertainty in the science behind hurricane predictions, as the speed, course and strength of big, complex storms can vary from early forecasts. However, if you’re on the southeast coast of North Carolina, it’s probably wise to pay attention to the images below and the forecast for the week ahead. So far, this year’s hurricane season has been fairly benign, but as we hit the peak months of September and October, there are currently three hurricanes in the Atlantic — with Hurricane Florence looking to hit North Carolina in the middle of the week.

Even if your boat is nowhere near the paths of these hurricanes, you may feel some of the impact. At last week’s Crew Party, we spoke to Chris Boome of Chris Boome Insurance who said a number of insurers had dropped out of the marine insurance market, making it harder to purchase insurance.

The losses from Harvey, Irma and Maria last year were over $655 million, putting an incredible strain on the insurance industry, causing some to pull back or drop out of the market and leaving lots of uncertainty for marine insurance agents and boat owners. So regardless of where in the world your boat is, the losses from last year’s hurricanes and the season ahead may have some blowback.

Hurricane Florence currently has winds over 100 miles an hour and is expected to strengthen over the next couple of days and hit the North Carolina coast on Wednesday. Meanwhile, in the Eastern Atlantic, two hurricanes are spinning up trouble — Isaac is looking to hit somewhere around Guadeloupe or last year’s hard-hit Dominica on Thursday. Behind is Hurricane Helene, which, at the moment, is expected to turn north and away from any from heavily populated areas.