After the Storm: How to Safely Inspect Your Boat and Document Damage

Stand on solid ground and study the boat for a few minutes.

• Afloat and level: you can go on to the next steps, with a buddy.
• Low in the water, listing, or water over the cockpit sole: the boat may be sinking. Don't go aboard. Call the marina, your insurer, and a salvage or towing service (TowBoatUS, Sea Tow).
• Sunk, aground, on its side, stacked on other boats or carried ashore: stay off it. Let your insurer arrange salvage; BoatUS notes that inexperienced or poorly equipped salvage crews can cause extra damage.

Ask the marina whether dock power is off before you touch the pedestal. If it is still on and anything is wet, damaged or underwater, leave it alone and tell the marina. Once the dock is safe, unplug the shore-power cord at the pedestal first, then at the boat. On board, switch the main battery switch off unless the bilge pump needs it, and keep it that way until the wiring has been checked. BoatUS's pickling advice for a boat that went under starts with disconnecting all batteries and shore power, both for safety and to stop corrosion from stray current.

Before you open lockers or switch anything on, smell the cabin, the bilge and the engine space. Fuel, exhaust or propane smell means stop: get off the boat, keep sparks and phones away from the vapor, and call the fire department or 911. The same goes for a rainbow sheen around the hull. NWS advice for buildings applies to boats too: turn your flashlight on before you enter a closed space, since a switch can spark. See our fuel smell guide for the follow-up once it is safe.

Take wide shots of the boat and its surroundings, then close-ups of every scrape, crack, broken fitting, torn canvas and waterline mark. Film the water level inside the bilge and cabin. Note the time and date and write a running damage list. Keep wet cushions, electronics and broken parts instead of throwing them away: adjusters often want to see damaged items before they are discarded, so ask your insurer first.

Lift the floor hatches and look at the bilge. Is it dry, a little wet, or full? Rain alone can fill a cockpit and bilge during a big storm. Run the bilge pump (if the electrical system is safe) and watch where the water comes from as the level drops. Then keep watching it for days: BoatUS warns that underwater damage, such as a cracked hull, a loosened through-hull or a damaged drive, may show up only as a slowly rising bilge. If water is coming in faster than the pump can clear it, see our "taking on water" guide and call for help.

Look at every dock line where it crosses a chock, a piling or the dock edge. Replace any line that is chafed, flattened, glazed or partly cut through, and check that cleats haven't pulled loose or cracked the deck around them. Retie the boat with fresh lines and chafe gear before the next blow; storms often come in pairs. Our dock lines guide covers sizing and chafe gear.

• Hull and rub rail: look for gouges, cracks, crushed rub rail and gelcoat "spider" cracks, especially where the boat may have hit pilings or other boats.
• Sound suspect areas: tapping fiberglass gently with a rubber mallet or a plastic screwdriver handle gives a sharp, solid sound on good laminate and a dull thud over delamination or a soaked core. Mark dull spots for your surveyor; don't drill or grind anything.
• Deck hardware, rails, hatches and ports: BoatUS suggests checking for broken ports and hatches where rain can get in. Tape or tarp any opening.
• Sailboats: look up. Check the mast, spreaders, shrouds and furler from the deck. Don't go aloft on a mast that may be damaged; that is rigger work.

Torn bimini tops, enclosures and covers let rain in and can flog themselves (and the frame) to pieces in the next wind. Photograph the damage, then remove or lash down what's left. Bring home electronics and valuables: BoatUS reminds owners that protecting the boat's equipment from theft is the owner's job, and looting is common after big storms. Your policy may also reimburse reasonable costs for security on an exposed boat.

Mold grows fast in a hot, wet, closed boat. As soon as it is safe:

• Pump or vacuum out standing water and bag up debris that could clog the bilge pump.
• Pull wet cushions, mattresses, clothing and carpet out to dry (keep them for the adjuster).
• Rinse salt and mud off surfaces with fresh water before it dries; BoatUS says removing salt, mud and moisture should start as soon as it can be done safely.
• Open hatches on dry days and use fans; tarp the boat if the deck or windows leak.

Our mold and mildew guide covers cleaning products and ventilation.

Look at the battery, battery switch, fuse or breaker panel, and any wiring that got wet. Salt water on connections starts corrosion within days. Signs that a pro needs to go through the system: water inside the panel, white or green crust on terminals, a burnt smell, melted insulation, or batteries that sat underwater. Shore-power inlets, cords, chargers and inverters that got wet should be checked by a marine electrician (ABYC-certified if you can find one) before they are used again. See our shore power safety guide.

• Spray or rain only: check the oil for a milky look, look for water in the fuel filter or water-separator bowl, and dry and spray electrical connections. If anything looks off, have it checked before starting.
• Engine underwater (even briefly): don't try to start it. Cranking a flooded engine can bend parts. BoatUS stresses that a submerged engine must be flushed with fresh water and "pickled" right away, and that corrosion speeds up once the engine is exposed to air, so move fast and let a mechanic do it. Our submerged engine recovery guide explains the process.
• Timing a sunk boat's recovery: BoatUS's insurance technical staff, who have directed the recovery of hundreds of sunk boats, say the boat should come up within a few days, but the machinery is better left underwater until a mechanic (or you) can spend three or four uninterrupted hours on it right after raising, because corrosion speeds up dramatically once it meets air. Within minutes of raising, everything gets hosed with fresh water before mud and salt dry. The starter and alternator usually come off for flushing and drying, and a turbocharger goes to a shop. BoatUS adds that reasonable costs of saving the machinery are normally covered by the policy, so coordinate with your insurer and keep the receipts.
• Fuel: storms can push water into tanks through vents and fill caps. Drain a sample from the water separator. Water in the fuel needs draining and filter changes before the engine runs; on diesels, even a little water is serious.

• Trailer: if the trailer stood in flood water, assume the wheel bearings got water inside (especially if the hubs were warm when they went under). Repack or service them before a road trip; see our wheel bearing guide. Check the tires, lights, wiring, winch strap and tie-downs, and look for the boat having shifted on the bunks.
• Trailered boat full of rain: the weight of trapped water can bend a trailer or crack a hull. Remove the drain plug (on dry land) and let it empty slowly, or pump it out.
• Lift or davits: a boat that took on rainwater on a lift can overload cables and cradles. Don't climb on a lift that looks bent or tilted; call the lift company.

Send your photos and damage list to your insurer and keep notes of every call. Fix items that let more water in first (hatches, ports, canvas), then electrical and fuel, then the engine. Before you leave the dock, remove any storm plugs from exhaust outlets, reopen seacocks you closed, check the steering and shift, test the bilge pumps and watch the bilge closely during a short, careful sea trial. Our sea trial guide has a checklist. Log what happened and what was repaired in BoatMend.