Why Insure and Finance your Vessel with Captn Joe Sullivan?
Joe has been working in the Marine Industry for 30 consecutive years. His 30 years of hard work on the water has earned him unparalleled experience in Commercial & Charter Fisheries, Charter & Yacht Insurance and now Marine Finance.
At age 20, Captn Joe, began work aboard the Scallop Trawler f/v Valkerie in Cape May, NJ, as a Cook, fishing for Sea Scallops. Soon after, he handed in the pots and pans to be a deckhand. After a year on this boat, he worked his way onto the Valkerie's owner's high liner Scallop boat, f/v Victor. The Victor was one of the premier, if not the premier Scallop boat back in this time, based upon total dollars of catch. Soon after working aboard the Victor, the vessel moved onto New Bedford Massachusetts to fish the Georges Banks as the Cape May beds were overfished.
Hard Lessons Learned
Joe learned his first real lesson about marine insurance that summer, when the vessel was Surveyed at the request of its Insurer. The insurer, upon receipt of Insurance Survey insisted upon repairs to the vessel, as a condition of insurance. This forced the ship to be laid up for 5 months for repairs at the Fairhaven Shipyard. At this time he was forced to move on, and ended up Scallop Fishing in Kodiak, Alaska.
Joe's next big lesson about Safety and Marine Insurance occurred a year later, when the Trawler he was working on f/v Misty caught fire, burned and sunk while Scallop fishing in the Gulf of Alaska. It was careful Safety planning with a workable Abandon Ship Plan that saved Joe & the Crew that day. It was negligence of the Owner/Captain, of a faulty hydraulic line repair which caused the vessel to catch fire, burn and sink.
After being shipwrecked in 38 degree water, and losing all of his personal possessions aboard that vessel, it became clear to Joe that he must become the Captain and /or Mate of the boat for him to continue on in the Fishing business. After the harrowing loss of a vessel, Joe returned home to New Bedford Mass. and went to work as Mate/ Engineer on Scallop Trawler f/v Seven Seas. After working with The Owner/ Captain, for 8 months, Joe was given the boat to Captain, while the owner took the trip off for vacation. He successfully brought home a decent catch of Scallops and made 8 men a nice crew share on his first trip as Captain.
A Fisherman First and Foremost
Seasons change and so do jobs and people move on in the fishing business. He ended up fishing out of Cape May for the Lobster House owned vessel, f/v Susan L. as Engineer/ Deckhand before retiring from Commercial Fishing in December 1984. To this day, Joe considers Capt David Wiscott of the f/v Susan L., the finest Captain he ever sailed with as a Commercial Fisherman. Capt. Dave along with Lobster House owner Keith Lauderman, kept everything "ship shape and working". They exhibited discipline with fishing and boat maintenance. Joe was very proud of the condition of the vessel, when he left his job as Engineer of this vessel, to pursue another career.
After deciding to move on from Commercial Fishing, Joe decided to pursue his first love, Offshore Big Game Fishing and obtained a USCG 100 Ton Master's License.
At the same time he also joined the family owned insurance agency and was licensed for Life & Health Insurance and Property & Casualty Insurance. Besides working at the family agency Joe worked as a Producer for National Associates & National Marine - Cape May, NJ. ( presently NIA Group)
Decades of Experience in Marine Finance
For 13 years he worked producing Commercial Property & Casualty & Life & Health insurance accounts for businesses and high end Personal Lines Insurance including Yacht and Charter Boat Insurance. In 1998 he joined Summit Insurance Group Inc, as their first producer.
Since 1985 -Captn Joe has continuously run fishing vessels from 28' to 63' for private owners for Fishing Tournaments and public charters, here and in Florida and Bahamas.
In 2004 Joe decided to make Marine Insurance his primary focus and established Summit Marine - a division of Summit Insurance Group Inc., in Broomall Pa.
Since then, Joe has established a productive book of Yacht Insurance and Charter Boat Insurance and represents every major insurer and Brokerage firms offering Yacht Insurance.
A Leader in the Industry
He is well known from the Florida Keys to Maine with his many customers and associates in the Marine industry.
Captn Joe understands the boat owners concerns to have a vessel properly insured and maintained. Many of his sales coincide with a vessel Survey, Captn Joe works with his clients to explain the nuances of the Boat buying process, and communicates the need to make necessary repairs as indicated by the Marine Surveyor. Many Surveyors have come to know and trust Captn Joe and happily refer their customers to him as a trusted Professional.
Driven to Excellence and Unmatched Client Support
Captn Joe understands what to do when a claim occurs, knows all to well how it feels and works very hard to ensure each claim is presented in a proper fashion to its insurer, in a timely fashion. He also helps co-ordinate the Adjuster ( Surveyor again) with his clients, to make sure valuable time is not wasted so repairs or settlement can begin.this is crucial to Charter Boat operator, time is money for these guys.
In the summer of 2007, Captn Joe felt the time was right to establish his own Marine Finance business, to further provide his clients with a high level of service in the boat buying process. Beside extensive knowledge of most vessels, Joe help the buying process along with advice of what a vessel may offer to a particular person, and help point out the trade offs each vessel may have for it intended use.
The new Marine Finance business is called Rhumbline Marine.com. The term "Rhumbline" is a navigator's term for a straight line between two points, which we all know, is the most often the easiest course to follow. With Capt Joe at the helm for Marine Insurance and Marine Finance, you have made a good selection in a professional who will help his clients with both Yacht Insurance & Marine Finance. He knows where to get the best coverage and rates.
A Top Contributor to the Sportfishing Community
Captn Joe can be found fishing local tournaments in Cape May, Ocean City Maryland, Key Largo and in the Bahamas. He presently captain's several of his friend's and client's boats, a 57' Bertram "Slainte" and a 60' B and D ( Buddy Davis) "Motivation" for Tournament fishing. He co-owns and operates the agency owned vessel, " The Summit" out of Cape May, NJ. and also can be found on the Chester River crabbing on his 17' Aluminium Skiff.
Captn Joe is the original Moderator of the Bass Barn.com's Offshore Forum on the region's largest Saltwater Fishing discussion site. Under his guidance the Offshore Forum, has become a mainstream, up to the minute place, to get in on the action offshore - year round.
Rhumbline Marine - " we put the man in a boat" |
