What made the insurance cost so high? Did they have to insure against future damages caused by an army of libertarian pirates raiding the California coast?
It doesn't seem unreasonable that this is something that would be extraordinarily expensive to insure -- and the insurance cost balloon wasn't 10x, but 2.5x. I mean, there are going to be drunk/high people jumping from boat to boat and doing various motorized water sports.
It certainly sounds like fun.
"I did not believe that a Cause which stood for a beautiful ideal, for anarchism, for release and freedom from conventions and prejudice, should demand the denial of life and joy. I insisted that our Cause could not expect me to become a nun and that the movement should not be turned into a cloister. If it meant that, I did not want it."
-Emma Goldman
I'm not entirely clear on what exactly they're insuring against.... someone getting injured and suing the Seasteading Institute? I wonder if the insurer factored in the fact that everyone involved in the event believes in a political ideology of extreme personal responsibility, and are therefore much less likely than the average american to sue some random third party when they slip and fall.
what exactly they're insuring against.... someone getting injured and suing the Seasteading Institute?
I think so. I doubt the underwriters took the ideology into much account, they probably just went with the standard factor for P(lawsuit | serious injury) which I would guess is over 50%.
Damn it, I can't make it this year.
Just once, cant they hold a festival like this on the Cuyahoga River?
The Seasteading Institute had to cancel their annual on-water get-together, Ephemerisle, after being quoted ridiculous insurance costs, and it came back as the unofficial Floating Festival - no tickets, no organizers, you just show up with a boat. (Or find someone else who already has or is renting a boat and still has a spare spot, etc.) Jul 22-25 with an unconference (i.e., show up and give a talk) on Saturday the 24th. Posting here because of the large de facto overlap in the communities. The location is about a two-hour drive from the Bay Area.
Main info page.