If a storm has moved through your area, the damage you can see is rarely the damage that matters most.
Fiberglass Solutions provides a free storm damage inspection for any Florida boat owner who suspects lightning, wind, or water damage — including a nearby strike that never touched the vessel. We inspect the hull and laminate, the engines and their control systems, the electrical and electronic systems, the pumps, the sensors, and the bonding and grounding systems. If we find storm-related damage, we document it, prepare a complete repair estimate for your insurance claim, and perform the repair ourselves.
One company. One process. From the first phone call to the final gelcoat.
Schedule Your Free InspectionCall the 24-Hour Storm Line — 866-950-3888
What a Storm Damage Inspection Actually Covers
A standard visual inspection identifies what is immediately visible. That is a reasonable starting point and a poor stopping point, because the systems most vulnerable to storm and lightning damage are the ones you cannot see from the dock.
Our inspection process is designed to evaluate the vessel comprehensively — from the fiberglass structure and underwater components through the engines, wiring, pumps, sensors, electronics, and onboard systems. Depending on the vessel and what the initial findings suggest, the inspection may include:
Engines and propulsionComplete inboard or outboard electrical and impedance diagnostic checks. Engine computer and diagnostic scanning. Inspection and testing of sensitive engine electronics and components. Sensor checks throughout the engine and the vessel.
Electrical systemsWire and circuit impedance and resistance diagnostic testing. Inspection of wiring, connections, and potential electrical discharge pathways. Battery and charging system evaluation. Shore power, inverter, and onboard AC and DC system evaluation. Bonding and grounding system inspection.
Electronics and navigationDiagnostic evaluation of sensitive onboard electronics. GPS, radar, sonar, VHF, multifunction displays, autopilot, and network cabling checks.
Pumps and safety systemsInspection and testing of onboard pumps, including bilge pumps and other electrical pumps. A lightning-damaged bilge pump is one of the most common ways a boat sinks at its own dock weeks after a storm.
Structure and underwater componentsThrough-hull, transducer, and underwater fitting inspection. Inspection for burned, heat-damaged, or electrically affected fiberglass. Evaluation for potential delamination and hidden laminate damage. Inspection for evidence of electrical arcing or discharge damage. Wind, impact, and water-intrusion damage inspection.
You Do Not Have to Be Struck to Be Damaged
This is the part most boat owners are never told.
A vessel can sustain real damage from a strike that never touched it. Practical Sailor, working from ABYC-aligned technical standards, documents five separate damage mechanisms — and two of them do not require a direct hit. Electromagnetic-pulse-induced surge currents can damage circuits that were not part of any primary or side strike. And ground strike radiance from a nearby strike carries a risk radius that has been quoted as far as 100 to 300 feet.
Three hundred feet covers a lot of a marina.
It gets less obvious from there. Lightning damage frequently does not announce itself. Owners routinely report that components with semiconductors in them worked fine immediately after a storm and then failed the first time they were powered up days or weeks later. Insurance carriers are aware of this pattern; it is a common reason lightning claims are left open. But an owner who runs the boat once, finds nothing obviously wrong, and moves on has not actually established that the vessel is undamaged. They have established that one system worked one time.
Read more — Hidden Lightning Damage: Why a Nearby Strike Still Matters →
Why Florida Boat Owners Should Take This Seriously
Florida is the most lightning-dense state in the United States, at 305 lightning events per square mile according to Vaisala Xweather’s 2025 annual lightning report. Polk County alone recorded more total lightning events in 2025 than any other county in the country — 1,057,635 — and Seminole County, in the Orlando metro, recorded the highest lightning density of any county in the United States.
The claim data follows the weather. BoatUS Marine Insurance puts the national lightning claim rate at roughly 0.9 boats per 1,000. In Florida, the rate is 3.3 per 1,000. For boats between 40 and 65 feet, it rises to 6.0 per 1,000, and for monohull sailboats, 3.8 per 1,000.
There is one more number worth knowing. Marine lightning deductibles used to sit in the $250 to $500 range. On some policies today they run as high as ten percent of hull value. On a $400,000 boat, that is a $40,000 deductible — which means the difference between a scope of repair written from what was visible and one written from what was actually tested is money coming directly out of the owner’s pocket.
From Inspection to Repair, With One Company
Most boat owners discover the hard way that a storm claim involves a lot of separate parties. A surveyor looks at the boat. A mechanic looks at the engine. An electronics shop looks at the helm. A fiberglass shop looks at the hull. An adjuster tries to reconcile four documents that were never written to fit together, and the owner spends four months relaying messages between people who have never spoken to each other.
Fiberglass Solutions handles the whole sequence.
Inspection. We come to the boat, or we bring the boat to us. Free, and within 48 hours.
Documentation. We photograph and document every item of storm-related damage we identify, with the detail an insurance carrier needs.
Estimate. We develop a complete scope of necessary repairs and prepare the written estimate.
Supplements. Lightning damage surfaces during disassembly. When it does, we document the supplemental damage and submit it rather than absorbing it or leaving you to argue about it.
Coordination. We work directly with your insurance carrier or adjuster throughout the claim.
Repair. We perform the work — fiberglass, structural, gelcoat and paint, electrical, and electronics.
Transport. If the boat cannot safely run, we bring it in. Statewide.
What We Commit To
Free initial storm damage inspection. No cost, no obligation, whether or not we find damage.
A 24-hour storm response hotline, answered by a live person. Not a voicemail box, and not a callback form.
Guaranteed inspection within 48 hours. So you can open your claim while the storm is still documented weather rather than a memory.
Statewide Florida service, with boat transportation available. Our facility is in Stuart. Our service area is the state.
Serving Boat Owners Across Florida
Florida had 997,102 registered recreational vessels in 2025 according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. We serve all of them.
Our facility is at 3601 SE Dixie Highway in Stuart, and we regularly work with owners in Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River, Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Brevard, Volusia, Duval, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Sarasota, Manatee, Orange, Polk, and Lake counties — among others. If your boat is in Florida and it may have been affected by a storm, transport is available.
Schedule Your Free Storm Damage Inspection
Tell us the date of the storm, where the boat is, and what you have noticed. We will do the rest.
Request My Free InspectionCall 866-950-3888 — 24-Hour Storm Line
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the inspection really free?
Yes. The initial storm damage inspection is free, with no obligation, whether or not we find damage. If we do find storm-related damage, we will explain what we found and what your options are before you commit to anything.
My boat looks fine. Is an inspection worth it?
This is the most common question we get, and it is the reason the inspection exists. Lightning damage frequently does not present visually, and it frequently does not present immediately. Components with semiconductors in them commonly fail the first time they are powered up days after a storm. A boat that looks fine and ran once is not the same thing as a boat that has been tested.
How fast can you get to my boat?
We guarantee an inspection within 48 hours. Our storm response hotline is answered 24 hours a day by a live person.
Do I need to have filed an insurance claim first?
No. Many owners call us before they call their carrier, specifically because they want to know what they are dealing with first. If we find storm-related damage, we can document it and prepare the estimate for your claim.
What if my boat can’t be moved?
That is common after a storm, and we plan for it. We provide statewide boat transportation, including for vessels that cannot safely run under their own power.
What if the damage turns out to be unrelated to the storm?
We will tell you. Our documentation has to hold up with an insurance carrier, which means it has to be accurate. If what we find is wear, age, or an unrelated failure, we will say so — and we will still tell you what it would take to fix it.
Do you work with my insurance company?
Yes. We document the damage, develop the scope of repair, prepare the estimate, document supplemental damage discovered during the repair, and coordinate with your carrier or adjuster throughout the claim.