A Boat on the Beach, A Lesson to be Learned
A Morgan 32’ sailboat was stranded on Hollywood Beach for nearly two months last year. The owner had mechanical issues with the vessel while offshore. As the evening progressed, the wind and waves caused the eventual grounding. What happened next is of interest to anyone with property on the water or an interest in keeping our waterways clear of eyesores and potential environmental hazards. When the owner was presented with options to remove the vessel from the beach he attempted unsuccessfully to raise the funds needed. The reported value of the boat was under $2000.00 and he had owned the boat for a very short time. As each day passed, the boat sunk further into the sand and filled with more sand and water. In this case, after weeks of waiting for the owner to do the right thing... the City of Hollywood stepped in and paid to remove and dispose of the vessel that was located on City owned property. A report from the Sun Sentinel about the incident can be found here. http://bit.ly/2thQg9I
Had this been private property, it may have been an entirely different outcome. In cases where a vessel is abandoned at a residential dock, the homeowner becomes the responsible party and will wind up footing the bill should the rightful owner disappear. The process takes months and costs thousands of dollars.
A worst case scenario could go like this:
- Boat Owner abandons boat at Bob’s dock
- Bob attempts to contact boat owner, Boat owner stops answering calls after call #2
- Bob hires a Maritime Attorney to chase boat owner and the spending begins
- Boat owner eludes the attorney, or simply has no money or other assets to remedy the situation
- Bob hires same Maritime Attorney to ensure he is following all legal steps before towing and disposing of the vessel which is assumed to have no value. If Bob fails to do this, unscrupulous boat owners may come back looking for his boat and sue Bob for stealing and disposing of his pride and joy!
- Bob does his due diligence and hires a Marine Salvage company to tow the boat and dispose of it. If Bob is really unfortunate, the boat sinks while it is at his dock. The spending escalates!
- The Marine Salvage company refloats and/or tows the boat to a haul out facility where the demolition and disposal takes place.
- The homeowner has spent thousands of dollars on a boat that was not his in the 1st place
Scenarios like this one start out very innocently, just like the boat on Hollywood Beach. A boat breaks down and drifts into your dock. The owner asks if he can tie up there for a few days until the boat is repaired. Or maybe you rent your dock to the owner of an older boat without insurance. He seems like a nice enough guy. The rest is History! If you find yourself in a tight spot and need some free advice, give the pros at TowBoatU.S. Ft. Lauderdale a call!
