Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:
On Wed, 02 May 2007 22:04:42 -0400, Larry Weiss
wrote:


We are about to launch the boat over the next week or two. Today I went
down to the marina to check out our boat slip (we've had the same one
for years), and there, tied to the dock in our slip is someone's
fiberglass dinghy "floating" mostly submerged just at the water's
surface. It actually looks like a nice little boat and it appears that
it is submerged only because it is filled with rain water. It also
appears to be abandoned. There is no motor on it and from its submerged
state I am unable to see whether it has any registration numbers. The
slip is in a municipal "township" marina, not a commercial boatyard, so
there really isn't a dockmaster or manager or owner to go to about this
- just bureaucrats and civil servants who won't have a clue. The
question is, if I refloat and remove this dinghy (which will take some
doing, and which I'll have to do anyway to get my boat in), is it then mine?


At the risk of being called a jerk, I would say that it you can't find
a registration or id on the boat, it's yours for all intents and
purposes.

Years ago, I found a fiberglass pram style boat sitting alongside the
road - had registration numbers, but the sticker was out of date for
three years.

Went to the registry and they had the following procedure - I had to
send a registered letter to the address listed in the last
registration stating that I had the boat and would the owner like it
back. If not, it was mine.

The letter was returned as undeliverable, the registry said it was
mine.

I would imagine in this case, if the hull doens't have a vin or MSO
number on it, then it's yours - nobody can claim it isn't.

I wasn't really thinking of the "jerk-factor". Naturally trying to
locate the owner would seem the right thing to do. Then again,
abandoning a boat in such condition in someone else's slip would seem to
have its own "jerk-factor" attached to it.

The reality is I'm really not so much interested in actually claiming
the boat (although I'll take it no one claims it). I guess my question
is more one of curiosity about the nuances of maritime law, which would
not necessarily apply to your situation since it occurred entirely on land.

I think I understand maritime law to essentially say that someone who
successfully salvages a boat that is either facing or has already
suffered imminent doom can lay claim to the boat. I'm just wondering if
this applies to my particular situation, especially since removing the
abandoned boat will require effort and/or expense on my part.

Larry Weiss
"...Ever After!"