Hello:
This past september my docklines broke during a gale sending my Holder
20 sailboat into the neighboring powerboat cause about $5000 in damage
to the powerboat. A claim was filed through my homeowner's insurance.
The claim was rejected because my insurance company said that this
was an act of god and I was not responsible. After several go arounds
with my insurance company, I recommended that the owner of the
powerboat file through his insurance company. I recently found out
that his insurance company rejected the claim because he took to long
to file. Anyhow, the guy who runs my marina recently called me to let
me know that the powerboat owner was planning to sue me. I am
currently looking for an attorney to review this situation, but I was
curious if anyone knew who is legally responsible for the damage,
myself or the powerboat owner. I spoke to an attorney today and he
said that I would need a maritime lawyer for this case. As I searched
maritime law today, I could not find any rules and regs that apply to
my case. The inland rules only talk about responsibility while
underway.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Dave
Holder 20
Marmora, NJ

Dave, you have a Holder 20? Cool. I teach sailing on Holders
on the lake near my house. Nice little boat, but I like the Cals
better for real wind like in the bay. How do you like it? Assuming
swing keel like the ones I'm used to?

How could the power boater be responsible if your boat
drifted into his? I'm no expert, but I suppose the claim
would be that your lines were inadequate. Not sure if
it would stand up. You better have pictures of the lines
and perhaps some "expert" ready to claim that they are
adequate. I think there's another Dave here who claims
to be an attorney. Maybe he can comment.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"Dave" wrote in message
...
Hello:
This past september my docklines broke during a gale sending my Holder
20 sailboat into the neighboring powerboat cause about $5000 in damage
to the powerboat. A claim was filed through my homeowner's insurance.
The claim was rejected because my insurance company said that this
was an act of god and I was not responsible. After several go arounds
with my insurance company, I recommended that the owner of the
powerboat file through his insurance company. I recently found out
that his insurance company rejected the claim because he took to long
to file. Anyhow, the guy who runs my marina recently called me to let
me know that the powerboat owner was planning to sue me. I am
currently looking for an attorney to review this situation, but I was
curious if anyone knew who is legally responsible for the damage,
myself or the powerboat owner. I spoke to an attorney today and he
said that I would need a maritime lawyer for this case. As I searched
maritime law today, I could not find any rules and regs that apply to
my case. The inland rules only talk about responsibility while
underway.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Dave
Holder 20
Marmora, NJ

"Dave" wrote
This past september my docklines broke during a gale sending my Holder
20 sailboat into the neighboring powerboat cause about $5000 in damage
to the powerboat. A claim was filed through my homeowner's insurance.
The claim was rejected because my insurance company said that this
was an act of god and I was not responsible. ......

If your insurer is correct then God is liable and the PB owner should sue
her.

OTOH, if a court rules that you ARE responsible then I'd think your insurer
would have to pay.

Check with your state insurance commission.

"Jonathan Ganz" wrote in message ...
Dave, you have a Holder 20? Cool. I teach sailing on Holders
on the lake near my house. Nice little boat, but I like the Cals
better for real wind like in the bay. How do you like it? Assuming
swing keel like the ones I'm used to?

How could the power boater be responsible if your boat
drifted into his? I'm no expert, but I suppose the claim
would be that your lines were inadequate.


It's not a claim Johnathan. His line were inadequate. Unless the dock
cleats tore off he is responsable.

Joe



Not sure if
it would stand up. You better have pictures of the lines
and perhaps some "expert" ready to claim that they are
adequate. I think there's another Dave here who claims
to be an attorney. Maybe he can comment.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"Dave" wrote in message
...
Hello:
This past september my docklines broke during a gale sending my Holder
20 sailboat into the neighboring powerboat cause about $5000 in damage
to the powerboat. A claim was filed through my homeowner's insurance.
The claim was rejected because my insurance company said that this
was an act of god and I was not responsible. After several go arounds
with my insurance company, I recommended that the owner of the
powerboat file through his insurance company. I recently found out
that his insurance company rejected the claim because he took to long
to file. Anyhow, the guy who runs my marina recently called me to let
me know that the powerboat owner was planning to sue me. I am
currently looking for an attorney to review this situation, but I was
curious if anyone knew who is legally responsible for the damage,
myself or the powerboat owner. I spoke to an attorney today and he
said that I would need a maritime lawyer for this case. As I searched
maritime law today, I could not find any rules and regs that apply to
my case. The inland rules only talk about responsibility while
underway.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Dave
Holder 20
Marmora, NJ

(Dave) wrote in message m...


Het Dave,
Get ready to dish out some dough unless you can shift liability to a
dock owner due to something like the cleats tearing out of the dock.

Back when hurricane alica hit here we went to the Houston ship
channel turning basin for shelter. We found out that many old shrimper
oyster boats ect did the same thing but for a different reason. They
want the ships to break loose and sink them, which many did. The
shipping companies are responsiable and had to buy the boats that they
sunk. 4-5 shrimpers got new boats. The ol timers know all to well
thats thats a good way to get a new boat, And when its crushed into
little peices it hard to tell how good of a boat it was that was sunk.

So the lesson is you better have strong enough lines to keep your
boat in place. Ask Bob how to rig with shackles and thimbles that will
keep you safe.

Joe




Hello:
This past september my docklines broke during a gale sending my Holder
20 sailboat into the neighboring powerboat cause about $5000 in damage
to the powerboat. A claim was filed through my homeowner's insurance.
The claim was rejected because my insurance company said that this
was an act of god and I was not responsible. After several go arounds
with my insurance company, I recommended that the owner of the
powerboat file through his insurance company. I recently found out
that his insurance company rejected the claim because he took to long
to file. Anyhow, the guy who runs my marina recently called me to let
me know that the powerboat owner was planning to sue me. I am
currently looking for an attorney to review this situation, but I was
curious if anyone knew who is legally responsible for the damage,
myself or the powerboat owner. I spoke to an attorney today and he
said that I would need a maritime lawyer for this case. As I searched
maritime law today, I could not find any rules and regs that apply to
my case. The inland rules only talk about responsibility while
underway.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Dave
Holder 20
Marmora, NJ

Well, I said I suppose. There could be other facts that we don't
know about... someone could have cut the lines or retied them
poorly or the boat did get loose but the powerboater did the
damage himself to pump up the claim. Perhaps no line would have
been adequate or reasonable. Suddenly you know for sure? I
doubt it.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"Joe" wrote in message
om...
"Jonathan Ganz" wrote in message
...
Dave, you have a Holder 20? Cool. I teach sailing on Holders
on the lake near my house. Nice little boat, but I like the Cals
better for real wind like in the bay. How do you like it? Assuming
swing keel like the ones I'm used to?

How could the power boater be responsible if your boat
drifted into his? I'm no expert, but I suppose the claim
would be that your lines were inadequate.


It's not a claim Johnathan. His line were inadequate. Unless the dock
cleats tore off he is responsable.

Joe



Not sure if
it would stand up. You better have pictures of the lines
and perhaps some "expert" ready to claim that they are
adequate. I think there's another Dave here who claims
to be an attorney. Maybe he can comment.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"Dave" wrote in message
...
Hello:
This past september my docklines broke during a gale sending my Holder
20 sailboat into the neighboring powerboat cause about $5000 in damage
to the powerboat. A claim was filed through my homeowner's insurance.
The claim was rejected because my insurance company said that this
was an act of god and I was not responsible. After several go arounds
with my insurance company, I recommended that the owner of the
powerboat file through his insurance company. I recently found out
that his insurance company rejected the claim because he took to long
to file. Anyhow, the guy who runs my marina recently called me to let
me know that the powerboat owner was planning to sue me. I am
currently looking for an attorney to review this situation, but I was
curious if anyone knew who is legally responsible for the damage,
myself or the powerboat owner. I spoke to an attorney today and he
said that I would need a maritime lawyer for this case. As I searched
maritime law today, I could not find any rules and regs that apply to
my case. The inland rules only talk about responsibility while
underway.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Dave
Holder 20
Marmora, NJ

I knew there was a f*cking lawyer out there... said nothing with
a lot of words. (Calm down Dave, I'm just kidding)

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"Dave" wrote in message
news
On 20 Apr 2004 18:54:38 -0700, (Dave) said:

Anyhow, the guy who runs my marina recently called me to let
me know that the powerboat owner was planning to sue me. I am
currently looking for an attorney to review this situation, but I was
curious if anyone knew who is legally responsible for the damage,
myself or the powerboat owner. I spoke to an attorney today and he
said that I would need a maritime lawyer for this case. As I searched
maritime law today, I could not find any rules and regs that apply to
my case. The inland rules only talk about responsibility while
underway.

First off, remember that a law suit will be mainly your insurance
carrier's
problem in the first instance. One of the reasons you buy a policy is not
just to pay any liabilities, but to defend you if you're sued. If you're
sued, be sure to notify the insurance company immediately. They may or may
not allow you to use an attorney of your choice to defend.

Second, for $5,000 it's not likely to be brought as an admiralty case.
More
likely a straight state law case for negligence. The issue will be whether
you used reasonable care to secure your vessel so it wouldn't damage other
vessels. I can see a pretty good argument that if a gale is expected,
reasonable care would require you to put on some additional lines, and if
you didn't you (your insurance carrier) may be responsible for the damage.
But again, that's a matter to be dealt with in the first instance by your
insurance carrier and its lawyers.


Dave
S/V Good Fortune
CS27

Who goes duck hunting with Jamie Gorelick?

Dave wrote:

This past september my docklines broke during a gale sending my Holder
20 sailboat into the neighboring powerboat cause about $5000 in damage
to the powerboat. A claim was filed through my homeowner's insurance.
The claim was rejected because my insurance company said that this
was an act of god and I was not responsible. After several go arounds
with my insurance company, I recommended that the owner of the
powerboat file through his insurance company. I recently found out
that his insurance company rejected the claim because he took to long
to file. Anyhow, the guy who runs my marina recently called me to let
me know that the powerboat owner was planning to sue me. I am
currently looking for an attorney to review this situation, but I was
curious if anyone knew who is legally responsible for the damage,
myself or the powerboat owner. I spoke to an attorney today and he
said that I would need a maritime lawyer for this case. As I searched
maritime law today, I could not find any rules and regs that apply to
my case. The inland rules only talk about responsibility while
underway.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

I think that usenet is not the best place to seek legal advice. What
you'll get is anecdotal at best, and most likely apochryphal or just
plain delusional.

That said, Dave (the other Dave) seems to have his head screwed on
straght. I'd add that given the cost of litigation, $5000 lawsuits are
not all that common, and that a guy who's lazy enough to miss filing an
insurance claim by the deadline may take awhile before he gets around to
actually filing a lawsuit (i.e. never, but he'll talk a blue streak
about it).

--
//-Walt
//
// Sigs suck. Oh, the irony.

"Dave" wrote in message
...
Hello:
This past september my docklines broke during a gale sending my Holder
20 sailboat into the neighboring powerboat cause about $5000 in damage
to the powerboat. A claim was filed through my homeowner's insurance.
The claim was rejected because my insurance company said that this
was an act of god and I was not responsible

How old were your lines?




Regards


Donal
--

Nah, he's just unhinged.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

wrote in message
...
On 21 Apr 2004 21:36:20 -0500, Dave wrote:

On Wed, 21 Apr 2004 22:17:23 GMT, said:

Your boat came loose from it's slip, regardless of reason, and hit
someone elses
boat. You are legally liable.

In most areas of the law, if someone is injured, or his property damaged,
without fault on anyone's part, the loss is borne where it fell. I know
this
may seem like a novel concept in a world where any time somebody's
injured
he thinks he's entitled to a pot of gold from somebody, regardless of
fault,
but it's true. I'm not aware of any exceptions where a boat happens to be
an
instrument in the damage.

That said, it's pretty easy to dream up a basis for claiming that a boat
owner whose vessel breaks loose was negligent in some way.



If your boat breaks loose, you didn't secure it properly. If the whole
dock it
was tied to breaks loose, with your boat still tied to it, then you may
have a
defense. None of this is so hard to grasp, unless you are deliberately
trying to
be obtuse.

BB