What to do with an Abandoned Vineyard Boat?

[Soundbounder]

My boat club went through a similar problem with several boats :

More than 7 years ago, the 40’ sloop Riot was left tied to a town mooring in Vineyard Haven harbor. Since then, legal constraints, compounded by the owner’s unwillngness to declare the boat abandoned, have left Tisbury town officials dead in the water in their efforts to get rid of it.

......
"The problem we have legally is that in order for the town to take control of the boat, we have to have it deemed abandoned — and the owner is not willing to deem it abandoned," Mr. Bugbee told the selectmen. "And there is no legal route we can take to force him to abandon his boat. As long as he continues to send letters that say 'I do not want to get rid of the boat,' we cannot take ownership of the boat."

"Plan B is to have the town clerk write Mr. Lynch a letter stating that we have his boat, he owes this much money to pay for storage, and he has this much time to remove the boat, and if he does not respond, then there are options we can utilize to get rid of the boat," Mr. Bugbee said.

"If he does respond, and he doesn't remove the boat, we can take him to small claims court, take the $7,000, which is the maximum we can get in small claims, and have the boat delivered to wherever he lives and get rid of the boat that way," he added.

http://boatinglocal.com/news/what-to-do-with-abandoned-vineyard-sloop.html



http://www.mvtimes.com/marthas-vineyard/article.php?id=8881

 

[Soundbounder]

 

[SamLust]

Here in Jersey we know guys who make things disappear.

 

[redhead78]

Shame, its got nice line,was probably a nice boat....Red

 

[Manureva]

if i was the owner, i would sue the hell out of the town for storing the boat in a dirt road and unsecured.....

 

[tkanzler]

That clipper bow really does it for me. I've always like that look. It's also why I'm fond of the CSY 44's.

A real shame it's just rotting away there.

 

[Soundbounder]

Here in Jersey we know guys who make things disappear.

You mean like this genius?

NJ man admits role in failed ship-sinking attempt

A southern New Jersey man has become the fifth person to plead guilty in a botched attempt to sink a fishing boat to collect insurance.

Fifty-year-old Arthur “Todd” Vitola of Wildwood pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy to destroy the Alexander II in August 2009. The boat’s owner and three other men previously pleaded guilty to similar charges.

Vitola faces a maximum prison sentence of five years and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced in April. The coconspirators also will be responsible for restitution to the Coast Guard and others.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office contends the defendants sought $400,000 in insurance money. They allegedly took the boat to a point about 86 miles southeast of Cape May and tried unsuccessfully to sink it, after falsifying the ship’s log.

http://www.app.com/article/20120109...an-admits-role-in-failed-ship-sinking-attempt

 

[rgranger]

if i was the owner, i would sue the hell out of the town for storing the boat in a dirt road and unsecured.....

I hope your kidding....:neutral:

 

[tommays]

My 27 year old is and Assistant District Attorney and you can even believe how had it is to do anything to anybody thanks in large part to CSI style shows the Jury pool now expects DNA for a traffic ticket

 

[Manureva]

I hope your kidding....:neutral:

not at all, i would be pissed. There is more to this story in my oppinion, the only side being reported by the media is the town side, we dont have any clue on the owners story....

 

[kendall]

if i was the owner, i would sue the hell out of the town for storing the boat in a dirt road and unsecured.....

Looks to me like someone wanted to make it hard for the owner to retrieve his boat, those berms were plowed up after the boat was placed there.

I've seen the same tactics used on a few different occasions with boats and cars when the people who have possession do not have full legal authority to hold something, or when someone just feels like being a real, well you get the point.

Questions that are unanswered are why the city moved it from where it was originally stored,out of the harbor, then hauled it to it's current location. They waived their rights to storage fees at that time by surrendering control of the vessel, by moving it back to the harbor (from an assumed safe secure location) and hauling it, they have taken illegal control of the boat.

IF they have full legal right to compensation for storage, service or just use fees, (which were surrendered when they moved it out of the harbor) there are plenty of laws that exist to take ownership or place a lien on things, whether it's on federal, state, county, city, town, or private property.

As stated here:
"The owner never paid winter storage, and in the spring, he was nowhere to be found and not responding to correspondence," Mr. Wilbur said. "When summer came, I towed it outside the harbor and anchored it, hoping that would get his attention."

It didn't. Mr. Wilbur said he heard nothing from Mr. Lynch and became uneasy about leaving Riot where it was, since an anchored boat requires even more attention. In the summer of 2005 he contracted Martha's Vineyard Shipyard (MVSY) to haul it out and take it to the area behind the DPW.
--------------

They took control, then moved it out of the harbor, in essence surrendering any right to immediate compensation, then took possession of an (assumed legally) anchored boat.

 

[Manureva]

exactly my thougth , and then left it unsecured and it got very damaged.... if the owner reads this i hope you sue them for their pants and underwear....

 

[Joe Diver]

exactly my thougth , and then left it unsecured and it got very damaged.... if the owner reads this i hope you sue them for their pants and underwear....

I'd rather have cash.

 

[Maine Sail]

exactly my thougth , and then left it unsecured and it got very damaged.... if the owner reads this i hope you sue them for their pants and underwear....

This is the MOST ABSURD comment I've read on this forum in a long time. The OWNER, not the town, has left it "unsecured" it is his/her boat and as such it is his/her responsibility to store it, haul it, cover it and protect it. It is not the obligation of tax payers of the town to foot the bill for your vessels well being and storage.

If this boat had been abandoned in a boat yard, such as MVSY, they would have owned it via lien long ago and sold it to recoup the storage fees. This actually happens all the time.

Perhaps in Canada it is the duty of the town TAXPAYERS to haul & store your vessel for you? Do you let your neighbors foot the bill for your storage? Do they also pay for covering and protection of your vessel when dry stored?

Here in the US we pay our own way and do not let our boats sit on town property without paying for the storage. Why is it the towns, or more correctly, the individual tax payers of the towns job to store your boat for you, protect it, cover it and care for it. The answer is quite simple, it is NOT!

And I thought people in the US were "lawsuit happy" ...... The tax payers of the town should be getting reimbursed BY THE OWNER OF THE VESSEL, on a sq foot storage basis, comparable to what local boat yards charge or the vessel sold at auction to recoup SOME of the storage fees.

It seems the owner probably owes the town and its taxpayers over 10k in storage fees at this point.

Jeez maybe I'll just plop my boat in the town park next winter for FREE, what a deal..........

 

[Joe Diver]

Although....if we're talking about these pants, we might come to an agreement...

 

[Soundbounder]

Meanwhile in Rhode Island:

The cost of removing 3 derelict boats from the upper Kickemuit River [in Warren, Rhode Island] could end up costing the town as much as $12,300.

http://boatinglocal.com/news/derelict-boat-removal-could-cost-town-plenty.html

 

[woodster]

Although....if we're talking about these pants, we might come to an agreement...

well Joe at least thoses pants are not down to the bottom side of his hips

regards

woody

 

[Tim R.]

Although....if we're talking about these pants, we might come to an agreement...

Damn, now I need to sue you for making me look at those pants!

 

[Joe Diver]

I can offer white leather shoes in settlement.

 

[Manureva]

lol