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If only we’d learned about maritime law sooner, we could have stopped a hit-and-run lobsterman from sticking us with big repair bills.
By Frances Cerra Whittelsey — Spring 2006
Our Lesson in maritime law began unexpectedly one Friday when Harry, my husband, went out to our 36-foot boat, High Flyer, to get it ready for a weekend cruise. As he came around to her starboard side, he was horrified to see a deep, V-shape gash in her hull—fortunately above the waterline.
It was a hit-and-run. The only clue left behind was some deep-green paint.
A friend loaned Harry a small boat to try to track down the offender. It seemed hopeless, given the thousand boats moored and docked near ours in Northport, New York—but Harry got lucky. He spotted a dark-green lobsterboat with some reddish paint on her bow. It was a match to our hull.
At that point, had we been familiar with maritime law, this story might have had a happy ending. But we, like most recreational boaters, knew virtually nothing. We were vulnerable to negligent and unscrupulous owners, which the lobsterboat operator turned out to be.
Attorneys specializing in maritime law say recreational boaters need to understand at least two points. First, when you are injured or your boat is damaged by another boat, you can take action against not just the owner, but the boat itself, literally arresting it. Second, a simple call for towing in the event of a breakdown or grounding can turn into an expensive and time-consuming case of salvage.
Think about that second point for a minute. Commercial towing companies do, because salvage laws give large monetary awards to anyone who rescues a boat that otherwise might sink or break apart. They know the legal difference between a towing job and a salvage job, but they are not required to tell the boater when what they are doing is salvage. Towing operators for BoatUS, for example, agree that a job that requires only one towing vessel with lines attached to the grounded or disabled boat, and in which the boat can be tugged free in 15 minutes or less, is considered a tow, for which only a per-hour or flat fee will be charged. But if floating devices, pumps, or diving equipment are used, or if more than one boat is needed, then that is the far more expensive act of salvage. Typical towing policies don’t cover salvage. When insurance policies do cover salvage awards, they sometimes limit the percentage of value and require payment of a deductible, too.
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