A cautionary tale of rookies and pirates

[NavyA4]

Since I’ve learned so much from this forum, I thought I would share a misadventure in the hope of sparing other PDQ owners from having to learn this lesson the hard way.

I live in Charleston but I keep my PDQ34 in the Annapolis area. This past summer a friend of mine from Idaho was asked at the last minute to be a visiting professor and teach his Ethics course at the Naval Academy for the current academic year. Since he was not able to obtain a rental home until November, I offered to let him live on my boat for a few months.

One sunny afternoon a few weeks ago, he returned to the boat to find it listing to port. He found water above the floor boards in the galley. He tasted the water, determined that it was fresh water, and realized he needed to shut off the hose connection at the dock. (I have always been in the habit of shutting off the dock water when I left the boat, but I must admit I had become careless about shutting it off during brief trips ashore, and I never used to shut it off at night!)

By this time the assistant dock master had arrived and had tied extra lines to the finger pier, effectively suspending the port hull while my friend began bailing water out the port hole in the galley. Sea water had backed up into the sink, but was not spilling into the galley. By baling furiously he had gained (reduced) only about a few inches of water and was facing a long night of bailing when the dock master asked if he would like her to call for a pump. Absolutely, he said! Anyone. Right now. In a little while a BoatUS captain showed up with a pump and began de-watering the port hull. About an hour later the water was gone and everyone could see that the plastic fresh water pipe in the galley sole had separated from outlet side of the boat’s water pump, hence the source of the flooding. My friend spent the rest of the night and the following day cleaning and drying, and to his credit, the boat was shipshape when I returned the following weekend. Oh, did I mention that the BoatUS captain asked my guest to sign a piece of paper during the heat of battle prior to starting his pump-out? (At that point in his frantic concern for my boat, my guest would have signed any contract to get that pump-out started.)

A few days later the owner of BoatUS called me in Charleston and asked me for “the claim number”. What’s a claim number? After dancing around this issue, I told him that I did not intend to submit an insurance claim. I had had the boat inspected, and I intended to replace the port engine oil, oil filter, and transmission fluid as a precaution, since the fresh water had reached a level half way up the flywheel. I didn’t expect my insurance company to pay for that. I asked the BoatUS owner to send me a bill. A few days later I received a bill for $6,800, a mere $200 per foot! I’ll spare you the details of the ensuing discussions, except to say that I offerred to pay him over $400 an hour for his efforts, for a total of $800. I gave him my idea of what was reasonable, and he gave me his argument for his charges. Now I’m not a lawyer, but when he showed me my friend’s signature on a “Salvage Claim” I figured we were beyond negotiating a bill. He was not willing to consider my offer of $800. I finally had to call my insurance agent (who, by the way, had been a tremendous asset throughout this ordeal by helping me research what a reasonable bill should be). I threw in the towel, realizing not for the first time in my supposedly uncomplicated life, that lawyers and insurance companies exist to make problems go away. My insurance agent, Bob Peck, Atlass Insurance in Newport, RI deserves a plug. He was the best resource and representative I could have wished for throughout this whole debacle. The insurance company, Travelers, settled for $150 per foot. I have never mentioned the salvage claim or “the signature” to my friend. I wouldn’t want him to feel badly about an otherwise delightful stay aboard my boat. And, even though he teaches Ethics to future Naval Officers, he’s also a former Navy Seal who might not take kindly to being hoodwinked during a time of shipboard distress.

So, in case you were wondering, here’s what I’ve learned. What one person thinks of as labor, another person may think of as salvage. A good insurance agent is a worthwhile thing. Live on tank water, not dock water. If you have to use dock water, install a pressure reduction valve between the dock and the boat. And always remember, there are still pirates out there.

[duetto]

hi steve,

this is almost verbatim what happened to friends of ours in the alligator river in nc.

[maxicrom]

Steve,

That's an expensive lesson - at least the boat is OK. Having owned a 1948 wooden ketch with a 1964 Fordson diesel for 15 years I learned to purchase the unlimited Boat US towing policy many years ago. Even at the $115 price tag anymore it's a deal - and you've just provided an excellent example of how to use it at the dock. The only time I've ever used mine was for a 20 min. ride (by car) from a canvas shop on the VA side of the Potomac for diesel (all of the marina's were gasoline only). I think that Boat US also helps to negotiate with other towing companies as well.

Regarding marine salvage law, as old friends from Bermuda used to say "When times are lean it may be time to put the lantern out on the reef"

Mike

[NavyA4]

I agree Mike. Just to be clear, and I should have noted this in my original post, I had/have a highest level membership of both BoatUS and SeaTow.

[duetto]

i've been told that unlimited towing is just that, towing. salvage, in this case determined by the signed form, is something completly different.

[maxicrom]

Steve,

Very good information, one for the lessons learned - makes one think that basic marine salvage law and owner rights should be provided as part of any boaters course. One would think that Boat US would advocate to protect it's members from severe salvage claims from Boat US associated marine businesses. My car trip to the gas stations for diesel was free but fuel is covered as part of the towing packages.

I'm sure that you have seen this already but just in case to share with other readers, Boat US has a section on their website explaining Towing vs Salvage and provides salvor negotiation and payment as part of their boat insurance policies. For members that are insured by other companies they offer salvage arbitration which they say is considerably less than Admiralty court costs ($1000 max. per party).

http://www.boatus.com/towing/guide/salvage/default.asp