Boat off mooring - salvage claim... Again?! Arrr!

I have read this thread with interest. A couple of things stand out for me.

1) Someone was irresponsible enough to leave a boat on a rotten rope and possibly a rotten mooring, where it was inevitably swept off. I would have been pretty pissed off if it had damaged my boat. You do not shrug off responsibility just because your boat is moored. I understand and have sympathy for boats being swept off moorigs in exceptional weather circumstances but NOT because someone has been negligent enough to leave a boat on rotten rope!

2) People are complaining about the boat breing broken into but have any of you considered the possbility that someone might be dead or severely injured down below?

If a person is going to endanger the boats around him/her through negligence, they don't deserve their boat.
 
@fatbread
First welcome to the site . As no one has said it .
No one as suggested by rescuing this yacht you did any thing wrong , good on you .
It's more that after doing so you looking for some financial gain when you don't seen to have any finacnal lost that's getting others wined up .
It been some time since I sailed back in the UK , if that where you are , on the cruiseing scene, it nothing to see other helping totally strangers out. There not Many weeks we don't see boat drifting off with no one on board I have to admin a good amount are charters yachts .
So to me what you reported is nothing out of the unusual.
We normally are rewarded with a few bottles of wine which is a very nice jesture .
On the other hand , if I was out in a big blow in the middle of the sea and took a boat in tow risking my own boat from damage and using a quaintly of fuel towing it back 15 or 20 miles , that may be another kettle of fish .
 
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Standard RYA qualification test , innit. Competent crew syllabus Day1; helping fellow sailors.

But you have to be someone like a an ex-marine to have the right attitude and assessment/mitigation of risks.


The boy done well, very well, up to the time he wonders about salvage. I hope the owner gets back to using his carefully rescued boat, and gives Fatbeard a barrowload of beer, and that FB accepts it.with a big smile.
 
sarabande said:
Standard RYA qualification test , innit. Competent crew syllabus Day1; helping fellow sailors.

But you have to be someone like a an ex-marine to have the right attitude and assessment/mitigation of risks.


The boy done well, very well, up to the time he wonders about salvage. I hope the owner gets back to using his carefully rescued boat, and gives Fatbeard a barrowload of beer, and that FB accepts it.with a big smile.
Click to expand...
Have you considered that Fatbeard might be a girl?:confused:
 
Fatbeard said:
" Sun 29th July 07.35am
more wind this morning ...

" Jumped into drink (surprisingly warm). Swam over to her.
she would have smashed into the bridge with 40knot wind behind her...

Secured a line,--- swam to bank and pulled her ashore with literally seconds to spare. Secured her best as I could ----(no fenders aboard no rope etc). She is now pinned by wind against the shoreline with 30cm gap between her and the bridge.

Swam back to (my boat), gathered gear... ... too windy for rowing

manage to release her from where she is wedged and tie her up as safe as possible... affixed a salvage note and left.

with a few changes required to protect my privacy.

Boat value might be £5k.
Click to expand...

Bits of this post raise more questions than it answers
Swam to her in 40 Kts
Pulled her ashore- So she was not ashore at the time & being blown along in 40 kts- wow! you must have swum fast to catch her up
secured her as best I could - in that muddy shore line . To what?
30Cm gap. Bit of luck she was not rolling the mast might have hit the bridge with only 12 inches to spare
Swam back- to gather gear- hang on what did you use to fasten her with then if you did not have any gear & how did you check she had no fenders - do you always carry bolt croppers- hacksaw not much use for padlocks is it?
Too windy for rowing- well we have established the wind has not dropped
So if the wind is blowing her on shore- It would hardly be blowing her off would it? how did you push her off & tie her up & how did you get her away from the bridge (after all she was only 12 inches away) & what did you use to tie her to in all that knee deep mud & how did you manage to get her into water to do that against the wind?
Boat value-- so you really are the sort who would help someone in need arn't you
protect my privacy-- Hmm interesting- so why may we ask would you do that?
I am sure others have some more questions to ask
 
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This thread puts me in mind of the river rats that infest the Itchen now, they have encroached all the way up to Quayside marina from upriver of Northam bridge. A motley fleet of floating wrecks moored in the river or shore being lived in till they drift off or join the huge pile of scrap boats developing. Maybe it was one of those !
 
interesting title, salvage claim "AGAIN". Have you made a few bob out of this before?
Some of this doesn't add up. A boat drifting in 40 knt winds could be doing 3 or 4 knots. You managed to see it get your grab bag, swim to it with a grab bag full of kit (must have been quite choppy). Catch up with it, climb on, break in, get a rope attached swim to the shore and avert disaster seconds before it hit a bridge. Were you carrying a box of Milk Tray? :).
Do you not keep a camera in your grab bag? You seem well enough prepared. :rolleyes:
 
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Spyro said:
interesting title, salvage claim "AGAIN". Have you made a few bob out of this before?
Some of this doesn't add up. A boat drifting in 40 knt winds could be doing 3 or 4 knots. You managed to see it get your grab bag, swim to it with a grab bag full of kit (must have been quite choppy). Catch up with it, climb on, break in, get a rope attached swim to the shore and avert disaster seconds before it hit a bridge. Were you carrying a box of Milk Tray? :).
Do you not keep a camera in your grab bag? You seem well enough prepared. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

The best post on this thread so far! I'm still laughing over this improbable tale.
 
Looking at this from the other side, salvage claim, many of us may think it not sporting to claim salvage but assuming that the salvaged boat is actually wanted by it's owner, then should the salvor not be compensated for their efforts? After all the yacht owner has taken less care than they should to ensure the security of their boat and risked being charged for recovery, clearance, clean up and repairs. Compensation to the salvor may be worthwhile compared to losses associated with a wrecked yacht.
 
Spyro said:
interesting title, salvage claim "AGAIN". Have you made a few bob out of this before?
Some of this doesn't add up. A boat drifting in 40 knt winds could be doing 3 or 4 knots. You managed to see it get your grab bag, swim to it with a grab bag full of kit (must have been quite choppy). Catch up with it, climb on, break in, get a rope attached swim to the shore and avert disaster seconds before it hit a bridge. Were you carrying a box of Milk Tray? :).
Do you not keep a camera in your grab bag? You seem well enough prepared. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Im interested in the film rights to all this. Add a bit of love interest and theres a blockbuster here.:encouragement:
 
It's an odd tale for sure. I suspect the story has been embellished a little.

I have salvaged boats before and one time did not even tell the owner. Just did it to help a fellow boat owner out. This particular boat had been anchored with too short a scope. The tide rose and the boat drifted off the anchorage and was on its way to a rocky shore. With the help of a friend onboard, I got a line on, dragged it back to the anchorage and laid the anchor again with plenty of scope. The whole time the owners were ashore and I never saw them. They probably don't know to this day how close they came to losing their boat, although if they continued anchoring in that manner they may well have lost it since.
 
So it's happened a lot, will happen again apparently, and here we have a man who can swim in a lifejacket in 40 knots, with his ready prepared salvage bag including lock breaking equipment and waterproof salvage note pad. I assume all these boats which break away have boarding ladders too?

Cool story, bro...
 
My god , in over 16 years of posting here , I think this is the first time everyone is on the same page .
I sure Kelly will be about shortly to ruin it all .
Might you the OP will be back after lunch to set us all right .
That's should be interesting .
 
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