Force majeure ? CV19 yard closure

sarabande

sarabande

Well-Known Member
Joined
6 May 2005
Messages
36,182
Visit site
I was hoping to have the boat back in the water in just over a week's time. The yard has texted that they are now closed bcs of the Govt lockdown. This is obliging me to take up another 4, or n, months space at the yard with associated costs.

Is this force majeure, or can a claim be made to recover the storage charges from insurance? Yes, I know it seems selfish but I have my own perfectly good mooring nearby, which could be sensibly used for 'storage'.

Yes, this is paltry amidst the greater scheme of CV19 impacts, but it galls to see cyclists, horse riders and walkers out on the moor this morning enjoying their recommended and approved anti-virus, healthy exercise.


And yes, the capital and running costs of a horse or bike can easily exceed that of my boat. :(
 
Last edited:
Mylor Yacht Harbour has just emailed me along the same lines. However, the rules laid out last night and subsequently are, I think, crystal clear. You can only leave your house to work (if you can’t work from home), shop for food, one daily exercise session or for medical reasons. Nowhere does it say you can go visit your boat or have you found a get out clause? If so, please let us know.
 
It's all very unfortunate (especially for those of us who now have time on their hands and a boat which is sitting in the yard but not accessible) but inevitable. There is no get-out which allows you to go to your boat, unless (arguably) you walk/run/cycle there as part of your daily exercise.
 
Its the same on the continent. My boat is in Poland and borders are closed, my daughters boat in Germany Emmerich, Yard is closed till 19th April.....
 
Same in Italy; you are not allowed to use your boat and my marina is closed anyway!!
So, instead of working on the boat I am painting the house .............. all those windows which have been put off to autumn, to spring, to autumn ................................... :)
 
duncan99210 said:
Mylor Yacht Harbour has just emailed me along the same lines. However, the rules laid out last night and subsequently are, I think, crystal clear. You can only leave your house to work (if you can’t work from home), shop for food, one daily exercise session or for medical reasons. Nowhere does it say you can go visit your boat or have you found a get out clause? If so, please let us know.
Click to expand...

Not quite the same lines I think. Paragraph 3 of the MYH letter (below) seems very fair as unlike the OP‘s situation, it appears that Mylor won’t apply additional costs. Good for them!
In cases where this means that customers boats spend extra time ashore or afloat that they would not have done in more normal circumstances, there will, of course, be no additional charges made for this.
Click to expand...
 
We keep our boat just up the river from Mylor and have had the same message. Bit of a bummer after working all winter refurbing the boat, but completely understandable. Just glad I didn't rush to get the antifoul on last weekend, if we don't get in at all this year that would have been a waste. In the meantime, the garden and house will get some attention instead.
 
Fleetwood Yacht Haven have sent the same email to me.I am on the hard and was wanting to lift in in two weeks time.Hopefully Force Majeure works in both directions and they cannot charge me any more money than they would have done if I had gone back on the water?
 
MikeBz said:
It's all very unfortunate (especially for those of us who now have time on their hands and a boat which is sitting in the yard but not accessible) but inevitable. There is no get-out which allows you to go to your boat, unless (arguably) you walk/run/cycle there as part of your daily exercise.
Click to expand...
Bart's dilemma!
Sunny, dry weather, nothing else to do and the boat needs some TLC.
Just not quite fair
 
So if you can't visit your boat due to the government rules and subsequently the boat sinks due to lack of care / attention / maintenance, who is liable? Will insurance cover it if you have not been "maintaining" her.
 
greeny said:
So if you can't visit your boat due to the government rules and subsequently the boat sinks due to lack of care / attention / maintenance, who is liable? Will insurance cover it if you have not been "maintaining" her.
Click to expand...
Depends on the wording of your insurance policy. Mine does not appear to have a visiting requirement. But if your boat is out on a mooring I'd contact your insurance company pronto.
 
I've been sleeping and working on my boat for the last two weeks, after the 'Announcement', the boatyard announced that it will close this pm.
I put it back on its mooring this morning, luckily it was in the water.
I must say, it looked very lonely, as the Environment Agency had cleared us all off the moorings until 1st Apr to do maintenance on the moorings and my boat was the only one back.
 
Our yacht club has cancelled all lift ins but also made it clear no further storage fees will be applied to boats ashore.

When you're dealing with a business rather than a club I'd imagine it's a case of let the contract prevail.

I was onboard in Ramsgate's outer harbour last night when Boris gave his 'lockdown' announcement, the boat was already prepped to leave at 06.30 so I left as planned.

The alternative, taxi ,train, taxi back home didn't make much sense.
 
A number of US state legislatures are considering laws that would eliminate plain language exclusions from business interruption policies. Obviously, this could have no bearing on the current pandemic, since it is already underway (the laws don't say that, but the courts will). I'm sure that will cause turmoil in the insurance industry, because going forward, they have a new type of risk they don't understand.

But as for the OP, it seem equavalent to loosing a part of his boating season to excessive ice (which happens here) or a bad huricane season (which happens in the US south). The answer would be "tough toodles." He didn't have "boating season interruption insurance and didn't pay for such coverage.
 
Fishing boats are allowed out. If times get really hard we may be reduced to fishing for food! I reckon about three weeks before the cat has to start worrying about how cat tastes:

Garfield_diet_7446.jpg


On our permitted bike ride today we spotted an angler angling...
 
Frankklose said:
Its the same on the continent. My boat is in Poland and borders are closed, my daughters boat in Germany Emmerich, Yard is closed till 19th April.....
Click to expand...
Is the boat somewhere nice such as Kolobrzeg? I've not been to the country for a few years now, and the whole place is developing fast, but we enjoyed it a lot. The nearest I've been to Emmerich is Cuijk, where our sailing club had a rather alcoholic twin-town meeting with our sailing club.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top