Marina breaks my mast

[scottsail]

Folks, in the process of erecting my mast the marina staff dropped it onto another boat and my mast is beyond repair. I've no idea how long they will take to get a replacement for me. Has anyone been in a similar situation and if so then how did you approach the legal aspects of the situation.

It's a pretty desparate situation and your help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

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[mikesharp]

Purely as a Consumer (non-legal) these are my thoughts.
You presumably paid for the mast lift, even if it was part of a mooring arrangement. You have a contract in that case and the marina owe you a duty of care over the work done. They should be covered by their own insurance but you will probably need to inform your own boat insurers ASAP because they will have a vested interest in getting the other insurance company to pay. The marinia's insurers will probably try to claim an improvement to you if a new mast is supplied and request a contribution to the cost, but you should counter with a claim for the loss of use of boat for every day you are without a mast.
Sorry if my own bad experiences are showing through!

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[Fr J Hackett]

Check the contract conditions, they may claim you accepted the risk to your own property and are only covered for third party liability. Their is an industry standard terms and conditions contract that seeks to offload risk and liability on to the owners insurance.

I would report to your own insurance and try to get immediate replacement through them and with their help seek redress from the marina when you are back in the water.

After all that I can say that when my marina caused damage to my boat when they moved it some years ago when I challenged them they immeadiatly appointed a local contractor who carried out the repair to my satisfaction. S o first of all what does the marina say and do they accept liability. If they do then you are going to get a new mast for a few weeks loss of sailing, if they don't then you involve your insurance company.


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[AndrewB]

Agree.

There is a case in this month's YM of a yacht ashore that fell over in a gale and it has taken 4 years for the marina to admit responsibility and fork out. Unless your marina are unusually obliging, simplest is to ask your insurance company to get you back on the water ASAP and let them deal with the problem of recovering the cost. 'Fraid they tend to take the view it isn't worth the hassle of going to court in a disputed case unless the loss is very high: so it will probably mean increased premiums.

 

[snowleopard]

MDL dropped my boat on a stone and punched a hole in the keel. i pointed it out and they hired a contractor to make good the damage. the boat was ready for re-launch the following spring. they didn't quibble about responsibility though it helped that i was there at the time it happened.

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[Aja]

Talk to the other boat owner. Two of you talking to the marina operators will carry more weight.

Donald

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