Proper etiquette when you hit and damage another sailboat

[Sea Hunt]

I am posting this so that I can learn from the experiences and anecdotal information of others. It has been my experience over the past few years that CD owners have a very high level of sailboat skills, etiquette, and experience.

Sunday afternoon I received a phone call from the sailing club dockmaster's office advising that another club member had hit and damaged S/V Tadpole. The dockmaster said he did not believe the hull/fiberglass was damaged but that damage had been done to the rubrail and toerail on the starboard side. He also said the person hit at least one other boat just before (or just after) hitting S/V Tadpole. Tadpole and the other damaged sailboat are sort of next to each other and both were hit and damaged on their starboard sides. I have racked my brain trying to figure out how he could hit two sailboats both on the starboard side.

The dockmaster said several sailors heard the loud noise of the hit(s) and they knew who was at the helm of the sailboat that did the damage - a club member.

After recovering from the shock that my sweetheart had been assaulted, I told the dockmaster I would inspect it tomorrow (meaning today, Monday).

Today, I inspected and took photos of the damage. There is significant damage to the rub rail and some damage to the toe rail along the area of the starboard side track and block for the Genoa sheet. It does not appear there is damage to the hull or deck area.

The dockmaster told me the person responsible was sailing a club sailboat (a Flying Scot) and that the person would be responsible for paying to repair the damage.

Several club members today told me that they observed the incident and that he was not in control of the sailboat and hit at least two other sailboats. One guy said he looked like a pinball machine bouncing around.

I told the dockmaster I had not received any phone call from this person and was surprised. The dockmaster just shrugged. As of this email I have still not received any call. My plan is to call the offender tomorrow if he does not call me.


So, my question is when you damage another sailboat is it your responsibility to contact the owner to advise him of what happened or is it proper etiquette to wait for the owner of the damaged sailboat to contact you At my request, the dockmaster provided me with the person's name and phone number.

As some of you may recall, this is the second time S/V Tadpole has been assaulted. In Jan/Feb someone hit her on the toe rail and rub rail on the starboard side forward of the shrouds. He (or she) never made any effort to contact anyone. It took me a lot of time and effort to remove, replace and repair the damaged toe rail.

My plan is to wait until the end of "H" season (we do not use the full word-superstitious) and then repair it.

If I do the work myself is it reasonable to charge the guy an hourly rate for my time versus hiring a shipwright to do it and paying him an hourly rate I know I also have to buy a new length of teak and have it shaped to the bend in the deck/hull. I assume the offender pays for that as well.

I guess I am treating this like a car accident. I am concerned that this is not the way things are done when sailboats are involved. I do not want to offend anyone, nor create any unwarranted agitation, confrontations, or discord. "Direct action" responses are no longer a part of my life.

Any suggestions are welcome.

[mattlydon]

Actually - I strongly recommend you carry boating insurance. My club requires it.

I have a policy with progressive on my '28 with an agreed value of 10k ( a bit low - need to adjust) that costs me less than $300 per year. That includes a $500 deductible collision section, which would apply here. While I originally got the policy after having my previous boat sink at the mooring (an uninsured $1800 adventure, and cheap at the price), the collision bit is a nice addition.

If your lowly worm didn't come through taking care of your boat, you'd only be out the deductible.

In any case, if he/she doesn't seek out the injured parties, he may think he 'got away' unnoticed - which would seem to indicate a lack of character your club probably doesn't desire in a member..........

Matt

[Neil Gordon]

Robert,

Sorry to hear about the assault.

>>So, my question is when you damage another sailboat is it your responsibility to contact the owner to advise him of what happened ...<<

Absolutely!

If I do the work myself is it reasonable to charge the guy an hourly rate for my time versus hiring a shipwright to do it and paying him an hourly rate ...<<

I'd get an estimate of the cost of professionally repairing the damage and claim that amount.

>>I do not want to offend anyone, nor create any unwarranted agitation, confrontations, or discord.<<

Call the guy, tell him who you are, give him your contact information and tell him you're getting an estimate of the damage. No confrontation; expect that once you contact him, he'll do the right thing.

[Chris Reinke]

Robert - If your able to remove the emotions of the "assault", which would never be easy for any CD owner, then you are looking at a simple motor vehicle accident. For clarification purposes I will refer to the moron from your club that has no etiquette whatsoever as Mr. Moron.

According to NY DMV law, if you are in an accident, you must stop your vehicle and exchange information with the other driver. If the accident caused property damage to a parked vehicle (which a docked boat would qualify as) or other property is damaged the responsible individual MUST locate the owner or contact the police. So Mr. Moron is responsible for contacting you.

While it is not a requirement, it is often a good idea to contact the local PD and ask for an officer to meet you at the boat to take a property damage incident report. It is not pointing blame at Mr. Moron for bouncing off boats in your club, but rather starts to generate a paper trail that will be very helpful in the event the damages are disputed by Mr Moron or you end up having to commence with legal action to collect from Mr Moron.

If Mr Moron has insurance then the report is a great start to the paperwork. Additionally, the police will most likely contact Mr Moron to inform him that the property damage report has been initiated and then he will have to contact you.

If Mr Moron ends up submitting a claim with his insurance company then it will be VERY difficult to get an insurance company to compensate you as the vehicle owner for personal time or repairs you perform. I am assuming you are not a licensed shipwright. It is also difficult to get an insurance company to compensate you off an estimate. They usually wait until the work is completed and invoiced. If Mr Moron goes through his insurance company then let them pay for a shipwright to make the repairs. Obviously, if Mr Moron does not file an insurance claim then have an estimate done and ask him for the amount of the estimate. No law requires you to have the work performed by a licenses shipwright, or even have the repairs done at all. Mr Moron is compensating you for damages he causes.

One last thought, if your not going to have a professional shipwright provide an estimate you should consider having a surveyor look at the damages as a minimum. You can charge Mr Moron for the survey as part of the repair charges.

It is unfortunate, but I had to live through a similar event so I can only share my experiences. In my case a tornado...yep an F2 tornado made its way across our club's parking lot where the boats were stored in early fall. The winds knocked over several boats, including the one next to my 330 forcing her off her stands and onto the gravel parking lot....lots of insurance paperwork.

One

[Stan W.]

They should be the ones chasing Mr. Moron, not you. Don't expect to be compensated for your time if you do the work yourself.

[Joe CD MS 300]

Is there a harbor master that the incident should be reported to? I believe that a lot of states have a requirement that accidents with damage above a certain amount should be reported to someone? the Coast Guard? a state agency?

It might be helpful to get the names of any individuals who say the incident while it is still fresh. You may want to think about reporting it to your own insurance company also. What if the guy does not have his own insurance? Do yacht policies have uninsured boaters coverage?

I've got more questions than answers, sorry.

[Richard G. Abbinanti]

Someone hit my boat last year while at the mooring and tried to run, other boaters called the marina and someone stopped him. He said I left my name number, still looking for number. I call the police and made a report. He said he would take care of the cost, well $ 6500.00 later he reported it to his insurance company. Call the police, report it.
Richard

[Sally Perreten]

There are words for people who don't immediately take responsibility for damage they do. But I'm not supposed to use 'em and still call myself a lady. And when it's a beloved boat it really hurts. My sincere sympathy and empathy.

Sally

[bill2]

Robert

My experience would be to report it to the appropriate local authorities - maybe even as a "hit and run" - then file the claims with your (?) insurance and Mr Moron's.

I'd also suggest having s/v Tadpole examined by her "doctor". Injuries are occasionally transmitted along fiberglas to the next weakest structural member down the line and she may not be able to tell you all of her pains up front . Please let her have a quality exam.

Leastways - my humble opinion . . .

[marv brinn]

I don't think there is much to debate/discuss here . the person who damaged your boat is responsible and needs to contact you asap. this is common sense and just plain ethical. I ran into a moored boat six yrs ago with my cd27 and immediately contacted the owner the damage was cosmetic but it was MY responsibility to make the call. I called several times before the owner finally said"its ok forget it"
In your case I would be boiling and furious if I were not contacted in 24hrs,especially if your number is readily available. your agent needs to move on this immediately. p.s I am sorry .

[Sea Hunt]

I should have posted an update sooner. Sorry for delay. A good friend passed away the other day. She was a member of the sailing club and over the past 3+ years taught me a lot about sailing. A memorial service was today. A great, great lady and an expert sailor who sailed all over the world. As someone said today at the services, if there is a "Heaven's Marina" she assuredly has the best sailboat in the fleet.

I have occasionally mentioned in posts sailing with a "young lady" who has been sailing since she was a small child and had taught me a lot. This was her. I initially took a class from her and she invited me sailing a few times thereafter. Patient, calm, expert. One of her last sails on her beloved O'Day 35 was several weeks ago. After picking up the mooring line her only statement was "one of the best sailing days I ever had".

Anyways, the other person involved in the incident with S/V Tadpole never did call me so I called him. He was very polite and very apologetic, explaining the circumstances of the incident. He is a club member. He readily acknowledged his responsibility in the matter and agreed to pay for all repairs.

I decided not ask why he did not call me. For better or worse, all the staff at the club know me and my phone number is readily available to all. Perhaps he was just too busy with other matters.

In the end, no worries. I plan to do the repairs after "H" season ends in early November. Until then, big worries about the weather.

For me, this matter is closed.

[seajunkie]

Robert, I'm really sorry to hear of your loss. This is a sad turn of events. I hope you stay the course and continue with your sailing endeavors, I always look forward to your posts they generate great discussions.

I'm surprised that in the issue you put to rest that the clubs insurance didn't come into play. I would think that the clubs boat would have insurance and that the guy sailing on it would have been covered.

[Sea Hunt]

Hello Rich:

Thanks.

The club personnel/staff were TERRIFIC. Apparently, the owner of one of the other boats the guy hit was also called by the club staff that afternoon and he immediately drove to the club. His sailboat had taken a hit at the hull just above the waterline and had hull integrity issues. The "wayward sailor" met with him and told him he would pay for repairs.

The club staff correctly assumed the guy would pay for the damage to S/V Tadpole also.

Accordingly, the club's insurance did not come into play. If the guy had refused to pay for the repairs to the two sailboats, the club would definitely have stepped in and paid for repairs. That was never really my concern. I was (and remain) surprised that the guy did not make any effort to call me. As I said, when I called him (after waiting two days), he was very apologetic and polite.

S/V Tadpole and I are going sailing this afternoon Winds look good for a rookie sailor (8-10 kts).