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Old 02-27-2017, 09:42 AM   #1
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What Would You Do?

You are at your home marina and see another (new to the marina) boat coming back from an overnight cruise. You and another slip holder go to help him dock. He goes past his slip and tries to back up to the slip and in the process, he catches his bow rail on another boat's bow pulpit and takes a chip out of it (he has a thirty year old poorly maintained boat and the boat he hit is a 2015 trawler that just sold for $2.5K but hasn't been picked up yet).

We finally get him in his slip and he sends his buddy to look at the other boat. The buddy just glances and says "It's OK". The owner never looks himself and everyone gets off the boat and leaves.

I climb onto the new boat and look closely and there's an actual chip in the bow pulpit.

I checked with the marina manager and this guy never reported hitting the other boat.

What do you do in my position?
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Old 02-27-2017, 09:57 AM   #2
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Is your assumption that the marina manager will not, or didn't report it to the trawler owner?
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Old 02-27-2017, 09:58 AM   #3
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I'd report it to the harbormaster (sounds like maybe you already did?) Then I'd let the harbormaster take care of contacting the owner and sorting it out. I'd want someone to do the same thing if my boat were hit.

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Old 02-27-2017, 10:02 AM   #4
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It sounds like you don't know who owns the boat that's been dinged, but the marina management does. Managing the marina is their job. I would make sure the manager has all the info and then leave the matter in his/her hands. If I were the owner of the boat that had been damaged, that's what I would hope and expect my neighbor to do.
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Old 02-27-2017, 10:10 AM   #5
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IMHO, It makes no difference whether it is in a marina or a parking lot. It is "Hit and Run". It needs to be reported.....
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Old 02-27-2017, 10:37 AM   #6
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I know that my marina manager would take action if it happened here (Southall Landings Marina, Hampton, VA). Still, when I saw the owner of the damaged boat I would tell him what I saw just in case something got lost in translation.
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Old 02-27-2017, 10:44 AM   #7
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I would let the marina mgr take care of it but I would take several time dated photographs just in case they are needed.
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Old 02-27-2017, 11:41 AM   #8
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Originally Posted by WesK
I climb onto the new boat and look closely and there's an actual chip in the bow pulpit.
You don't know for certain when or how the "chip" arrived.

Besides reporting it to the marina, I'd make an attempt to contact the owner directly and report only what I had actually witnessed and leave it at that.
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Old 02-27-2017, 11:52 AM   #9
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Greetings,
Mr. H. "You don't know for certain when or how the "chip" arrived." Good point and agree on reporting the matter in any case.
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Old 02-27-2017, 11:53 AM   #10
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What Would You Do?

As has already been mentioned you are a witness to a hit and run/ignore. Most owners would be glad of any assistance you could provide without setting foot on their boat. I witnessed this last august while the owner of the green boat was ashore walking his dog.

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I provided him the photo the name and registration of the sailboat. I now have a new friend who has a berth for me in mystic next summer. Consider it paying forward the karma bank.
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Old 02-27-2017, 05:06 PM   #11
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This has happened a few times at our marina over the 10 or so years we have been there. Everytime, the dockmaster was informed by whomever witnessed the hit. The dockmaster then contacted the owner of both boats (several boats in one instance). I'd absolutely report it and hope for the same if our boat were involved. In one instance, the guy who hit several boats and actually bent a steel loop attaching a dock to a piling tried to deny everything. Fortunately, there were several witnesses, all of whom spoke up with the dockmaster.
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Old 02-27-2017, 05:14 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hawgwash View Post
You don't know for certain when or how the "chip" arrived.

Besides reporting it to the marina, I'd make an attempt to contact the owner directly and report only what I had actually witnessed and leave it at that.
Agree except for the first para.
The boat was hit, there is a chip where it was hit, if the "chip" is fresh you do know, based on "balance of probabilities", how and when it was caused.
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Old 02-27-2017, 05:46 PM   #13
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OK.
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Old 02-27-2017, 06:02 PM   #14
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Yea... you should be careful. You don't know for sure that chip was caused by that hit (and kinda trespassed to look). You stand to put yourself in an awkward position between parties and with your fellow marina mates. I think you have reported it to management and it is time to step aside.
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Old 02-27-2017, 06:13 PM   #15
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Ok, I would have called the police. A police report with your witness statement and photos is needed. Too many cases where the guilty owner tells his insurer he didn't do it, the insurer tells the other insurer that their client denies, then the insurer of the innocent owner pays for the repair and it reflects against him. Without a police report, the odds of the innocent party collecting from the guilty one are very slim in a situation where you've already seen the response of the guilty party. I don't know if alcohol was involved or not, but, if so, the police would also handle that aspect.
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Old 02-27-2017, 06:33 PM   #16
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Greetings,
Mr. BB. To late for that now. Let the harbor master deal with it. Mr. TB has the best advice at this point IMO.
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Old 02-27-2017, 06:40 PM   #17
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Greetings,
Mr. BB. To late for that now. Let the harbor master deal with it. Mr. TB has the best advice at this point IMO.
I meant what would I have done. Now, I would make sure the owner of the hit boat is told about it and who did it. I'd leave a note on his boat if I couldn't be sure otherwise he was informed. I didn't get a feeling he had confidence the harbormaster would follow through. Telling the harbormaster isn't enough unless you make sure the boat owner knows. I don't consider harbormaster the same as reporting to law enforcement. They're just an employee of the marina.

I know I sound skeptical, but I've known too many people to suffer losses in such situations.
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Old 02-27-2017, 07:31 PM   #18
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Any witness or party to an incident like this should make a contemporaneous detailed note of the event. Very useful resolving any fact dispute months/years later. I`d bet this OP already has.
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Old 02-27-2017, 09:37 PM   #19
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I have had exactly this situation twice in recent years, where when down working on my boat I have witnessed another vessel coming in or going out, hit and damage a berthed and unattended boat. In each case I advised the marina management, and fortunately, in each case, the 'offender' had notified them, but I still got a very grateful thanks from the affected owner next time they were down and saw me.

Ironically, one of those incidents was when a poor old fellow with an old blue & white timber boat, who clearly had no idea of how to control it, was going to take it for haul-out and anti-foul. To my horror, his technique, it one could call it that, was to just back up until he hit something, then the same going forwards, frantically winding the wheel and yanking the controls, until he was able to drive her out.

I then realised I had witnessed how it was that my boat ended up with a broken davit one time when I was interstate, and was called and advised of the damage by a neighbouring berth owner, who unfortunately did not see it happen, and just discovered it.

Sadly, that fellow was asked to leave the marina. I say sad, because he loved his old woody, but his wife hated it, so he would mainly just come and sit in it for hours on end, and virtually never moved it except for haul-out time, which was when this happened, so no wonder he did not know how to drive it.

I also felt very sorry for the son and grandchildren, who on the occasion I witnessed, had obviously come along to help, and were frantically calling out for him to stop each time he shot forwards or backwards, but the poor guy just had no idea, and his controls appeared all back to front even. It was a heart-wrenching experience watching helplessly, I can tell you, and I hated to have to report him, but clearly there was no alternative. I was relieved when I found out the son had already done so when able.
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Old 02-27-2017, 09:39 PM   #20
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This P.C, crap make me want to throw up!
There is no question here what the hell is the matter with you people?
He needs to step up!
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