If the guy from Orlando got a citation that means the state thinks he is the owner. Get him to apply for a lost title and sign it over to you. Then tie a piece of a bow to the anchor so if the other guy comes back it will look like it got trashed in a storm. Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
-----Original Message----- From: Sam Densler <[email protected]> Date: Sat, 24 Oct 2009 13:32:04 To: <[email protected]> Subject: [Liveaboard] Legal question - Abandoned Vessel Here is the background... In 2004, Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne, Gina and I lost our beloved Endeavour 37 on which I lived aboard for nearly 5 years. Nearly 2 years later, a wonderful guy bought the wreck at auction and fixed her up to probably 80% of her pre-hurricane grandeur. In fact, he invited me to sail her back to his home port on her maiden voyage when she was ready to go. Unfortunately, personal and medical issues forced him to put her up for sale and in short order, she was sold to a new owner somewhere up north. At that point, I lost contact with owners and the vessel. Last year, one of our very own list members emailed me that she was spotted at anchor just outside the very marina where I had helped deliver her. Looked like she had been sitting there for a long time. Turns out, the new owner didn't want to pay marina fees so he had her anchored in open water just outside the marina and she had been there since, more than a year. Now, another year later, she still sits there, in a serious state of disrepair. Oddly enough, the guy that bought the vessel from auction (not the current owner) received a citation for an unregistered vessel anchored in FL waters. We believe she has never actually been registered by the new owner. So here is the question... At what point is the vessel considered abandoned? What would be involved in taking back possession of the vessel? Is it as simple as some have told us that we can just take possession and register her as ours since she was abandoned? Does the current "owner" have any rights to her since she has not been registered and is obviously not in compliance with current Florida law? We would love to have her back to fix up. Any clarification on the legal aspects would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Sam and Gina -- **************************** Sam Densler mailto:[email protected] http://www.islandfx.com/lady S/V Lady of the Lake PDQ 36, Hull #15 Melbourne, FL S/V Stories She Could Tell Endeavour 37, Hull #454 Destroyed by Hurricane Frances 2004 Reborn and sailing again in 2007 **************************** "If you ever wonder why you ride the carousel, you do it for the stories you can tell." Jimmy Buffett "Stories We Could Tell" A1A _______________________________________________ Liveaboard mailing list [email protected] To adjust your membership settings over the web http://www.liveaboardnow.org/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard To subscribe send an email to [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] The archives are at http://www.liveaboardnow.org/pipermail/liveaboard/ To search the archives http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] The Mailman Users Guide can be found here http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html _______________________________________________ Liveaboard mailing list [email protected] To adjust your membership settings over the web http://www.liveaboardnow.org/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard To subscribe send an email to [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] The archives are at http://www.liveaboardnow.org/pipermail/liveaboard/ To search the archives http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] The Mailman Users Guide can be found here http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html
