What to do with an Abandoned Vineyard Boat?

[Soundbounder]

My boat club went through a similar problem with several boats:

"The problem we have legally is that in order for the town to take control of the boat, we have to have it deemed abandoned — and the owner is not willing to deem it abandoned," Mr. Bugbee told the selectmen. "And there is no legal route we can take to force him to abandon his boat. As long as he continues to send letters that say 'I do not want to get rid of the boat,' we cannot take ownership of the boat."

Mr. Bugbee said the town does have alternatives, based on advice from town counsel David Doneski, an attorney with the firm Kopelman and Paige in Boston.

"Plan B is to have the town clerk write Mr. Lynch a letter stating that we have his boat, he owes this much money to pay for storage, and he has this much time to remove the boat, and if he does not respond, then there are options we can utilize to get rid of the boat," Mr. Bugbee said.

"If he does respond, and he doesn't remove the boat, we can take him to small claims court, take the $7,000, which is the maximum we can get in small claims, and have the boat delivered to wherever he lives and get rid of the boat that way," he added.

What to do with Abandoned Vineyard Sloop? | BoatingLocal.com

[sailorboy1]

what happens to boats that "drift" away in the night

[minaret]

Originally Posted by Don Lucas

what happens to boats that "drift" away in the night

They end up polluting the hell out of some beach and having to be removed at taxpayer expense.

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by Don Lucas

what happens to boats that "drift" away in the night

They become a hazard to navagation....DVC

[captainKJ]

I might be able to help,,,,,,just drift it my way and I can take it to central america for several years

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Don Lucas

what happens to boats that "drift" away in the night

actually now that I read the short linked story that boat isn't drifting off anywhere

guess the question becomes "what happens to boats on the hard, in a field, that catch on fire at night"

[Canibul]

That was my thinking, too. Bonfire.

But there's no way a town council or authorities can promote that in public.
Perhaps the town should take out an insurance policy on it, to protect themselves ya know, in case some kid climbs on it and gets hurt, etc...

THEN burn it and collect the money. use the money to clean up the burnt spot.

[Soundbounder]

Meanwhile in Rhode Island:

The cost of removing 3 derelict boats from the upper Kickemuit River [in Warren, Rhode Island] could end up costing the town as much as $12,300.

Derelict Boat Removal Could Cost Town Plenty | BoatingLocal.com

[David_Old_Jersey]

Probably can't hit him with storage fees for the past (as was never told / they never existed!).

Am surprised that no by-laws that prohibit folks simply doing WTF they want on public land - how about viewing it as an unauthorised structure? Much the same as if someone had simply plonked a Trailor on the land......could also deem the boat as an "unsafe" structure (maybe have a word with any insurance company?) and use that as a reason to put owner on notice that it must be removed within 30 days, or will be done on his behalf - and placed somewhere else, on which Storage charges of XXX would be levied (same as a local boatyard would charge, plus a bit) , payable monthly - non-payment = boat will be seized and disposed of to cover costs (public auction?), and the Owner pursued for any balance still due....

.....the trick being to sound reasonable should events end up in court.