Neighbors Boat Fire Seriously Damages My Boat

[VAGABOND47]

I am not feeling as kindly as the previous posters.
Karma is creeping up on you, teaching you that you have to play by the rules and carry insurance.
If both of you were properly covered, as is required by most marinas, you would have no worries.
Personally I have had to deal with two uninsured boaters damaging my boat and I have NO patience for it.
Quite honestly I hope that your neighbors were as concerned about their fellow boaters as you, and carried no insurance.
Neither of you should have been able to utilize facilities for dock space while uninsured and you are getting what you deserve.
Please, stay on dry land until you can play by the rules that the rest of us responsible vessel owners are forced to pay for.

[Jason Flare]

My guess is this is the fire:

Haverstraw: One man severely burned in boat fire at marina

[buzzstar]

One other thing, in addition to the see an attorney suggestions: If the marina knew or had reason to know he was living aboard, but did nothing, the attorney you see might be able to make something of this.

[rb1685]

Originally Posted by cburger

Yesterday the individual who lives on a powerboat across the dock from me burned his boat to the waterline, the heat was so intense that holes were burned in the aluminum dock. The story was he was burning a pellet stove and living aboard his vessel, not allowed at this Marina. Of course the winds were gusting to 40 miles per hour and blowing all of his burning material on to my beautiful classic restored westsail.

The problem is my boat received significant damage and I have no insurance. I would appreciate if the members could make some recommendations as to how best to proceed to have my vessel repaired, very sad day.

Are you the owner of Moondance? I saw her at Stony Point in 2014. Inspired me to get my own Westsail! Best of luck to you mate!

[Offshore1960]

You might want to have an independent surveyor do a damage assessment survey for you as soon as possible. Having third party documentation will help with claims.

Best of luck, and very sorry to hear about what happened to your boat.

[basssears]

Also contact "Thiells Fire Department Chief Jason Parente" (per attached story, assuming that's correct, but regardless, contact fire department that responded)... they will, presumably, have a report written that includes among other things their cause and origin investigation, having that in hand will clearly prove you weren't at fault. So that's a start.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by cburger

Yesterday the individual who lives on a powerboat across the dock from me burned his boat to the waterline, the heat was so intense that holes were burned in the aluminum dock. The story was he was burning a pellet stove and living aboard his vessel, not allowed at this Marina. Of course the winds were gusting to 40 miles per hour and blowing all of his burning material on to my beautiful classic restored westsail.

The problem is my boat received significant damage and I have no insurance. I would appreciate if the members could make some recommendations as to how best to proceed to have my vessel repaired, very sad day.

I fear you are SOL. If he was living aboard in a marina not allowing it, he probably does not have significance assets to go after. He may have lost everything he owns. Maybe worth a quick check of his assets you can probably make a guess on that with the condition of his boat prior the fire. Best of luck to you and him.

[Hoosiersailor]

Originally Posted by VAGABOND47

I am not feeling as kindly as the previous posters.
Karma is creeping up on you, teaching you that you have to play by the rules and carry insurance.
If both of you were properly covered, as is required by most marinas, you would have no worries.
Personally I have had to deal with two uninsured boaters damaging my boat and I have NO patience for it.
Quite honestly I hope that your neighbors were as concerned about their fellow boaters as you, and carried no insurance.
Neither of you should have been able to utilize facilities for dock space while uninsured and you are getting what you deserve.
Please, stay on dry land until you can play by the rules that the rest of us responsible vessel owners are forced to pay for.

Rules? Exactly what rules are you referring to?

Edit: Disregard....I found the answer to my own question in your past posts.

Originally Posted by VAGABOND47

As a prior duty USCG Marine Safety Detachment officer, I can tell you that if you receive ANY payment for a voyage on a vessel who's voyage originated or finalized on US soil you are operating a charter business. Therefore any insurance which you currently have will be voided if a claim is filed and you have not made proper changes to your policy, and have not had a USCG commercial vessel inspection.
Additionally, operation of a non licensed charter is a serious criminal offence which is seriously prosecuted.

[meirriba]

Originally Posted by Polux

I am sorry to hear about all your problems but if you don't have an insurance it means that the marina does not require boaters there to have insurance and that is in my opinion a bad place to have a boat.

If you don't have Insurance, for your description, I bet the other guy that lived aboard, will not have it either and before hiring a lawyer and to pay for it perhaps it is better to see if the one that burned the boat has any means to pay your damage, if he was a work and so on, otherwise you would be wasting money.

No, it does not mean that.
These are two different insurance covers.
One is own hull insurance, the other is third party liability (TPL).
Most marinas require TPL but do not care about hull insurance.
This means that while the neighbour may or may not have insurance cover for himself, he probably does have TPL cover to reimburse the OP damages.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by VAGABOND47

I am not feeling as kindly as the previous posters.
Karma is creeping up on you, teaching you that you have to play by the rules and carry insurance.
If both of you were properly covered, as is required by most marinas, you would have no worries.
Personally I have had to deal with two uninsured boaters damaging my boat and I have NO patience for it.
Quite honestly I hope that your neighbors were as concerned about their fellow boaters as you, and carried no insurance.
Neither of you should have been able to utilize facilities for dock space while uninsured and you are getting what you deserve.
Please, stay on dry land until you can play by the rules that the rest of us responsible vessel owners are forced to pay for.

That is vial!

[Mike OReilly]

My deepest condolences cburger. Sounds like a scary and painful event that will go on for some time.

This is probably obvious, and maybe you’ve already covered this, but have you talked to your dock neighbour yet? I wouldn’t start with the assumption that this person isn’t going to try and make things right. After all you are living without liability insurance, but I’m pretty sure (from your previous posts) that you would do all you could to correct a situation your actions caused. I’d start with that assumption for this other boater.

Document yes, and get as much info as you can, but I’d speak with the person first before running off to lawyers or seeing who else can be blamed (like the marina owner).

[Kenomac]

A good reason to purchase insurance before it's needed. IMHO you'll never see any compensation, just like when my neighbor's terribly neglected house had most of it's shingles blow off and onto my car. Many small dents and I never saw a dime. He put on a new roof and I was told to go pound sand by his insurance company because it was considered an "Act of God," my auto insurance told me I needed to pay the first $1000, the deductible.

Good luck and learn from the unfortunate experience.

[buzzstar]

Since we are speculating about many things, the mention of the fire department report was a good one. Exactly what caused the fire and how and why could be more than important. Do not accept a news report or the word around the marina as meaningful. Just a rhetorical question, but I do not know the answer, Why, how, should and would a pellet stove start a fire in 40 mph "wind?" Maybe it was the design (a product liability case?)maybe the warnings and directions were not adequate (ditto, product liability) was it properly or improperly installed (possible negligence, who installed?)) according to directions (product liability?). Anyway go see that lawyer. While admiralty law, and/or contract law may apply, it sound like the sort of thing that a personal injury lawyer might take on contingency without up front fees. You might net get every dollar for yourself, but I think something is better than nothing.

[captlloyd]

#1 Talk to the guy, be cordial, try to wean as much information as possible from him, mainly about his net worth. #2 If he has any worth or tangible assets, get an estimate for repairs and ask him for reimbursement. At this point you need a lawyer because he may agree to pay you and then just blow you off. You need a legal agreement for restitution. If he has no net worth you might as well throw in the towel, unless the marina is willing to help you out.

[Brewgyver]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

(snip) After all you are living without liability insurance...

While he said he has "no insurance," the OP may have simply meant that he doesn't have hull coverage, and thus has no insurance which will pay for his repairs. He may very well have liability coverage, on this coast you can't get a (non-transient) marina slip without it.