Boat damage

[shandos]

Hi everyone
Not sure if this post is within the rules -- but I am sure a moderator will take care of it if it is not.

I had my boat parked down the Pin recently and had it damaged by the extreme wake of the Abel Tasman 2. The wake was over 1 1/2 m high and threw my boat into a wall -- $3000 damage. Two other smaller tinnies were swamped.

The Abel Tasman 2 is a large motor cat ( around 20m) and was doing about 20knts in Canipa passage ( near the two red beacons up from Duck Ck).

I contacted the water police but they would only record it as a complaint and take no action as no one was injured. I faxed an incident report to Marine Safety Queensland but have heard nothing back.

What I after is the rego number of the Abel Tasman 2, her usual mooring and the owners name and contacts if possible -- at least then i may have a chance of keeping my excess and no claim bonus -- besides what he did was bloody dangerous -- if a child or elderly person (or anyone) had been in the boat they could have been seriously injured.

thanks
Shandos

[Seahorse]

hey shandos
wish i could help. those type of people in their big castle on water think they own it. They piss me of no end.
Thats the trouble down there and all over the pin. Narrow gutted channels and boats going flat strap in both directions.
I really hope u get his number. Shame u wont be able to do anything. U will see him again mate, then stick it to him

greg

[Blackened]

G'day

I'm not sure of the boat, but the first thing you may want to do is call every marna in the area, they may have a database?

If thats no good, you then have every private mooring to check.... good luck with that.

Dave

[Crestcutter]

Shandos , The boat you seek is moored in Southport.

Details are as follows
Ship Name

Ship name , ,,,,,, ON ,,,,,, ,,,,,length ,,,,, , built , ,,,, Home port
Abel Tasman 2 ,,,857301,,,,, 23.3 m ,,,,,,,,1991 ,,,,,Southport.


Darryl.

[tunaticer]

G'day Shandos,

I would be trying the VMR coastguard as being a large vessel It would have got itself a name in the area and if they have any chartering taking place on it they would more than likely log in and out for charters.

The guys at the VMR have vast amounts of knowlege of who where and what goes on.

Jack.

[nelton87]

Shandos,
I am 100% sure the vessel you are asking about was sold around 4 weeks ago and was being delivered to Mackay for new owners. I actually did some work on the vessel whilst it was out of the water at GCCM recently.
I however do not have any contact details, Maybe someone around Mackay may be able to follow up with details etc or otherwise advise the insurance company the latest information and this should save the excess.
Regards
Nelton

[shandos]

Thanks for your quick reply guys -- i will follow through.

regards
shandos

[bastard]

Sorry to hear about the damage mate but was your boat anchored or moored properly,the boat you speak of came past us up the pin about 4 weeks ago on a monday morning,and got us by surprise and nearly knocked all our breaky of the table,but in saying that the wash it puts of is no more than the wash put off by a 40ft riv or similar,it was a silly section of water for him to be on the plane but i dont really think youll be able to get any reimbersment,best of luck though.

[marco]

shandos,
you can apply to queensland transport to get the owners details , even just from the vessel name is enough if it is a registered name .

you will have to provide a copy of the quote for damages and inform them that you have lodged the report with msq , all of that is to prove why you want the owners details and from memory it cost about $13 to get .

cheers
mark

[shandos]

Thanks again everyone
-- and bastard - the boat was moored correctly with 12 inch pvc bumpers out - the force snapped a 12mm mooring line and as i said swamped two tinnies near us - he was going way too fast for that section of water.

Regards
Shandos

[Fish Guts]

yeah thats ridiculous. did anyone else report this ? If possible would be good to get in contact with the owners of the other tinnies. Did it damage your outboard much ?

[SgBFish]

One of those incidents where a few photos of him going though would be invaluable.

[Camo]

Shandos if your boat is insured then I would pass the details on to the insurance company and let them run with it. They would in due course have their own investigators investigate the incident. If it is not insured then you might have to spend a few bucks and get a solicitor to write a letter of demand to the owners.
Either way I suppose it would be a long process, but three grand is a lot of damage.

Camo

[Noelm]

I sort of think that unless the boat was exceeding the speed limit there is bugger all you can do about it, I have seen a similar thing happen in a big Harbour when a Tug went passed, a boat on a trailer at the ramp (ready to launch) the boat was washed right off the trailer, the car half submerged and the owner knocked off his feet, the guy wrote to the Ports Authority and they gave him the old, gee thats sad, but bad luck, nothing was done illegally, the Tug was well within it's operating limits so, "stiff"

[Fish Guts]

how close was he to your moored boat. was he within the legal limit ? And what is the speed limit through that area. Is it 40 to 8m and under or everything

[TOPAZ]

Hi all,
I used to teach Safe Boating for Coastal Patrol Melbourne, and we instructed all our students that you can be held legally responsible for any damage caused to other vessels etc. by your wake.
Claiming that you were below the posted speed limit is no excuse - some vessels create HUGE wakes at low speeds.
In the Yarra River, the posted speed limit is 5 knots above Westgate Bridge, but the area adjacent to the Marina is signposted NO WAKE ZONE - i.e. slow to a speed BELOW 5 knots so as to create no wake, which might cause damage to moored vessels therein.
BUT, as with all such cases, the onus of proof would be on the complainant to supply sufficient evidence (photos, witness statements etc.) to support their claim for damages.
See a solicitor!


Richard
p.s. I am NOT a lawyer!

[ozscott]

If you want to have a chat to a person who really knows their stuff, see if Bill Corten will have an off the record chat to you - apart from being a commercial skipper with plenty of experience he was the secretary of the old Marine Board for years. If no luck then PM me and I will give you some details of a lawyer in Brisbane who has done marine work for many years, mainly for the insurers.

Cheers

[shandos]

Camo -- I am insured -- you would be crazy not to be -- but just like a car incident they want to know the details - who caused the problem etc -- they are prepared to follow it up if I can supply boat and owner details.

To others who think it may be ok to swamp boats non intentionally or other wise if you happen to be within speed restrictions this is not the case -- if someone had been hurt or killed (and it could have happened ) then the person responsible would be at least be investigated to see if they had acted in a negligent fashion -- no different with property damage.
A wake is a dangerous thing as many of us who have been on the receiving end would testify -- the blatant disregard for others and bad seamanship this guy displayed is difficult to believe.

regards
Shandos

[Ian1]

I think Nelton might be right about it being sold. There is an Able Tasman 2 in Roslyn Bay Marina in Rocky that was recently bought by the present owner. I'm guessing its the same vessel.
Give Keppel Bay Marina a call. They will be able to tell you if its there.

Cheers

Ian

[Noelm]

never said it was OK to swamp boats just because you can do it legally, I was saying that if the boat in question was operating within all legal limits, then I think you do NOT have a case, but in saying that, it would not hurt to chase it up and give the guy some 'stick" so he is more curtious next time.

[ozscott]

For those who think that things are black and white go to http://www.courts.qld.gov.au/siteservices/search.htm

enter "Rigney AND Brown AND Holmes" (ie without the quotation marks) and then click open the only Judgment that shows up - its one of Justice Holmes in the Sup Ct.

Just as a brief summary - a bloke doing 25 knots in a 40knot zone down the Nerang at night in his 6m glass boat hits a tinny without the nav light on who had not moored the tinny safely - tinny operator was held 50% liable for his passenger's injuries from the (inevitable) collision between the 2 boats and the driver of the glass boat was also held 50% liable for the injured fella's damages

When you see that the Plaintiff's damages were assessed just under half a million dollars (and it could have been much higher if he were hurt more badly) you can see that nothing should be taken for granted in the boating world, caution is the key and have good insurance.

Cheers

[shandos]

Noelm -- you are partly right - I checked with a lawyer -- as the person was acting legally they can not be charged with a criminal offense under the criminal code however I do have the right to sue them for damages under common law if they contributed to the damage whether they were acting legally or not.

It is similar to someone walking into your yard at night, tripping over the kids bike left in the drive way and breaking a leg. You have done nothing illegal but they can still sue you for damages if it can be shown you were partly or fully responsible for the damage.

It is a good reason to be fully comprehensively insured with respect to your boat. If a crew member falls when you accelerate and cracks their skull they can sue you for damages -- if they get killed the family can sue.

Anyway I will put the info you guys have given me to the insurance company and hopefully it will be enough for them to follow through.

Thanks again everyone for your advice and help.

Regards
Shandos

[ozscott]

read the decision - its usually about negligence (breach of duty of care in tort), but sometimes an action can be founded on breach of statute (such as the Workplace Health and Safety Act in Qld), but more generally a breach of statute can be used as a particular of the alleged negligence.

Cheers

[Brumby]

[quote=ozscott;657507]For those who think that things are black and white go to http://www.courts.qld.gov.au/siteservices/search.htm

enter "Rigney AND Brown AND Holmes" (ie without the quotation marks) and then click open the only Judgment that shows up - its one of Justice Holmes in the Sup Ct.

Pretty sobering stuff. Probably wouldn't be a bad idea to have a brief outline included in notes for your licence - the general perception is that provided you abide by the speed limits etc you're automatically in the right.

Very pleased it wasn't me having to find 50% of 464,000, not to mention the little issue of costs. I think I might just renew my insurance! Thanks for the reference, ozscott.

[shandos]

Sobering stuff alright Brumby

Regards
Shandos

[Fish Guts]

Shandos,

what sort of mooring were you on ? And who owned the mooring. Id be asking them questions about the capability of the mooring if it was in fact a mooring .

where were you in relation to the channel ?

and how far away were you from the passing boat ?


cheers'

fish guts

[marco]

shandos ,
i would think the following is of interest to you , it is section 19 of that court ruling and note regulation 96 that it refers too.

dont be surprised if the insurance company doesnt want to go the other party as it is not a lot of money involved , they may just hit you for the excess and pay the claim .

10014
mark

[shandos]

Thanks Marco
Excellent advice

Regards
Shandos