Uncertain voyage of the 'Tranquility'

[Capper]

Renee Leonard wanted something good to come from her father's apparent death at sea, so after the U.S. Coast Guard towed his abandoned sailboat ashore, she decided to donate it to a worthy cause.
She chose the Pinellas Marine Institute in Pass-a-Grille, which helps nonviolent youth offenders learn about marine science, work toward their high school equivalency diplomas or return to regular classes.
A few days after the donation, however, Leonard got surprising news.
Ronald and Sunshine Rathey, who found the Tranquility anchored 65 nautical miles west of John's Pass and notified the Coast Guard, were claiming a maritime lien against the vessel.
Leonard, 35, who lives in Knoxville, Tenn., is upset, but unsure of what she can do.
"That boat was representative of my father, and it means a lot to me what happens to that boat," she said.
Abandoned boat?
According to a Coast Guard report, the Ratheys, who were aboard their vessel, Sundancer, reported spotting what appeared to be an abandoned sailboat at 2:25 p.m. on Oct. 18.
At 3:35 p.m. the Coast Guard launched a search for Leonard's father, Ulyses Emanuel "Sam" Didier III. The search included a cutter, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. It went on for 28 hours.
Chief Petty Officer Paul R. Angelillo said the area searched was determined by special computer software that showed how far Didier might have drifted since he last wrote in his log, three days before his boat was found.
"He was diligent about keeping a record of his voyage. That he fell overboard seems to be the only explanation," Angelillo said.
He said the Coast Guard asked the Ratheys to board the sailboat to find out whether anyone was on the boat. The agency also asked the couple to remain on the scene until the Coast Guard cutter Hawk arrived.
"The idea is that you want to talk to them and get a feel for what they found and you want to make sure that there's nothing untoward. Once Hawk was on the scene, I don't recall us asking them to remain on scene," Angelillo said, adding that the Ratheys' official involvement in the incident would have been about five hours.
The Ratheys, who make their livelihood fishing, contend through their lawyer that they remained with the Tranquility and protected it at a financial loss to themselves. They want to be compensated.
Star Moran, business manager for the Pinellas Marine Institute, said the organization tried to reach an agreement with the Ratheys by offering them 15 percent of the boat's selling price. The couple rejected the offer. The legal entanglement has forced the institute to ask that the 37-foot sailboat be removed from its property.
"We are not able to accept the donation because we can't place ourselves in the middle of legal action over this boat," Moran said of the institute that serves about 200 to 250 young people a year.
"One of the main ways that we get private funding is through our boat donation program, so this is one of those boats. We take it in, clean it up and put it up for sale and use the proceeds of the boat," Moran said.

Neighborhoodtimes: Uncertain voyage of the 'Tranquility'

[Jokerswild]

Doesn't surprise me since there are things in maritime law that are vastly different than what we have on land. I'm not saying that it's right but thats the way it is.

[RAID]

I think thats a load of crap. If you do a good deed, go on with the rest of your life with the reward of knowing that you did the right thing. Don't go looking for some money owed to you after someone just lost their father. And they even rejected the 15% offer. Ridiculous

[Stormcrow]

If the vessel is found without a crew member on board, alive or dead, then it's considered abandoned and under maritime salvage laws yours to keep. It differs slightly from place to place, but thats the gist of it. The fishermen found it, and even have witnesses to stake their claim, which they'll end up selling it as I'm sure. It's especially coldhearted since the owner is known and survived by a daughter interested in the vessel, but there's nothing that can be done. When I was in Florida, often times trawlers would go out after a hurricane and scour the coastline for abandoned vessels that got caught in the storm or washed out from the docks, tow them in and sell them for scrap. Usually a report has to be filed in case the owner is missing at sea, but in the end they usually end up getting to keep the boat even if the person is still alive.

[screwballl]

if the official report says they stayed only long enough for the coast guard to arrive and made no claim to the vessel at that time then they lost the chance to claim it, especially since the title was in her name according to the story, since it was towed by the coast guard and cared for afterward by the lady then the fishermen have no claim to it.
Maritime laws are screwed up but in this case because they did not lay claim at the time and they did not find their own method of towing it to port themselves, they lost the claim to it and legally should not have been able to file a lien.

They may get it anyways due to crooked lawyers and many judge's lack of knowledge on maritime law then either sell it for scrap or put a little money into it and sell it for close to book value. free boat + $2000 repairs = hefty profit for struggling fishermen... or even if they sell it as is thats $3000 more than they have in their pocket now, they figure why settle for $400 when they can get $3000...

[Athildja-x64]

Also the boat is the scene of an investigation.
The dissapearance of some one from the boat removes it from salvage law.
if the person that dissapeared from the boat is declared dead then the standard property laws apply.

[Jokerswild]

Their not filing a claim for the boat but for their time and expense kind of like a contractors lean on the boat.

[Capper]

Regardless, its BS.......another example of scumbag lawyers manipulating people into bad decisions for their personal gain.

[Jokerswild]

Yea lawyers suck and so does maritime law.