Question: I recently received a letter from my marina, asking me to sign a new rental agreement which they are calling a “license” (the previous agreement was called a “wharfage contract”). Can you explain the legal...
David Weil has been the proud author of the “Ask a Maritime Attorney” column in The Southern California Log Newspaper and Sea Magazine since 2006, with over 300 installments of the column. We have provided links in this section to those articles, covering a wide range of topics of interest to the California maritime and boating communities.
Question: I am helping a friend buy a boat by loaning him a fairly large sum of money. I have been a private lender in the past for people who invest in cars, homes, and commercial real estate when they did not qualify for...
Question: I am very active in my yacht club, and I often volunteer for the race committee and other sailing events. The club recently enacted a rule which requires all volunteers for sailing events to be “SafeSport...
Question: Last month I was underway for a family outing on my boat, and I was stopped and boarded by the Coast Guard Auxiliary for a vessel safety check. The men who conducted the inspection were very professional and they...
Question: I have been following your column for a long time, and I am often confused by the various differences between maritime law and regular civil law. It would be helpful to see those differences listed in one place, but...