Ask a Maritime Attorney - Page 23 of 66

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.

Yacht clubs and the ‘Assumption of Risk’

March 13, 2016

I am chairman of the race committee at a yacht club in California and we have spent a lot of time over the past few months talking about the possible liability of the club in the event of an accident during a race. Most yacht...

Who needs a U.S. Coast Guard License?

February 26, 2016

Does an individual who is selected and compensated by someone to skipper their bareboat charter sailboat need a Coast Guard license? The compensation in this case did not involve a cash payment and it consisted of only...

Can I force a yacht broker to release me from a listing agreement?

February 12, 2016

I retained a yacht broker in California this summer to sell my boat under an exclusive listing agreement. I selected this particular broker because he was able to provide a slip for my boat that was next to his office, which...

Reader asks if he can place a mechanic’s lien on brother’s boat

January 29, 2016

My brother asked me to help repair the engine in his sailboat. The boat was located in the San Francisco Bay area but he promised that he would bring the boat to our home port of Morro Bay in exchange for my help. I spent...

Can I sell more than one boat a year?

January 15, 2016

Is it legal to sell more than one boat a year in California without having a yacht broker’s license? I own one boat that I have for sale and have the opportunity to purchase another which I intend to clean up and sell for a...