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.

How to repossess a boat

July 4, 2014
I have read a couple of your articles in recent issues of The Log about the private  repossession and sale of boats, where the procedure is completed without judicial oversight.  I have a preferred ship mortgage recorded...

When friendly arrangements turn sour

May 25, 2014
 I bought a 41 foot power boat two years ago with the help of a friend who loaned me the money for 80 percent of the purchase price. He funded the transaction by taking out a home equity loan, and our arrangement called for...

How to proceed with a lien sale

April 27, 2014
 Procedures for the enforcement or foreclosure of a vessel lien or mortgage vary considerably depending on whether the boat is state-registered or documented with the U.S. Coast Guard.  Unfortunately it sounds like our...