Last year, I was sued when I withdrew from an agreement to buy a boat. The agreement called for me to give my boat and cash to the seller in exchange for his boat, but I had to back out when I learned that I could not...
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.
I entered into a verbal agreement to sell my boat to an individual a couple of months ago. I have always understood that a verbal agreement is enforceable, as long as the terms of the agreement are not in dispute. In this...
What Do I Have to Do to Legally Offer Charter Cruises on My Boat?
February 23, 2011
I am thinking of offering my 42-foot sailing yacht for occasional chartering to offset my ownership expenses. I have done a little research on this, but I have heard conflicting versions of the legal guidelines for passenger...
I have been following the Velux 5 Oceans Race online. In that event, sailing yachts are raced around the world by their skippers singlehandedly in five high-speed legs, called “ocean sprints.” The race, the boats and the...
Can a Bank Seize a Documented Vessel Without a U.S. Marshal?
January 20, 2011
I’ve been trying to help my boat neighbor negotiate a loan modification with her bank. She is late on her payments, but she is a liveaboard, so we are talking about her losing her home. We have exchanged correspondence...