Bareboat charter boat collision

[GreenWave]

Assuming that Dream Charters did tell the OP to get lost, that is exactly why the OP needs to go on the offensive NOW. Reasoning with them is likely to do nothing but delay. Keep it clean, keep it factual, and let the public decide their fate.

[barnakiel]

YEP. If they are not fixing it up already, do not waste time for any small talk. Get a lawyer write them a letter. They will wake up swiftly when they smell legal talk.


They all do.


b.

[Shrew]

There is a reason that the lawyers insist on all responses be along the lines of "We cannot comment on on going litigation".

Public shaming in social media is your worst possible course of action. Be careful that you don't open yourself up to a libel counter-suit in the process.

If you direct them to social media shaming campaigns you might be railroaded from a discussion to "You'll need to discuss this with our lawyers". Don't close the doors on yourself.

[Pir8te]

Not an attorney
would this not be a legal issue in the jurisdiction that the alleged tort occurred in ?

Could you not get a judgement and then execute it they do have property
that could be used to settle the claim in said jurisdiction ?(seize a vessel or two LOL)

[Captn_Black]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

YEP. If they are not fixing it up already, do not waste time for any small talk. Get a lawyer write them a letter. They will wake up swiftly when they smell legal talk.


They all do.


b.

This is also a good solution. It suggests you mean business, even if in reality you have no intention of suing. And such a letter is relatively cheap. Though OP 100% needs to file a police report. Without that it is hard to progress, even if he did have an insurer that was willing to do the leg work for him.

[Lake-Effect]

The OP stated:

The company admitted to the accident in full on email and promised to repair the damage

... but the OP has not yet returned to say how the discussion with DYC went from the above... to "sue us". So there's really a lot that's not been shared, and I don't really expect the OP will be returning to fill in those gaps. Just a hunch.

[diver14u]

Thank you for all your helpful and informative responses. To respond from my side; there have been in excess of 20 emails sent and received between myself and Dream Yacht Charter senior management. The collision occurred in Culebra, Puerto Rico, which is part of the Spanish Virgin Islands and the US.

I will be pursuing the legal route and sending them a letter. I have also been informed that we could sue for the entire sale price of our boat as the buyers walked away.

This is the email received from the manager at their Fajardo base in PR.

Hey Shelley,

Sorry I’ve been super busy.
So let’s start this thread with laying out the facts.
On Friday oct 18 you were anchored in culebra near the public dock.
Bill Rutherford was chartering the vessel named Island Time and dufour 412 form DYC base at Farjardo.
I received an email from an agent at the DYC base in Florida satiating that Island Time was dragging anchor and has hit your vessel.
That same day I revived a few pictures from Bill Rutherford which were from a far distance.
Days later I came out to culebra to see the damage for myself. When I noticed a few small chips (smaller than a quarter) and one black scuff mark. One chip was already filled with epoxy which was not a new repair.
November 12th per your husband’s request I came back out to try to clean up the damaged area.
I used buffing compound to to get rid of the scuff marks and then cleaned and filled the chips with Pettit Gel coat repair epoxy.
Your husband stated that he would like to see a better fill job performed and agreed to meet me at Puerto Del Rey marina in a few days so the repairs would redone.
No show
December 10 I receive a call from you wanting the repairs completed but state that you have left my area.

Does this sound correct to you?

Now moving on where is the vessel located?

Thanks
Jesse
--
Jesse Campo
Dream Yacht PR Base Manager
Skype: jessecampo86@gmail.com

A survey was done at Nanny Cay Marina by a reputable surveyor and the water ingress was found.

I have already gone the Change.org route - Dream Yacht Charter refuses liability - David vs. Goliath.

[Dsanduril]

Geez, if is happened in Culebra and you are firm in your belief regarding fault then report the incident to Coast Guard Sector San Juan. They will investigate, and they do have the power to stop the charter vessel from leaving port until you are satisfied. Now may not be the ideal time (DYC may not have many charters with Covid + hurricane season) but losing the use of the boat is the most effective tool you have and it won't even require a lawyer. If you have an electronic trail it will go a long way to satisfying the investigators.

OTOH if the "water ingress" wasn't found until some time later and you have a hard time documenting the exact cause....

[TrentePieds]

Barnakiel is bang on! Sue - don't "shame".

A suit needs to be launched in the courts of the jurisdiction where the accident occurred, and it needs to be handled by an attorney there residing so he is familiar with "the rules of the game" in that jurisdiction, and so he knows other lawyers and the members of the judiciary in that jurisdiction.

Don't be your own attorney! As the saying goes: "He who represents himself has a fool for a client".

IF a suit is brought, it'll all come down to the "quality of proof", so make sure you have ALL correspondence, aides memoires completed immediately after conversations between the parties, and pictures of the alleged damage. In this case, a weather synopsis for the day of the accident would probably be useful. If the damage was repaired at your expense because doing otherwise would jeopardize the safety of the boat, document that cost and get a professional surveyor's statement that indeed the boat was in jeopardy.

But beyond what you've already been told by CF members, get COMPETENT LEAGAL ADVICE! And let the attorneys get on with snarling at each other. They are better at it, I dare say, than you will ever be! If a court finds that you were compelled to sue because the opposition was being intractable, the court is likely to make the opposition pay for YOUR attorney as well as their own.

Best of luck!

TrentePieds

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by diver14u

Hi, I'm not sure if I'm on the right thread, but wanted to know what others would do if a bareboat charter boat (from Dream Yacht Charter) dragged anchor, collided with your boat, cracked your gelcoat and you had water ingress. The company admitted to the accident in full on email and promised to repair the damage, but senior management tell you to go ahead and sue and say "our lawyers will have a field day".

And no, we don't have insurance - long story about being in the hurricane belt at the time - which is probably the reason for the brush-off, but I know as much as the next guy that the only people who win when you sue, are the lawyers.

Any advice?

The lawyer may make a buck but also see you get the money for the repair, not what could be a hollow promise.

[joelhemington]

Originally Posted by diver14u

Hi, I'm not sure if I'm on the right thread, but wanted to know what others would do if a bareboat charter boat (from Dream Yacht Charter) dragged anchor, collided with your boat, cracked your gelcoat and you had water ingress. The company admitted to the accident in full on email and promised to repair the damage, but senior management tell you to go ahead and sue and say "our lawyers will have a field day".

And no, we don't have insurance - long story about being in the hurricane belt at the time - which is probably the reason for the brush-off, but I know as much as the next guy that the only people who win when you sue, are the lawyers.

Any advice?

You'll need to call their bluff and get a lawyer that's local to the area, which I'm assuming is in the Caribbean due to your hurricane zone mention. DYC has an abhorrent reputation and I'm sure there are lawyers out there willing to take them on pro bono. The fact that they tried to intimidate you into not sueing will send the judge nuclear.

If somebody smashed up my Knysna 44 (which is my dream boat by the way) I'd hire a kid to go around some night and drill holes in all the DYC boats in port (let em fix that with duct Tape) On the upside, the Knysna 44s were built with an Airex core which won't absorb water like Balsa would so a fiberglass clean up, fared and regeled should solve your problem.

[bstreep]

Good advice above. However, if you are now out of the area, they are probably betting you won't do anything. Since you have the boat name, any chance you can contract the actual owners, and worth through them? There IS a threat of impound of the boat, just when things are starting up again, that might get the owner. I think I found the boat on the USCG search. HIN: DUFF2767G617

Damn nice boat, you have, BTW, it needs to be fixed right.

In my case, my charter agreement with DYC says that all litigation/legal action regarding the charter must take place in Mauritius. So, I can do all of the posting I want, as I'm not planning on going there. In any case, I'm just posting my emails, their emails, and photos. https://dreamyachtcharterssuck.com/

[joelhemington]

Originally Posted by bstreep

Good advice above. However, if you are now out of the area, they are probably betting you won't do anything. Since you have the boat name, any chance you can contract the actual owners, and worth through them? There IS a threat of impound of the boat, just when things are starting up again, that might get the owner. I think I found the boat on the USCG search. HIN: DUFF2767G617

Damn nice boat, you have, BTW, it needs to be fixed right.

In my case, my charter agreement with DYC says that all litigation/legal action regarding the charter must take place in Mauritius. So, I can do all of the posting I want, as I'm not planning on going there. In any case, I'm just posting my emails, their emails, and photos. https://dreamyachtcharterssuck.com/

Given that the accident occurred in the hurricane exclusion zone means that DYC's insurance is probably not valid either (I wonder how a charter boat ended up there?) Since most of these Caribbean islands are sovereign nations. Mauritius has nothing to do with it as any court action will take place on that island.

[Noisykate]

Just to say large companies can sometimes "self insure", and you can find you are dealing with a hardball company lawyer whose only brief is 'bat them away'.
Not in this field, but we sued a company in those circumstances, and won, including costs, but we had to put nearly £10k on the table for legal costs first. The other party simply wouldn't take us seriously until we appointed lawyers and set a court date.

It sounds defeatist, but I would strongly advise that you look at the costs of just getting the work done.

Yes, you can sue DYC, but my guess is they will stall and wriggle until your stamina fails.

Not having insurance is a false economy. Imho!

[mvweebles]

Originally Posted by joelhemington

Given that the accident occurred in the hurricane exclusion zone means that DYC's insurance is probably not valid either (I wonder how a charter boat ended up there?) Since most of these Caribbean islands are sovereign nations. Mauritius has nothing to do with it as any court action will take place on that island.

The OP who was allegedly struck by a DYC owned vessel could indeed seek legal redress in PR, the location of the accident. Bstreep was a charterer in Tahiti and apparently signed a contract stipulating civil disagreements will be resolved in Mauritius. The OP had no such contract of course.

Seems DYC is an interesting company. Given the options in chartering, not sure why anyone would deal with them. I'm sure they're great when all goes well and have many happy customers. But it does not sound like they deal with adversity well and tend to usurp all "benefit of the doubt" and impose their heft.