@artsun so strange that they would sue you for that... esp if the facilities are old(why else would it fail?), were you not meant to be tied there in such weather? How did that get resolved? Did you have to pay anything?
@rek Long story! They played on two specifically points of the rules.
The first thing is that we're not supposed to be firmly moored to the catway, you're only allowed to use a loose hawser for safety. It's only the mooring lines at bow (les pendilles - how do you say that?) and the mooring at the dock that are supposed to hold the boat.
Being at the end of the dock, with one of the two bow mooring lines plunging vertically instead of going towards the mother chain, I had no choice but to tie up firmly to the catway.
Which brings us to point 2: I discovered that maintaining one of the mooring line was legally my responsibility, something I hadn't been aware of until then. I consulted a marine expert who told me he'd never seen such a regulation. I tried to point out my good faith and the opacity of the regulations to the municipality (which manages the port), but it didn't affect their determination at suing me. Read the small lines, friends.
That was a year and a half ago. I kind of hassled them to get another spot in the port, which I ended up getting (this is the good point of the whole story).
No news from the legal action. Insurance won't cover everything so I'm waiting to see as I'm supposed to get a fine for this. The insurance lawyer told me recently she thought the municipality had dropped the matter, but I have no way of really knowing (and I obviously don't wanna remind them of the whole thing).
Just another day in Absurdia...
@rek Long story! They played on two specifically points of the rules.
The first thing is that we're not supposed to be firmly moored to the catway, you're only allowed to use a loose hawser for safety. It's only the mooring lines at bow (les pendilles - how do you say that?) and the mooring at the dock that are supposed to hold the boat.
Gregory's Server
@rek Long story! They played on two specifically points of the rules.
The first thing is that we're not supposed to be firmly moored to the catway, you're only allowed to use a loose hawser for safety. It's only the mooring lines at bow (les pendilles - how do you say that?) and the mooring at the dock that are supposed to hold the boat.
Being at the end of the dock, with one of the two bow mooring lines plunging vertically instead of going towards the mother chain, I had no choice but to tie up firmly to the catway.
Which brings us to point 2: I discovered that maintaining one of the mooring line was legally my responsibility, something I hadn't been aware of until then. I consulted a marine expert who told me he'd never seen such a regulation. I tried to point out my good faith and the opacity of the regulations to the municipality (which manages the port), but it didn't affect their determination at suing me. Read the small lines, friends.
That was a year and a half ago. I kind of hassled them to get another spot in the port, which I ended up getting (this is the good point of the whole story).
No news from the legal action. Insurance won't cover everything so I'm waiting to see as I'm supposed to get a fine for this. The insurance lawyer told me recently she thought the municipality had dropped the matter, but I have no way of really knowing (and I obviously don't wanna remind them of the whole thing).
Just another day in Absurdia...
@rek Long story! They played on two specifically points of the rules.
The first thing is that we're not supposed to be firmly moored to the catway, you're only allowed to use a loose hawser for safety. It's only the mooring lines at bow (les pendilles - how do you say that?) and the mooring at the dock that are supposed to hold the boat.