Abandoned boat - how to find owner? Canada

[Finallybuyingaboat]

Okay, after scouring yacht clubs for months, I found an abandoned boat. It has been sitting in the yard for 4 years, needs tons of work inside, but the hull is sound by the looks of it. How do I find out who owns this thing? The guys at the Marina have no clue. I have the hull #; does that help?

The guys at the Marina do not want to sell it without the owners knowledge just in case the owner comes back at them.

[saurav16]

The Marina must know who the owners are I assume they don't let people keep their boats in their yard for free? Do they have the keys for the boat, if so will they let you go inside... Look for registration documents on the boat documentation that might be of some help.

[CapnHand]

If the boat was registered, you can search the name of the owner through the Ministry of Transportation for the province. You'll need the boat registration number or the hull id number.

[Finallybuyingaboat]

Marina has no clue who owns it. They bought the Marina 3 years ago, boat was already there. Boat wasn't locked, went through it with the guys from the marina, absolutley no info. (Some good sails though!) Carzy, I know, but the Marina has acres of room and this has just been sitting in a corner for ever. I will check with the ministry of transport to see what I can dig up! Thanks for the responses. Hey, this one could be free! Yes, need interior redone, but a nice little Edels 540.

[byrondv]

Alot of the abandoned boats that I have seen have major bulkhead issues. Some you could put your whole arm though near the chainplates. Since you haven't seen the inside it is definitely something you will want to keep in mind as a potential bit of work.

It can be surprisingly hard to get a piece of marine grade plywood that big into the boat without cutting it up.

Sounds like a fun boat though - good luck finding out who owns it! Of course if it has been on the marina property for that long, they could probably just take a lean out against it (which would probably be at least the value of the boat) then "sell" it to you and forgive the lean. At least then they would get paid to store it from now on.

[sailingdog]

See if they have the records from the previous marina owners, since there should be some payment record for the boat. If not, ask them if you can contact the previous owners of the marina, as they may remember who owned the boat.

[Sailormann]

Alot of the abandoned boats that I have seen have major bulkhead issues.

Luckily, in this case the boat is not big enough to have a major bulkhead...

Legally, the marina owns the boat unless there is a current lease in effect.

Ask them to look through their leases, and their purchase documents. If there is no specific mention of the boat, or if there is no reference in the purchase agreement that they are assuming any tenancies in effect at the time of the purchase, and there is no record of a tenancy agreement for the particular boat, they own everything on the land that was there when they took possession.

Your concern would be any outstanding liens. If you are able to come to an agreement with the marina, it would be prudent to make sure that you are not assuming ownership of a boat that has a lien registered against it. Could be the case that someone had an Awlgrip job or something done that they ended up not being able to pay for...hence walked away from the boat.

If the lien is still registered then you are liable for it if you assume title to the boat.

The lien would need to incorporate the HIN or serial number or some such thing in order to be enforceable... (which is not to suggest that you should just obliterate those or anything of course....)

[byrondv]

Originally Posted by Sailormann

Luckily, in this case the boat is not big enough to have a major bulkhead...

Good point - didn't look at the boat before I posted.