Sailing Dream, Soundings Article May 2001 Issue

Sailing Dream, Mariner was Art Kappele's dream... Mariner and world cruising, sailing away...

Jim Flannery of Soundings Magazine wrote an article back in May of 2001. They have given me permission to put this on our web site so you can read it.

Soundings Magazine at the time this article came out, did not have a web site.

I have taken pictures of the Magazine Cover and the article itself and put it on this web page.

Please click on the links below to read this story.

Soundings Magazine Article by Jim Flannery, Part One

The article by Jim Flannery had to be split up between two web pages. This link will take you to Part Two

Soundings Magazine Article by Jim Flannery, Part Two

ARBITRATION SIDEBAR MAY 2001

By Jim Flannery

Experts urge boaters to be ready to deal with situations like Arthur Kappele’s, in particular:

• Be sure your yacht insurance covers salvage up to the full value of the boat, not a percentage of the value, and doesn’t have a deductible for salvage, says Caroline Ajootian, consumer affairs advocate for BoatU.S. Remember that membership towing programs don’t cover salvage.

• Be ready to sign a salvage agreement if you are in a salvage situation. Decide now and have the text of what you want in an arbitration clause in writing and put it in your navigation table, says Washington, D.C., attorney Jack Lahr, a boater. Most arbitration clauses stipulate where the arbitration will take place and under what authority.

The Society of Maritime Arbitrators of New York, the Miami Maritime Arbitration Council and BoatU.S. Salvage Arbitration Plan are all options. Tom Fox, a director of the Society of Maritime Arbitrators of New York, says be forewarned:

Some salvage contracts stipulate that you must use the salvor’s arbitration panel. TowboatU.S.’s salvage agreement lets boater and salvor decide later which arbitration panel they will use if there’s a dispute.

• Fox urges the boater to prepare a complete log of all that happened and when it happened, as soon as practical after a salvage. He says that log will play a key role in reconstructing events and preparing documentation for the arbitration panel.

• Don’t try to represent yourself before an arbitration panel. Get a good attorney.

• If the arbitration rules allow you to appoint one of the arbiters, make sure your attorney invests some time in this, and selects an arbiter who is both very knowledgeable in the field and highly regarded for integrity and fairness.
• Keep arbitration costs in mind. Kappele paid $7,000 to arbitrate his dispute before the Miami panel. Fox says the Society of Maritime Arbitrators offers a special small-boat arbitration program that uses just one arbiter and costs $1,000. BoatU.S.’s Ajootian says its program also sets a $1,000 limit on costs.

• Don’t forget, when you agree to binding arbitration, the decision is final. Fox says the only grounds for successfully appealing a decision in court is if there is a breach of arbiter impartiality, fraud or failure to provide a fair hearing.

Sailing Dream, This was not the end, but The Beginning...

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