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What is salvage?
The admiralty law of the United States has long recognized that the law of salvage rewards the voluntary salvor for the successful rescue of life or property imperiled at sea. In order to have a valid claim for having rendered salvage services, the salvor must show that the property saved was imperiled, that his services were voluntarily rendered, and that he was successful in whole or in part to the saving of the property.
What is the difference between salvage and the law of finds?
A salvor obtains a right to possess the property but not the right of ownership. A salvor holds the saved property for the benefit of the rightful owner and may do so until she is compensated, and if not duly compensated, may enforce her interest in court. However, if the law of "finds" applies, then the finder actually obtains possession and ownership of the property. In the case of a "find" the court does not have to set a value because by definition the finder takes title to the property free and clear of all other claims. The law of "finds" is often employed where a discovered ship has been submerged under the sea and beyond the reach of its original owners (who gave up on recovering the vessel) for many years. Remember the rule, "finders keepers losers weepers".
What rights and obligations does a salvor have after saving a vessel?
A salvor who has earned the right to a salvage award for the successful voluntary salvage to a vessel in peril has a preferred maritime lien on the vessel. However, a salvor must surrender possession of the vessel to the owner on demand if the owner posts reasonable security for the claim. It is improper for the salvor to deny the owner or the owner’s agents access to the vessel or property to inspect it or preserve it. If the owner declines to post sufficient security to pay salvage charges, the salvor must turn the vessel over to the U. S. Marshall and proceed to foreclose the maritime lien.
Source:
http://law.freeadvice.com/admiralty_mar ... time/1899/
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In any event, for such a skiff you found, it could be hard to support the 'claim' it was imperiled or the find was beyond the reach of the owner. You might be best to put an ad in the paperwork stating a 'lost boat', and make the return subject to a "finder's fee" if the respondee can adequately describe it. I had a similar thing happen to a friend and he called the Police. They told him about the ad, he did it, no one responded, so he went back to the station and showed the Inspector the ad, and they said "We'll make a note of it ... it's now yours." But note, there may be other ways to do this, i.e., the old "finders-keepers" rule.
For boat owners, maritime salvage law can be BRUTAL! One tip to keep in mind ... when you are on your boat, and your engine dies, and let's say you're drifting towards the rocks.
NEVER ACCEPT a line from another boat! Unless someone's life is immediately at risk! If someone throws a line to you and you take it, you just accepted salvage relief. If you throw a line to them, they're acting akin to a Good Samaritan, and the burden of proof would be on them to enforce any salvage claim. Your response would be that you could have just set your anchor instead.
Salvage claims can be opened by the salvor directly with your insurance company without you knowing anything about it! And in these days of camera cell phones, all they need as proof is your boat about to be dashed on the rocks, otherwise imperiled, or shown in what "could be" a potentially grave situation (but more so by the photo angle, etc.) meaning, not all of the details of the situation are shown in the photo.
The more you read about maritime salvage laws ... the more scared you, as a boater, will be. That, is not germane to your original question.
