Free Shrimpin' Boats

I'm thinking about taking a drive to the California coast tomorrow morning. I'm going to swim out to the tsunami debris, and climb aboard a fishing boat and do some shrimpin'. Would I be able to claim it due to some obscure marine salvage law? Isn't the debris floating in the ocean considered abandoned?

Is there a "finders keepers" law regarding marine salvage? If there isn't, I'm leaving tomorrow morning.
At the very least, I could paddle to shore in a washing machine.

I believe you can take it and claim it.

I saw it on a show.

Originally posted by PatriotWalkUSA
I'm thinking about taking a drive to the California coast tomorrow morning. I'm going to swim out to the tsunami debris, and climb aboard a fishing boat and do some shrimpin'. Would I be able to claim it due to some obscure marine salvage law? Isn't the debris floating in the ocean considered abandoned?

Is there a "finders keepers" law regarding marine salvage? If there isn't, I'm leaving tomorrow morning.
At the very least, I could paddle to shore in a washing machine.

haha good idea sure you can but getting a shrimping license is the hard part. call these people link to claim it.

reply to post by PatriotWalkUSA


NIce. I hope your adventure goes well. You should definitely take some photos of you discover, and if you need a crew mate I definitely wouldn't mind being a crew member. Good luck.

Shrimp kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo, Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. Pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp in potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich...

Originally posted by AwakeinNM
Shrimp kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo, Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. Pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp in potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich...

That- that's about it.

Yep.

It is considered courtesy to give the original owner the opportunity to buy it back for salvage costs plus a little profit.

The same goes for yachts in races. If they are abandoned, they are free game.

Sailors are a fickle bunch and superstitious to boot. I doubt you will find many people with maritime experience that would be willing to sail/crew a boat that had questionable heritage.

To give you an idea.....there is a long and complicated process for renaming a boat....involving gold, copper, certain paints, alcohol and time spent out of the water....Even if all of the ceremonies are followed....there are still a whole heap of sailors that will refuse to sail a renamed boat.

I come from the maritime industry and a simple job like 'stepping a mast' (fitting a mast to a sailboat) has its own ceremony that the owner will usually follow - just for the sake of it - to the letter. Stepping the mast involves two pieces of gold and a bottle of your favourite liquor(Single malt scotch is popular).

Sure its all superstitious crap....but hell... when you deal with something as pretentious as the water.....people seem to take the position of 'better to be safe than sorry'.