Several yrs ago one of our locals (I know of him from local boatyards) had a 40' sailboat drift up to the private dock he was fishing from. He secured it to the dock and got an attorney to make an ownership claim. The short of the story is he got legal ownership of the boat by advertising locally and doing formal paperwork. The owner of the boat was a local (Cocoa, Florida) resident who moored the boat in a public area and left it for months at a time while he worked in Alaska. He was never notified and the advertising was local so this was a loophole for the bad guy to legally steal the boat. When back in Florida the original owner ended up buying the boat back for half it's value. Both parties told me the same story so I assume it's true. Another salvage topic...here in Florida there is a tow service (S_aT_w) well known for making salvage claims on private yachts when called for only a tow. Salvage law is very clear about how this can happen without the owner knowing or being told until after the fact. Insurance companies even endorse this practice because they feel it saves money over paying for a total "loss". Essentially, the tow operator only has to make a decision on whether the boat could be in peril if he doesn't tow it to safety. He doesn't have to get permission or even tell the owner about a salvage claim before or during the tow...it's totally up to the boat owner to ask before the tow and it doesn't matter who tossed the tow line. Bill P. **************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for fuel-efficient used cars. (http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007)