DATE: Friday, October 17, 1997              TAG: 9710170654

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MARC DAVIS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   94 lines

BEACH, CAPTAIN LIABLE IN GROUNDING JUDGE TO DECIDE COSTS FOR BOTH SIDES IN RUDEE INLET ACCIDENT

The city of Virginia Beach is partly responsible for the grounding of a $1.5 million yacht in Rudee Inlet last year, a federal judge ruled Thursday.

Judge Robert G. Doumar found both the city and the boat's captain, Joseph Walker of New Jersey, were negligent when a 66-foot yacht ran aground at Rudee Inlet on its maiden voyage Feb. 8, 1996.

Doumar did not, however, apportion blame for the accident. That means the city won't know for a while how much money it must pay in damages. Doumar asked for legal briefs by next Thursday. He did not say when he will rule.

Doumar did rule, however, that total damages from the accident are about $1.1 million. He based that on the boat's wholesale value of $1.2 million, rather than its retail value of $1.5 million, because the owner was a Florida yacht dealer who had just bought the boat at wholesale.

If Doumar finds the city and the captain are each 50 percent liable, the city would have to pay $550,000 in damages.

This is the third boat-grounding case in Rudee Inlet resolved against the city this year. In March, the city settled one case for $55,000. Last month, the city settled another case for $10,000. Both cases involved boats much smaller and less expensive than the yacht.

Doumar made the latest ruling after a two-day trial in Norfolk's federal court. Thirteen witnesses testified, including the captain and six city officials who are responsible for maintaining Rudee Inlet.

The judge ruled that Walker, the captain, was negligent for not consulting the Coast Guard's Notice to Mariners before entering the inlet. It warned boaters to use ``extreme caution'' because the inlet was clogged with sand and was only 2 feet deep in some spots.

``A reasonable person would have obtained the Notice to Mariners,'' Doumar said.

Doumar also ruled that the city was negligent for not warning the Virginia Beach Fishing Center, inside Rudee Inlet, that the inlet was clogged from a recent winter storm and the city dredge had not cleaned it out.

The manager of the fishing center, John Crowling, was a central figure in the trial because he advised Walker how to navigate through the inlet, just before Walker ran aground.

Crowling testified Wednesday that he had warned Walker to stay to the south side of the inlet, which was less clogged. Walker testified Thursday that he followed that advice, but ran aground anyway.

Crowling said he based his advice on a water-depth map of Rudee Inlet that the city gave him 10 days before the accident. It showed water depths of about six to nine feet where the boat ran aground. The boat had a draft of five feet.

At trial, six city officials testified that the map wasn't intended for navigational purposes. One official said it was made to help the city keep up with dredging.

The map even contained a written warning: ``This map should not be used for navigational purposes.''

But Doumar ruled that the city knew that the fishing center was using the map to help boaters in and out of Rudee Inlet. Knowing that, Doumar said, the city should have warned the fishing center of significant changes since the map's publication.

The water-depth survey is conducted about every two weeks. The map in question was based on a survey of Jan. 25, 1996, two weeks before the yacht accident.

Between the map's publication and the accident, a snowstorm hit Hampton Roads and clogged the inlet. The city did not dig out the inlet after the storm because its dredge was broken.

Doumar said the city has a duty to maintain the inlet or, failing that, to warn boaters. ``They didn't adequately warn the fishing center that the matter (sand in the inlet) had not been dredged,'' Doumar said.

A lawyer for the city, John Crumpler, had argued that the city was blameless.

``We do not warrant any depths in the channel. We do not warrant that we can take any boat at any time,'' Crumpler said.

Crumpler also argued that Walker, the captain, was solely at fault for running aground. ``It's our position he did not exercise prudent seamanship,'' Crumpler said.

But the boat owner's attorney, Edward Powers, argued that Walker did just what a cautious sailor should do - he called the local fishing center to find the best way through Rudee Inlet.

Walker, however, proved to be his own worst witness.

He testified Thursday that he did not consult the Coast Guard warning before entering the inlet. He also admitted saying in a sworn deposition in July that he would have gone somewhere else if he had read the warning.

Walker tried to change his testimony Thursday, to say he would have entered Rudee Inlet anyway, but the judge questioned him closely. Eventually, Walker said he misunderstood the original deposition question.

The boat, owned by Yacht Sales International, a Miami Beach boat dealer, was sailing from a New Jersey factory to the Miami Boat Show when it ran aground. ILLUSTRATION: Color STAFF/File photo

Joseph Walker's $1.5 million, 66-foot yacht ran aground in Rudee

Inlet, above, on Feb. 8, 1996. KEYWORDS: RUDEE INLET ACCIDENT LAWSUIT

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