THE ROBALISS III

• Decision Date: 01 August 1930
• Citation: 45 F.2d 199
• Parties: THE ROBALISS III. CORBY v. RAMSDELL et al.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York

45 F.2d 199 (1930)

THE ROBALISS III CORBY v. RAMSDELL et al.

District Court, S. D. New York.

August 1, 1930.

Macklin, Brown, Lenahan & Speer, J. Dudley Eggleston, and Horace L. Cheyney, all of New York City, for libelant.

Duncan & Mount and Russell T. Mount, all of New York City, for respondents.

GODDARD, District Judge.

This libel was filed by the owner of the yacht Robaliss III to recover damages alleged to have been sustained by her as a result of striking a submerged pile of rocks off Denning's Point in the Hudson river while bound from New York to Beacon, N. Y., on October 1, 1926.

The history of these submerged rocks and the circumstances relating to the Robaliss III coming in contact with them are as follows:

About 1865 a corporation known as the Boston, Hartford & Erie Ferry Extension Railroad Company conceived the plan of having cars with freight from New England transferred to car floats on the Hudson river, and from there transported to various railroad terminals in the vicinity of New York City. In furtherance of the plan, in the years 1865, 1866, and 1869, they secured, from the state of New York, grants of land under water extending from the shore in the vicinity of Denning's Point, which is located on the east side of the river a few miles below Fishkill, for the purpose of building a pier or trestle running from the shore to the deep water channel; these grants contained the following provision: "Excepting and reserving to all and every the said People, the full and free right, liberty and privilege of entering upon and using all and every part of the above described premises, in as ample a manner as they might have done had this power and authority not been given, until the same shall have been actually appropriated and applied to the purposes of Commerce, by erecting a Dock or Docks thereon. And these presents are upon the express condition that if the said Boston, Hartford & Erie Ferry Extension Railroad Company assigns shall not within _____ years from the date hereof actually appropriate and apply the above described premises to the purposes of Commerce, by erecting a Dock or Docks thereon and filling in the same, then these presents and everything herein contained shall cease, determine and become void." After obtaining the land, construction of the pier was begun. Four abutments were constructed; the first being 60 feet off the shore, and three others placed at equal intervals apart, the last abutment being located some 646 feet from the high-water mark and between 25 and 30 feet from the main channel, which is 675 feet from the shore. Stringers were put in position connecting the abutments. But, before the pier was completed, the railroad company was compelled, because of lack of money, to abandon the idea, and in 1872 the land under water, with the uncompleted pier, was sold under foreclosure proceedings to Homer Ramsdell, who died in 1894, and the respondents have since held the property as trustee under his will. The abutments were each about 20 feet square and were constructed of a wooden crib filled with stones, and, as originally built, they stood about 4 feet above the water at high tide. In 1894, when the respondents became vested with the title to the property, the abutments still stood 4 feet above high water, but, as the years passed, the wooden crib decayed, no repairs were made, and, as a result, it fell apart, and the action of the ice and elements caused the stones to spread out into an irregular pile, and in recent years it was visible only at extreme low water, with no warning or mark to indicate its existence.

On October 3, 1926, the Robaliss III left her anchorage off West Eighty-Sixth street, New York City, for Beacon; she was a gasoline yacht 73 feet 3 inches long, 12 foot beam; 800 horse power, draft slightly over 4 feet; she carried a crew of four men; her full speed was 24 miles an hour. She proceeded up about the middle of the river, and, after passing Palopel Island, she headed directly for Beacon; when off Denning's Point and proceeding about 20 miles an hour, she struck the pile of rocks which has been described; after continuing on for some 150 yards, she filled and sank. At the time she struck, which was between 4 and 4:30 o'clock in the afternoon, the tide had been on the flood for upwards of two hours, and in that vicinity the rise of the tide is about 3 feet. The master of the Robaliss III testified that, although he had been navigating for many years, he had been up the Hudson river but twice; the last time previous to this occasion being over ten years ago, and that he did not know of the abutment and it was not visible. Lem Streeter, who had for forty years been a riverman and boatman in this vicinity, and who was called as a witness by the respondent, testified on cross-examination that, in the last twelve or fifteen years, he had pulled off from these rocks for people who had gone on them, a dozen or fifteen boats, the largest...