Clayton Hood and Gregory Turman v. Knappton Corp. Inc., an Oregon Corporation

Knappton Corporation, Inc. (“Knappton”) appeals the district court’s judgment holding Knappton liable to Clayton Hood and Gregory Turman for damages sustained to Hood’s and Turman’s boats when they collided with Knappton’s log raft. We affirm.

I.FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On August 31, 1988, a Knappton tug boat towed a log raft, consisting of bundled logs, into the Multnomah Channel in Oregon and moored it to pilings adjacent to the shore. Although the log raft was initially secured at both ends along the shore, the line securing one end became untied and that end of the raft drifted into the channel.

Hood and Turman were participants in a bass fishing tournament on the channel on the morning of October 29, 1988. As they proceeded down the channel in their motorized fishing boats, they each collided with Knappton’s drifting log raft.

On July 27, 1989, Hood and Turman filed this negligence action against Knappton for damage sustained to their boats and for personal injury to Turman. At the bench trial, the district court followed the admiralty principle set forth in The Louisiana, 70 U.S. (3 Wall.) 164 , 18 L.Ed. 85 (1865), shifting the burden of proof from Hood and…