California Harbors and Navigation Code ARTICLE 1 - Wrecks and Wrecked Property

• Section 510.
  The sheriff of each county shall give all possible aid and assistance to vessels stranded on its coast, and to the persons on board. He...
• Section 511.
  Wrecked property may be kept or reclaimed at the time of the wreck by the owner, consignee, or other person entitled to possession; but if...
• Section 512.
  The sheriff of any county in which any wrecked property is found, when no person entitled to possession appears, shall take possession of it in...
• Section 513.
  If wrecked property is in a perishable state, the sheriff shall apply to the judge of the superior court, upon a verified petition, for an...
• Section 514.
  If, within 90 days after wrecked property is found, any person claims the property, or its proceeds, and establishes his or her claim by evidence...
• Section 515.
  Before making the order, the judge shall require from the claimant a bond to the people to be approved by the judge and filed with...
• Section 516.
  If the bond becomes forfeited, the judge of the superior court, upon the application, supported by proof of the person entitled to its benefit shall...
• Section 517.
  The rejection by the judge of any claim shall not preclude the claimant from maintaining an action against the officer for the recovery of the...
• Section 518.
  If, within 60 days after saving wrecked property, no claimant of the property appears, or, if within 60 days after a claim, the salvage and...
• Section 519.
  Public notice of every sale of wrecked property under the provisions of this article shall be published by the officer making the sale for at...
• Section 520.
  Every sheriff into whose possession any wrecked property comes, shall forthwith cause to be published for at least two weeks in succession, in one or...
• Section 521.
  The expense of publishing notices under the provisions of this article is a charge upon the property or proceeds to which it relates.(Enacted by Stats....
• Section 522.
  (a) Any hulk, derelict, wreck, or parts of any ship, vessel, or other watercraft sunk, beached, or allowed to remain in an unseaworthy or dilapidated condition...
• Section 523.
  (a) Any peace officer, as described in Section 663, or any lifeguard or marine safety officer employed by a county, city, or district while engaged in...
• Section 524.
  (a) Any peace officer, as described in Section 663, may store any vessel removed from private property when the vessel is found on, or attached to,...
• Section 525.
  (a) Except for the urgent and immediate concern for the safety of those aboard a vessel, a person shall not abandon a vessel upon a public...
• Section 525.5.
  (a) On or before January 1, 2005, the department shall submit recommendations to the Legislature on strategies to prevent recreational vessels from being abandoned and to...
• Section 526.
  (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any wrecked property that is an unseaworthy derelict or hulk, abandoned property as described in Section 522, or property...
• Section 526.1.
  For purposes of this article, “surrendered vessel” means a recreational vessel that the verified titleholder has willingly surrendered to a willing public agency under both...
• Section 527.
  It is the intent of the Legislature that a sum of not more than one million dollars ($1,000,000) be appropriated from the Harbors and Watercraft...

Last modified: October 22, 2018