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It’s the high “seize.”
A New York City sailor says his ex-gal pal left him high and dry — by absconding with their boat, according to new court papers.
Michael Fortinberry claims he and then-girlfriend Jessica Gates bought a Beneteau Oceanis 35 boat for $155,500 in December 2019 — with each paying half — to start a sailboat tour company called Sailing Islander, his Manhattan Supreme Court suit says.
The pair, who had been together since 2017, began offering sailboat excursions of New York Harbor, the suit says.
Then the duo split in January — and Gates, who is from New Jersey, took off with the boat and hid it and now refuses to tell Fortinberry where it is, court papers allege.
Gates “stole the main asset of the joint venture — their sailboat — by moving it to an undisclosed location,” documents claim.
The boat, named “Islander,” can accommodate six guests and has a full bathroom, kitchen and multiple lounging areas on deck and inside, according to Sailing Islander’s Web site.
Fortinberry and Gates had been giving tours ranging from $575 for two hours on weekdays to as much as $3,275 for a four-hour tour on the Fourth of July.
Fortinberry says in his suit that he put $100,000 into the company to make it successful, including his half of the boat, as well as “significant technical skill and experience that Ms. Gates lacked.”
Fortinberry has “25 years of sailing experience and is a US Coast Guard licensed boat captain” and personally sailed the boat from Florida to the Big Apple, the suit says. He handled customers and maintained the vessel, “all which allowed the business to flourish,” the documents claim.
The business “was almost immediately successful, thanks to the hard work of each partner,” the filing says.
But everything changed after the pair’s break-up, the suit says.
In February, “unbeknownst to Mr. Fortinberry at the time, Ms. Gates moved the boat from Liberty Harbor Marina to an undisclosed location without the consent of Mr. Fortinberry and has refused to reveal its location,” the suit charges.
Fortinberry claims Gates “locked Mr. Fortinberry out of his rightful share of the business,” the court documents claim.
Fortinberry has asked Gates for the company books but she “has refused to send any information,” the filing alleges.
He’s now seeking $480,000 in damages from Gates and from their company.
But Gates told The Post by phone that the claims are “completely false.”
“I have one boat, and it’s in my name. And I own it, and I paid for it,” she said.
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