abandoned boats question

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dustynet

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I'm wondering if with the number of marinas and harbours in the UK and the associated number of boats/yachts, has anyone seen a site/list of abandoned boats which marinas etc want clearing?

From what I keep reading on various forums and sites, as well as a couple of conversations with marina staff, while this isn't a weekly occurrence, it's one that does appear to happen once or twice a year for several marinas across the UK.

How are these usually disposed? Answers from those who know, rather than guesses please ☺️
 
Boats are normally sold off against their unpaid mooring fees.. I know my sailing club has had to do this, And I've seen a local boat yard that allows home repairs / builds has done the same..
Most often they're advertised locally and if no buyers local boat auction.
 
Basically they are not. Old boats litter every creek and boatyard across the planet.

Several years ago some pals and I looked into setting up a company to dispose of them. We could not make it pay! Hence we have an old abandoned boat mountain.
 
Don't think there is a list, although from time to time there are specific events where yards have clearouts. For example there was one a couple of years ago on the east coast where a number of yards and clubs ran one weekend auction event.

The problem is disposing of abandoned boats is not easy. Before they can be sold the yard or club has to get legal title, either through the courts or by getting the owner to transfer title to the yard. For obvious reasons this is not easy or cheap. So just because a boat looks abandoned does not mean it can be legally bought or sold. Inevitably therefore yards and clubs tend to deal with them individually and once they get title decide what to do. Some may have a value, but others are just scrap. There are a couple of firms who do collect scrap boats, but of course this has a cost as well.

So, if you are looking to buy an abandoned boat (which is not a good idea!) there is no real alternative to doing the legwork yourself and finding out what is for sale through adverts and walking the floor.
 
There's a Facebook group called 'Sitting there rotting in a boatyard ' which might interest you.

I sold my Ecume de Mer in 2015. The new owner turned up and told the marina that he would give them a list of work he wanted doing and that was the last they heard from him.
August 2021 the marina sold her looking very sorry for herself but since then the new owner has done loads of work and the interior is now really smart. He has the decks to paint and is being relaunched on February 25th .
A true success story!
 
dustynet said:
I'm wondering if with the number of marinas and harbours in the UK and the associated number of boats/yachts, has anyone seen a site/list of abandoned boats which marinas etc want clearing?

From what I keep reading on various forums and sites, as well as a couple of conversations with marina staff, while this isn't a weekly occurrence, it's one that does appear to happen once or twice a year for several marinas across the UK.

How are these usually disposed? Answers from those who know, rather than guesses please ☺
Click to expand...


The clearing house exists and is called Ebay ; -) Only a mildly flippant answer because seized boats do regularly come up there. I also know a yard where the employed workers make a few quid on the side by taking on boats that people want shot of, for nothing or very little money, and put them up for auction personally.

I have never actually seen a GRP yacht broken up, though I have been assured the yard is going to do it, it never really seems to happen..............I know this because I have had my eyes on certain hard to find fittings!

.
 
I’m surprised by how many are still paying their moorings/storage. It was all but two of the (dozen or so) seemingly abandoned boats in our old club and now, in our new marina, there’s discussion about several boats in poor/unsafe states of repair - but complicated by the fact they’re still paying.
 
There's no problem with "title" of a boat in most clubs or boat yards I know of in the UK ... It's written in the contract / membership paperwork .
"if you fail to pay and do not respond to us contacting your last known address, after a time period of XXXX we sell"...
 
My marina do off load boats that stop paying their fees. Usually one of the local guys who work on boats, buys it and then does some work to make it saleable and then sells it on. One boat I looked at before buying Concerto, had been in the yard for about 5 years and was finally sold some 5 years later for a fraction of what the owner wanted as the cockpit drains became blocked and flooded the boat. This one has been kept by the local guy for his own use. Another old wooden boat was threatened to be cut up using chainsaws as no one wanted to touch it. Well someone wanted a wooden boat and paid about £2000 for this old 36ft boat and has since spent about £15,000 getting it up to standard with some new planking and replacing damaged frames. She is now floating and can sail, probably worth about £25,000 to the right buyer if it was for sale. The last boat that was sold by sealed tender was a Mystere 26, it made only about £3,000 - so there are bargains out there.

Another motorboat owner loves trawling round all the up creek boatyards in the south east that accumulate older project boats as the fees are so low. He came across a powerful sportsboat about 28ft long. The owner had died and the wife just wanted rid of it as the fees she could not afford. The engines had not been run for about 4 years and he put in a low bid of £6000 and she sold. When he fitted new batteries both engines started easily and ran smoothly to his relief. He had to get some new covers made and a little tidying up. He still has her after 7 years, but frequently buys others to do up and sell.

To find these boats you have to be proactive to find them as they do get snapped up for peanuts by those in the know. So dustynet, you have to put some effort into finding these boats. Do not expect it to be easy or able to be found on the internet as the yards just cannot be bothered as long as they get some money against the debt owed on the boat.
 
The Q said:
There's no problem with "title" of a boat in most clubs or boat yards I know of in the UK ... It's written in the contract / membership paperwork .
"if you fail to pay and do not respond to us contacting your last known address, after a time period of XXXX we sell"...
Click to expand...
That does not give them the right to assume title and sell. All it means is that they can hold the boat as security against a debt. To get title means either going through the courts to pursue the debt and getting a judgement or getting the owner (who is the debtor) to sign the title over so discharging the debt. So in reality the clause is an empty threat to a determined "abandoner".

As I explained neither course of action is easy, often because the debtor has disappeared or is insolvent to difficult to pursue and the process is time consuming and costly. Also as suggested by others, often the fees are being paid even though the boat is effectively abandoned. It can take literally years to sort such things out as any yard will tell you.
 
Whatever you do don't send a letter to an owner of 'what looks to be' an abandoned boat. You might get a very rude letter back saying 'how dare you say my boat looks abandoned'. Ask how I know......
 
dankilb said:
I’m surprised by how many are still paying their moorings/storage. It was all but two of the (dozen or so) seemingly abandoned boats in our old club and now, in our new marina, there’s discussion about several boats in poor/unsafe states of repair - but complicated by the fact they’re still paying.
Click to expand...
I know of one person who has been paying for yard storage for his father’s 22’ sailing boat since he died, about 25 years ago. He himself is now 87 & sold his own boat 6 years ago…
 
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