Need Advice re Boat Disposal Please?

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Dougal McTavish

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I need your help please people…

Does anyone have any idea how we might go about either giving away, scraping or otherwise disposing of a GRP boat in France? Much as it breaks my heart, we can see no other way now.

Due to serious ill health and covid, I am left in a position (like many I expect) where my old boat is costing me crazy storage fees I can no longer afford to pay. It’s a French built, British registered (SSR) boat in France, making it almost impossible to sell in the current climate. The yard ‘claims’ they’ve been trying to sell it for almost 2 years now but I seriously doubt their efforts. All the time it’s in their yard they’re making money. Cynical? Maybe. They claim they “quite literally cannot give boats away” and state they don’t see it changing any time soon.

We did consider sailing it back to the UK but then the pandemic hit, and we would still be left with a similar problem and even higher storage fees.

The boat is an elderly (1979) Beneteau Evasion32 motor-sailor.

Any and all advice is extremely welcome.
 
I'd suggest that still has some value - regardless of the condition and VAT status. Maybe the yard are hoping you'll 'gift' it to them?

Probably the biggest market would be in the UK, seeing as it is SSR and could - if I'm right - be kept on in France VAT free by a British-based owner, as it was in the EU on the even of Brexit?

Maybe ask the yard for some current photos and create a listing on UK eBay or Facebook Marketplace or similar. Maybe someone on here will PM you having seen this, even?!

It's likely to be complex selling a vessel remotely that you don't have access to, but shouldn't be impossible. It sounds like the yard are paid up-to-date, so they should cooperate with reasonable requests for viewing access.
 
Very simple for a broker to not sell a boat. In our case they failed to put the length on the ad, so, as most people search for boats between xft and yft, this 42ft only appeared in the under 15ft section. We couldn't even find it ourselves.
 
I would have thought someone would give you something for it, even if it's in a bit of a sorry state.

I would get some photos together and stick it on Facebook. Got to be worth £5k if it's all there and working.

Where in France is it?
 
Dougal McTavish said:
I need your help please people…

Does anyone have any idea how we might go about either giving away, scraping or otherwise disposing of a GRP boat in France? Much as it breaks my heart, we can see no other way now.

Due to serious ill health and covid, I am left in a position (like many I expect) where my old boat is costing me crazy storage fees I can no longer afford to pay. It’s a French built, British registered (SSR) boat in France, making it almost impossible to sell in the current climate. The yard ‘claims’ they’ve been trying to sell it for almost 2 years now but I seriously doubt their efforts. All the time it’s in their yard they’re making money. Cynical? Maybe. They claim they “quite literally cannot give boats away” and state they don’t see it changing any time soon.

We did consider sailing it back to the UK but then the pandemic hit, and we would still be left with a similar problem and even higher storage fees.

The boat is an elderly (1979) Beneteau Evasion32 motor-sailor.

Any and all advice is extremely welcome.
Click to expand...
The yard where my boat is kept in Brittany offers a service breaking up unwanted boats.

They have no special equipment of their own but hire a large skip and a thing like a JCB digger. I watched it being done; rather a sad sight.

The JCB batters the boat into pieces and dumps the bits in the skip . It took less than 2 hours.
 
I would stick it on eBay. I had my house in France up for sale with 2 French Estate Agents for 2 years unsold, then put it on eBay and I had loads of enquiries which ended up in a sale.
As regard paying for storage I looked at a boat for sale which was on a pontoon by the Marina sales office where the marina fees were horrific, and I had the feeling they were not trying to sell it and would rather have it sat there bringing in a weekly rent.
Why not put on here what type of boat it is and where it is.
 
Thanks for the feedback folks. I guess maybe I'll try eBay and if that doesn't work I'll see if the yard has any kind of scapping service. The boart is on the River Villaine in La Roche Bernard if anyone knows it?
 
Dougal McTavish said:
Thanks for the feedback folks. I guess maybe I'll try eBay and if that doesn't work I'll see if the yard has any kind of scapping service. The boart is on the River Villaine in La Roche Bernard if anyone knows it?
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Re post #6. That is where my boat is kept and the boat I saw being broken up was at Comptoir Nautique's yard up the hill at Marzan opposite La Roche Bernard.

Perhaps that is the yard that has been unsuccessful in selling your boat?

Another possibility is to have her transported back to the UK where you may have more luck selling her but that will cost a few thousand pounds which you may not think worth it.
 
Would there not be a better market in a larger location. I can see why transportation might not be attractive by road if say the boat is going to realise say£9k but it’s value surely depends on things like engine and mast. When was she last afloat ? Maybe you can sell it to someone in Uk for a few thousand who would like a base in Brittany and have the time to nurse back to Uk in hops along coast as a summer holiday?
 
The problem for anybody buying a boat in the EU for use in the UK is that VAT will be payable on import. only worth it if the boat is really attractive (to the buyer) and similar not available in the UK. Good supply of worn out old boats like the OPs in the UK!
 
Dougal McTavish said:
Thanks for the feedback folks. I guess maybe I'll try eBay and if that doesn't work I'll see if the yard has any kind of scapping service. The boart is on the River Villaine in La Roche Bernard if anyone knows it?
Click to expand...
My boat is also there, on the trot moorings.
 
Given that this is a, I think, sound GRP hull it would have to be pretty bad to be worthless.
Have you tried to find it for sale? I have and couldn't, but don't have the right search terms. This is how we found the faulty ads for brother's boat.
 
Country of registration is irrelevant.
You have an EU Vat paid boat in the EU. It should be advertised on French/Eurropean yacht brokerage websites. A quick search for the same came up with 3 for sale. One for 9000 euro, the other 2 for 20,000+.
I suggest you find another broker or do it yourself.
 
I think I'm correct in saying that you, as the current owner, could bring her back to the UK and not pay VAT before the end of this year. There is a dearth of half decent to good older second hand boats here at the moment so if I were you I'd try to find a way of getting her back here. If everything works as it should and there are no big ticket items obviously needing immediate replacement, properly clean and declutter and I'd have thought you'd get £10k possibly more and quickly. The sooner you act whatever your decision the better...
 
I was thinking £6k in situ might be a fair price if one is going for €9k at La Rochelle ( not trying to breach any forum rules here by setting up a bidding war ) I suspect spaces in Uk marinas in the West Country might be scarce this summer so maybe a couple might be interested for a summer holiday if some photos existed.
 
Buck Turgidson said:
Country of registration is irrelevant.
You have an EU Vat paid boat in the EU. It should be advertised on French/Eurropean yacht brokerage websites. A quick search for the same came up with 3 for sale. One for 9000 euro, the other 2 for 20,000+.
I suggest you find another broker or do it yourself.
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It may be the case that as the boat is laid up ashore in a commercial yard, the yard owner will only allow it to be sold through him.
 
V1701 said:
I think I'm correct in saying that you, as the current owner, could bring her back to the UK and not pay VAT before the end of this year. There is a dearth of half decent to good older second hand boats here at the moment so if I were you I'd try to find a way of getting her back here. If everything works as it should and there are no big ticket items obviously needing immediate replacement, properly clean and declutter and I'd have thought you'd get £10k possibly more and quickly. The sooner you act whatever your decision the better...
Click to expand...
The concession lasts until next year because of Covid. You are assuming that the boat (and the owner) are in a suitable condition to make it back to the UK. doubt there is much of a market for that particular boat in the UK, and don't forget that if it does not sell, storage costs in the UK will be substantially higher than where it is now. This model boat was not actively sold in the UK when new and there are currently none for sale.

Given that travel in France has been so restricted not surprised it has not sold. It is located in a relatively remote part of France which is OK in the summer, but guess few people have been visiting over the last few months.
 
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