re Shady Lady

G

Graham_Wright

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Gloucestershire
www.mastaclimba.com
Were there any crumbs of comfort to be dredged from the catastrophe?

I followed the sequence in the posts and shared the grief.

Those who have no affection for their boats are presumably those who just buy lumps of GRP to drive around in. When you have spent half a lifetime with a boat, it becomes part of the family.

MTHLDMFSH

<hr width=100% size=1>GBW
 
I can see that this might be the case for a ‘one off’ or maybe even for a boat that you have fitted out from a bare hull, but for a, not to be derogatory, ‘production’ boat - No, not for something that is near to a write off.

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I think there are two sides to this.

Side 1. "Who cares", my boat is just another Bav (or whatever) the same as a zillion others, another will be off the production line tommorrow and I will buy that with the insurance money. Bit like owning a common car - say a Vauxhall Corsa or Vectra, disposable.

Side 2. My boat is a custom build, or one which I have spent a great deal of time improving or maybe even building, or is unique in some way (eg "Spark" which was recently lost through fire) through its history or ones own experiences in it. Its loss is like building a house, moving in and then losing it all through a fire or whatever.

The "plastic" minded 1 types have no conception whatsoever as to how a 2 type might feel over the loss of a boat.

We are fortunate in that we have a boat that we planned and then had custom built for us with the view that it would last the rest of our sailing lives. It is also a second home to us. Apart from the emotional aspects of a loss, it would take several years to plan and have a boatbuilder build another. I think I have some inkling as to how Peter may feel.

John

<hr width=100% size=1>I am the cat but I am only 6.
 
my boat is a bog standard plastic job but I am still very attatched to it.

If my car was stolen I would not care a hoot .If my house and everything in it burned down so long as nobody was hurt I wouldnt worry at all.But for me a boat seems to take on a personality.

Perhaps its because I do a lot of singlehanding but I definitely get attatched to my boats.

PS I take that back about the house,Ive just remembered my sails are up in the loft!/forums/images/icons/smile.gif

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mmm have to say I think it's to do with personality and how much blood sweat and tears a person has put into a boat rather than what type of boat it is.. Also probably lenght of time of ownership.. I think boats can be like family houses .. that they take on the character of the people who live there over time and parting with boat / house that has been through many experiences and stuff will add that unquantifiable value to it..

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Sorry if my post may have inferred otherwise Graham - my reference in the second case to ones experiences in ones boat making it unique was meant to cover that, but was a bit buried so did not clearly do so.

John

<hr width=100% size=1>I am the cat but I am only 6.
 
Well, We have a 'production boat' from 1979, and it had therefore fallen on sad times when I picked it up for a song. Lynn and I put lots of care and attention, refurbished everything and enjoy it enormously. Although we have bought a new Jen SO35, we are loathe to part with Second Chance, and we even thought about keeping both!!!! We recovered enough to realise that its not practical. So, in further non-practical fashion we asked a ridiculous amount for it, knowing well that no one would bite. Thankfully we were right. We will leave it to genuine market forces in the New Year. In the meantime she is staying in the water, and I will have it hauled out and prepped for sale properly in the second week of January.
I really felt for Poter and others suffering the same fate, its your sweat in there.
In addition, if the boat has been through a lot with you, you know its behaviour, and its failings, you know where to put the sticking plasters when it goes wrong, and instinctively a new creak or groan is picked up immediately.
So, I don't only think its the one-offs that generate passion. I have no doubt at all we will come to consider the new Jen (Full Circle, already named) to be a member of the family too.

Jim & Lynn

<hr width=100% size=1>Engine now resembles Singer Sewing Machine - amazing what happens when you renew all the old bits.
 
As I said in the previous thread - I can understand the despair of loosing something which has had a lot of hard craft and TLC spent on it but still think the out pouring of emotion was a bit OTT for a boat. I'm not knocking anyone for having that kind of attachement to inanimate object. I personally found it all a bit too much.
IMHO some of the comments were more suited to a bereavement rather than a bit of wood and plastic getting broken.

Each to their own I suppose.


<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://static.photobox.co.uk/public/images/45/99/10714599.s.jpg?ch=97&rr=16:00:39>Nirvana</A>
 
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