Scrapping a yacht

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I would be interested to know your opinions on scrapping a yacht. It's just a thought at the moment, but I'm considering taking everything off and trying to re-coup my money by selling the nice Yanmar 1GM10, instruments, sails (two new laminate hank on headsails No.1 and No.2, New main, spares), cracking custom SBS twin axle trailer, assorted bits and pieces, ropes etc.

It's off an Achilles 24 that's got too much water damage in the coachroof to fix. 3 people have come and looked at it it but don't want the job, and I don't want a costly project seeing as it also needs a new mast that will cost more than I paid for the boat and trailer. There are so many Achilles out there, I thought I could be a spares supplier!

Any thoughts welcome, but if this concept is anathema to you, please don't just post to have a go.

Thanks.
 
I've often wondered what happens to GRP boats which are uneconomic to repair. Your plan seems sound, at least you'll recoup some money.

As for the hull, that's more of a problem. In olden days, wooden boats just seemed to be left to rot away in a quiet creek, but that doesn't work with GRP. If you had a suitable piece of land, you could set fire to the bare hull. The alternative is to try to cut it up, which I think would be very tricky.
 
You may well be able to get more for the useable parts if the yacht cannot be sold for anything much, but that leaves you with the problem of disposing of the rest. Do you have anywhere to cut up the hull, and anywhere to take the bits? Will your council tip accept cut up fibreglass assuming you use a chainsaw to reduce it to manageable sizes? As a first step I suggest you attempt to price the parts realistically and then divide the total by two to see if its worth the effort involved.
 
Lakesailor chopped up a small GRP yacht; I think he has advice on what to do and what NOT to do. I think that the main problem is that the dust is very abrasive irritates the skin if precautions aren't taken.

There are companies that recycle GRP; the decking in our marina (James Watt Dock Marina, Greenock) is made from recycled GRP and is ideal for the purpose being water reistant, extremely non-slip and as it is a lattice, water and/or snow go straight through.
 
I scrapped an old wooden folkboat not that long ago. Sold pretty much everything even down to some bronze nuts and bolts for £1200. The engine was an old Renault 8hp that ran,that made about £250. I would think with the trailer,good Yanmar and good sails and all the other bits you should see at least £3500 back. Be warned it takes a lot of your time to strip a boat,even a small one and you need storage space. I was fortunate as had lots of both and being a wooden boat it provided a year's worth of fuel for the Woodburn too. Chopping up your grp hull might not be as much fun!
 
Some guys at our boat club recently cut up a boat to dispose of her. They used reciprocating saws rather than chain saws. I was surprised how quickly she went. While it seems a shame to chop her up it may be the only practical and economic thing to do. There has been a recent thread about the disposal of old boats and it seems that for most of us landfill will be the answer.
 
When you look at the price of a secondhand yacht, it doesn't amount to the sum of all the parts, hull excluded, even at second hand prices. On the face of it, it's a good idea when a boat is damaged beyond repair. The only down side is that each component has a rather limited market and it may take some time to shift it all, so you need patience and somewhere to store it all and ideally a way of advertising it for free. Is there an owners' club "buy and sell" you can use? The parts specific to the boat, such as the sails are more likely to sell there, surely? The remainder ca be more broadly advertised.

Good luck and I hope the funds raised will enable you to fund a replacement vessel.

Rob.
 
get the good bits off it then ask if your local land fill will take it, one of their dozers would soon crush it. while its on the trailor you have the option of taking it there. second hand parts are not worth much it may be a good idea to do a free to collector wave bye bye to it and not spend time effort and money getting rid
 
mtb said:
get the good bits off it then ask if your local land fill will take it, one of their dozers would soon crush it. while its on the trailor you have the option of taking it there. second hand parts are not worth much it may be a good idea to do a free to collector wave bye bye to it and not spend time effort and money getting rid
Click to expand...

You could run it like a 'pick your own' fruit farm...
 
As said.....
If you have power then reciprocating saws are good and safe.

No power, then small self powered chain saws are good but beware of kick back..... wear all the gear.

If you have trailer then how about taking it to ArcticPilot's (James Watt Dock Marina, Greenock)

If you wish to save time and have space for storage etc. then how about rough cutting all the goodies out and off. Thieves did that with a

chainsaw to steel an outboard from our club years ago....

Some working engines are worth selling on. but as/Kelpie other second hand parts are not.

Good luck
S.
 
Last edited:
pvb said:
The alternative is to try to cut it up, which I think would be very tricky.
Click to expand...

Nah. No problem with the right tool.

dc_petrol_disc_cutter_lrg.jpg
 
It's on a farm up the road at the minute and no rush to move it. I was planning on using a recipe saw and taking my time. Off to the local land fill if I can't get it recycled. My yanmar comes with new battery, plastic fuel tank, controls etc so be good for someone looking to install an inboard on a project. There is an Achilles Flikr site so was thinking of putting a full list of parts on there. If I can get 3/4 of the money back I'd be happy. I was thinking 1200-1500 each for the engine and trailer, then whatever i can get for the rest. Maybe go to a boat jumble next year. I can see no point of throwing another 3-4k at this vessel when I can get a working vessel for that without the hassle. I could even keep some of the running rigging, fenders, anchor etc for that if needs be.
 
Less dust with a recipe saw, but I have a suit and respirator. TBH, the farmer would probably burn it in the corner of a field somewheres, but I'm not keen on that.
 
I've been PM'd for first refusal on the 2 jibs, but how do I work out a fair price? They are laminate, and like brand new.
 
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