Shifting on old boats

[oldharry]

There is this old boat in our harbour. I don't even know what make, not one I recognise and it's in poor condition. the owner has been ill, it's not been sailed for 2 years, but he keeps paying the harbour dues and crane in / out fees just for the boat to go nowhere getting more and more tatty.

He would have been far better to have sold it, or given it away, as soon as he realised his sailing days are over when someone might have taken it on as a cheap entry to sailing.

The poor chap died recently, now it is left to his relatives to deal with an old unwanted boat that is costing money but there is little chance of even giving it away.

When you get too ill/old to use your boat, where do you draw the line? Come to that, when you get too busy to use it, at what point do you bite the bullet and sell up? Illness particularly, you hope you will get well again until you get to the point where you no longer have the energy to deal with it. Rational thinking goes out of the window by then, specially if cognitive impairment is a factor. Clinging on to the hope of being able to use it again one day may even be one of the best medicines,

This doesn't make it any easier for the relatives who have to sort it later on though. As my late wife's health deteriorated I had less and less time for sailing. It was a hard call when the Yard Owner (who knew us well) told me he knew someone who might take on my boat, which by then was showing early signs of neglect. The very occasional couple of hours over the top of a tide were a lifeline at that point but I knew too that before long I would not even have time for that.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

There’s what the harbour staff call ‘the graveyard’ in Yarmouth. The last remaining pile moorings. They are cheap, so the tatty boats gravitate there. The one stand out being the reigning CO32 national champion.

 

[Blueboatman]

There’s what the harbour staff call ‘the graveyard’ in Yarmouth. The last remaining pile moorings. They are cheap, so the tatty boats gravitate there. The one stand out being the reigning CO32 national champion.

When I lived in Yarmouth they were all pile moorings
And the harbour staff were very sympathetic to elderly wooden boats and their upbeat owners ( and eccentric auxiliary engines when entering or leaving)
I used to go have tea with a lovely old boy living on a motor cruiser on the pole moorings. He had good days and less good days and a cosy teak boat with the kettle always on and one or two tales about his life as an ex British Railways engineer. That old boat and life probably gave him another 10 years .
There were one or two flashier boats about but there was definitely less money sloshing around on the island then, except at weekends when even the high n mighty were rafted out 10 deep on the visitor piles. Good fun in a ‘we’re all getting along together’ kind of way..Tough place to earn a living though.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

It’s definitely gone upmarket since then, we had to sail our strider cat in once, after a hissy fit from the 4hp 2 stroke outboard. You’re absolutely not allowed to do that now. But a few old wrecks remain, none of those are wooden though. Yarmouth’s population of wooden classics are given at least most of the attention they deserve.

 

[Stemar]

It's still possible to sail on a small budget, even in the Solent. I just paid my mooring bill for next year - change from £200, though I do have to make my own arrangements for maintenance. I'm planning on coming out for the winter, and expect to pay about £500 for lift out, storage and lift in. (The exact price will depend on how many boats and the cost of the crane)

We anchor a lot, and just don't do high-priced marinas.

 

[ducked]

RYA Scotland have a Connect call on this topic of abandoned boats with their clubs tomorrow. Not sure who can join (I plan to) but if relevant might be worth researching and joining.

I'm (fairly reliably, I think, but no source so far) informed that the smaller sailing vessels in the Gaza flotilla will be used for target practice now the crew have all been removed, so there's a new disposal route for old boats.

 

[dgadee]

Now the bridge from Portpatrick to Donaghadee has been scuppered these old boats could be sunk in the explosives dumping ground.

Or, on the other hand, looking for parts for an old boat I see vendors taking them apart and selling bits for not too far off the new price.

I prefer this latter route. Then dump the grp beside the turbine blades.

Few people want to take on old boats and we just have to accept those from the 60s and 70s will soon have passed their 3 score years plus 10.

 

[ducked]

Could old turbine blades be chopped up to supply replacement rudders for old boats?

Maybe only the tip, since otherwise too big, but maybe too difficult to integrate a rudder stock

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Could old turbine blades be chopped up to supply replacement rudders for old boats?

Maybe only the tip, since otherwise too big, but maybe too difficult to integrate a rudder stock

It’s a good thing orcas can’t jump as high as wind turbines, or they’d be trading the other way round.

 

[Blueboatman]

It’s a good thing orcas can’t jump as high as wind turbines, or they’d be trading the other way round.

I think you are on to something with that though.

Towing a turbine blade might be like waving a juicy bone at a pack of junkyard dogs?

Win win?

 

[ducked]

I think you are on to something with that though.

Towing a turbine blade might be like waving a juicy bone at a pack of junkyard dogs?

Win win?

Finally a use for the paddleboard?

 

[Mark-1]

More than 100 abandoned boats cleared from Langstone Harbour

 

[dgadee]

We need boat scrapyards like the old car ones. Vehicles piled high and you took your life in your hands to get something off a 1970s Cortina. Adventure! And no lifejacket!

 

[andsarkit]

Maybe for boats as well.