What to do with old yachts

[Greemble]

Plus, what's the difference in measurable ecological harm, between an ugly old wreck left to be visible for decades on a half-tide mooring in an otherwise lovely river, and the same boat sunk on a plain seabed offshore, where it will quickly attract colonising sealife?

One very big difference.
At some point, if/when political will/environmental awareness becomes strong enough, the visible wreck can be picked up & taken away for safe, responsible disposal.
Once sunk, the boat will still break down over time, likely with help from the colonising sea life, as well as being much, much, more difficult to recover from the sea bed.

 

[dancrane]

...if/when political will/environmental awareness becomes strong enough...

I hope you don't think I personally need to be persuaded that irrecoverably worn-out boats ought to be responsibly scrapped. Actually I recognise that you're only saying it's better that they could be hauled out at some time, rather than being consigned irretrievably to the big blue oubliette.

But I looked into scrapping as a last resort before fortunately finding a buyer for my Achilles 24. Despite the entirely reusable winches, mast, boom, spinnaker pole, plus good-enough sails and engine, (and the hull and deck were perfectly sound and watertight - it was ready to sail away) it would have cost more than I originally paid for her as a fully working yacht, just to have her taken fifteen miles to be broken up at the only place that offers, locally.

So, I believe "if/when political will/environmental awareness becomes strong enough" is along the same lines as lottery-win dreaming. I doubt there's actually a shortage of environmental awareness even right now, but it's still treated as idealism, and when will that change? There's no local authority cash for clearing up the residue of underfunded yachtsmen's abandoned boats, nor I suspect, even a plan to form a plan, to deal with them.

Quite a readable RYA blog on the subject here. I suppose France, with its yacht-building industry still going strong, is in a position to oblige new-boat buyers to contribute to the cost of recycling old ones. Anybody see that happening here?

It certainly will be a success-story if the constituent parts of glassfibre can be dissolved and reformed as cost-effectively as steel, but it sounds like fantasy. In 2024, when boats are so incredibly cheap to acquire yet so costly to berth and re-equip, and are prohibitively expensive to dispose of responsibly, the coast (or the seabed) of the future is certain to be dotted with GRP wrecks - because where else will the decrepit (and simply unwanted) ones go?
.

 

[RunAgroundHard]

Plus, what's the difference in measurable ecological harm, between an ugly old wreck left to be visible for decades on a half-tide mooring in an otherwise lovely river, and the same boat sunk on a plain seabed offshore, where it will quickly attract colonising sealife?
.

Plastic compounds, chemical compounds end up in the food chain and eventually us. That is well proven. Measurable is relative, as far as I can tell we have passed the point where the non natural chemical composition in the seas and land is significant, so we should be recycling, retaining or converting waste streams.

 

[oldmanofthehills]

The problem that beset british society is the belief that some authority should do something about stuff - though still resenting their taxes needed to pay for suchlike. This avoidance is justified by the claim that any action not authorised risks massive fines or sanctions

Other folk in other lands sometimes just sort it as a community

 

[dancrane]

I think "just sorting it as a community" is exactly what the folk behind the opening post in this thread, are attempting.

I muddied the already-muddy waters by saying how easily such a keen low-budget group could dispose of old wrecks. But I didn't intend to suggest the Helford guys will just be towing wrecks to where they can't offend visitors' sight.

I recommend that anyone genuinely concerned, takes a long look at what the Helford River guys are doing, and are proposing to keep doing. As soon as I'd read their page this morning, I contributed to their funds.

Heaven knows, they're doing it on a shoestring. Best of luck to them.
.

 

[lustyd]

I recommend that anyone genuinely concerned, takes a long look at what the Helford River guys are doing

Our priority is also to research ecologically sound options of improving the current situation of lack of suitable infrastructure for dealing with end of life GRP Glass Reinforced Plastic materials

Well, they've clearly not done their research, given that there is plenty of infrastructure for recycling GRP. As I said, it's been discussed endlessly on these forums and the methods are well understood and widely available, also in use for turbine blade disposal before that misinformation comes out again.

The only problem is getting the boats to those facilities (which costs money) and removing the parts that are not GRP (which costs money). That's assuming the owners of the boats can be identified first to ensure you're not stealing.

 

[dancrane]

Who would steal a half-sunken wreck? Is the foul old GRP we're discussing, likely to be owned by anyone who doesn't equally wish it gone?

 

[doug748]

In today's news paper, members have been reported to have micro plastics in them, also sperm. The reason they know is the rise in erectile disfunction corrective surgery and the subsequent tissue analysis. Microplastics are known to be in our blood and lodged in many other organs. I don't want a blind eye turned to the removal and dumping at sea of old GRP boats, or other plastics. I would like to think that responsible disposal can be planned into end of life and the current mess of GRP wrecks in some areas cleaned up to minimise waste transfer to the environment. It is not acceptable to be dumping at sea because our councils or boat owners can't be bothered. We are polluting our planet and it has got into the very fabric of our life.

Microplastic discovery in penises raises erectile dysfunction questions

Needed a stiff drink after reading this.

On the subject of old boats, all new ones should be supplied with lead keels. Not only would we have less crappy boats but each would carry it's own dowry against disposal.

.

 

[lustyd]

Lusty, please can you edit your reply to show the source of your second quote there? I certainly didn't say that.

It's from their website. edited

 

[penberth3]

Who would steal a half-sunken wreck? Is the foul old GRP we're discussing, likely to be owned by anyone who doesn't equally wish it gone?.....

Not necessarily. Dreams and ambitions take a long time to fade.

 

[Mark-1]

Not necessarily. Dreams and ambitions take a long time to fade.

Thats why it needs a few amateurs who are willing to take the risk, rather than a formal body why can't take the slightest chance.

Frankly I think there's near zero chance that any of the really rough stuff has an owner coming back, but yeah, someone might. I suspect the small claims court would be very understanding and any redress might be token. It would certainly be a civil thing. There is no way the Police would take action over a derelict boat that someone actually paid to dispose of on behalf of us all.