where do GRP boats go to die?

[ChattingLil]

This is a bit of a 'what if' question and there are still plenty of variables in my situation...but...the question is what to do with a boat that might be written off?

Aside from the options of keeping it or giving it to someone or a school as project boat, what would or should I do with a small GRP boat that (possibly) no one will want in the broken state?

 

[sailorman]

This is a bit of a 'what if' question and there are still plenty of variables in my situation...but...the question is what to do with a boat that might be written off?

Aside from the options of keeping it or giving it to someone or a school as project boat, what would or should I do with a small GRP boat that (possibly) no one will want in the broken state?

She will belong to the insurers if they pay out.
If self insured your choice of what / how to proceed

Hope it all works out

 

[ChattingLil]

ok, so it will be their problem.

hmm. so if that's the case, I can't strip it of anything useful?

 

[prv]

It is a bit of a problem. I guess in theory as a private householder you ought to be able to take it to the Council tip - but I have doubts that they'd accept it, at least in one piece. Someone here (Lakesailor?) has cut one up with a chainsaw and taken it in bits, but I don't think he enjoyed the experience.

The cynical answer is to put it on eBay at 99p with no reserve and let some ignorant dreamer be saddled with the problem

Pete

 

[sailorman]

ok, so it will be their problem.

hmm. so if that's the case, I can't strip it of anything useful?

How would they know

 

[Biggles Wader]

How would they know

They would probably find out by reading the story on here.
Whoops.

 

[sailorman]

They would probably find out by reading the story on here.
Whoops.

Sorry cant hear you

 

[bert49uk]

Fill it with earth and turn it into a planter, lots around our town

 

[Searush]

They burn well, but someone with a urgent need to annoy someone may follow the trail of smoke & hit you with a "clean air act" summons.

 

[Keith 66]

This is going to be an increasing problem, disposing of written off boats normally means cutting them up & putting them into landfill, this option is increasingly going to become more expensive. Never mind the written of ones there is a huge over supply of elderly grp boats that are simply uneconomic to restore & in any case are obsolete because they no longer fit modern expectations or fashions.
Holland has already banned the landfill of waste GRP and Germany is likely to go down the same road. Recycling the stuff is hugely energy intensive & expensive.
look round any boatyard or Yacht club boat park & you will see large numbers of boats coming to the end of their useful lives. Flogging them on ebay is never going to be a long term option. Sooner or later expensive disposal is going to be the only option.

 

[dylanwinter]

This is going to be an increasing problem, disposing of written off boats normally means cutting them up & putting them into landfill, this option is increasingly going to become more expensive. Never mind the written of ones there is a huge over supply of elderly grp boats that are simply uneconomic to restore & in any case are obsolete because they no longer fit modern expectations or fashions.
Holland has already banned the landfill of waste GRP and Germany is likely to go down the same road. Recycling the stuff is hugely energy intensive & expensive.
look round any boatyard or Yacht club boat park & you will see large numbers of boats coming to the end of their useful lives. Flogging them on ebay is never going to be a long term option. Sooner or later expensive disposal is going to be the only option.

I have a plan to try to extend the life of one of them if I can



D

 

[Searush]

(snip)look round any boatyard or Yacht club boat park & you will see large numbers of boats coming to the end of their useful lives. Flogging them on ebay is never going to be a long term option. Sooner or later expensive disposal is going to be the only option.

Only if they are neglected.

I have recently been in contact with the current owner of my first boat a 1965 Westerly 25 and we exchanged pics of then & now. TBH she looks no older now that when I had her 25 years ago, In fact, the teak trim that I had left "natural" had been sanded off & varnished so actually looked new. My own boat is 40 years old & still in excellent nick, if in need of new sails & possibly some electronics (if I could be bothered with them).

Lots of old boats around in the little corners of quiet (& cheap) moorings that are maybe in need of a clean up & a bit of TLC, but it takes serious long term neglect to make them not worth fixing up. Plenty of people still want a cheap boat that they can fix up with a bit of enthusiasm & effort but not too much money.

The problem will come when the current batch of lightly built boats are 50 years old & delaminating, or have internal bulkhead separating from the hull. The 1950-70's boats will probably still be going strong as "Plastic Classics".

 

[dylanwinter]

the hulls are very nearly immortal

as are the spars

everything else is prone to decay

and the costs of replacing it can make the job uneconomic

D

 

[rogerball0]

I worked it out after having a bad week on my project, phoned the local re-cyclers up the road from me to tell them what it was (Centaur - fibreglass boat) and they quoted me £100 a tonne so you could scrap a Centaur for around £150 - £200 then go weigh the keels in at 600kg a pop and the aluminum mast which weighs around 40kg (bare pole) and the stainless, and then..................... basically i would've offset most of the the cost of the fibreglass by weighing in the metal but only if i did the hull and deck in a weekend. At the time i could've had it done in a matter of hours the way i was feeling (hull refused to dry).

cheers

www.agentlemansyacht.com

 

[trapezeartist]

The problem will come when the current batch of lightly built boats are 50 years old & delaminating, or have internal bulkhead separating from the hull. The 1950-70's boats will probably still be going strong as "Plastic Classics".

On the contrary, the 1950-70's boats have a lot of wood in them and it is rotten wood that consigns them to the great boatyard in the sky. I am quite sure that my "lightly built boat" (which has a hull weight more than an equivalent much older Moody or Westerly) and which not only has plenty of glass and resin in it but has it in the right places, will be quite capable of lasting almost ad infinitum. No structural or reinforcing wood, you see.

 

[dylanwinter]

On the contrary, the 1950-70's boats have a lot of wood in them and it is rotten wood that consigns them to the great boatyard in the sky. I am quite sure that my "lightly built boat" (which has a hull weight more than an equivalent much older Moody or Westerly) and which not only has plenty of glass and resin in it but has it in the right places, will be quite capable of lasting almost ad infinitum. No structural or reinforcing wood, you see.

you make a good point

although strengthening rotten ply is pretty easy and cheap

it is engines, sails, plumbing, electrics that can render restoring an old boat an economic nonsense

 

[sideshowbob]

I cut up a Scimitar car body shell a few years ago and took in pieces to my local tip. They will take GRP as have seen broken up horse boxes before. You should ask them when the best time to bring it is:wink-new: then supply the yard workers with chocolate hob knobs and job done.

 

[alahol2]

There is a 'boat breakers' in Gosport somewhere (I've seen their van around) but I don't know how they operate; whether they pay you or vice versa.

 

[dylanwinter]

I cut up a Scimitar car body shell a few years ago and took in pieces to my local tip. They will take GRP as have seen broken up horse boxes before. You should ask them when the best time to bring it is:wink-new: then supply the yard workers with chocolate hob knobs and job done.

I have also scrapped a 20 footer

It had sat in a field for 15 years - I rescued the trailer, the spars, the fittings, sails and chopped up the rest and took it to the dump in the escort

anything bigger would be a challenge


D

still looking for a Centaur

 

[Keith 66]

I recently completed the refit of a Sabre 27 fin keeler, good old boat built in 71. Its my trade so i knew where to go to get the best price for everything, My labour cost me nowt. But the cost of a proper full refit was eye watering. New engine, stern gear, wiring, plumbing, rigging & mast refurb, fittings, rudder, rubbing bands & handrails, paint job, keelbolts, upholstery, the list goes on. Was it economic? no way. But i enjoyed doing it & it was enormously satisfying, she turns heads & sails well. I have not added up the total cost and to be honest i dare not! There are a lot of boats that will not be so fortunate.