where do GRP boats go to die?

[Seajet]

Personally I think very few grp cruisers are beyond recovery, the boat just has to find someone keen to work to get a good, cheap boat - and at least the costs of any bits required can be spread over time as suits.

The snag is finding people willing or indeed able to put some work in, which is why kit boats are largely a thing of the past, people would rather go into mega-debt than get their hands dirty.

However the few old grp cruisers at my club have all found good homes; the problem seems to be sailing dinghies, even good valuable ones being simply abandoned - but they should be simple to restore by somebody with an eye for a bargain.

 

[Avocet]

Do people really scuttle them? You know, two boats go out over the horizon, one comes back, no questions asked...? I've heard tales, but never any hard evidence.

 

[Daydream believer]

Do people really scuttle them? You know, two boats go out over the horizon, one comes back, no questions asked...? I've heard tales, but never any hard evidence.

I imagine that if a fishing boat pulled one up there could be a massive fine & cost for the owner- assuming they found them

 

[Lakesailor]

The bed of Windermere has a lot of hulks. When the Windermere Class boats were wood and the owners had new ones built regularly they would scuttle the old one rather than sell them to a competitor.

I di cut up an 18ft MicroCup Racer. It was because all the very lightweight ply iside had gone rotten. I could have restored the grp/balsa hull easily but the ply inside was structural.

This bit under the cockpit was sound but the bit in the bilge was rotten. The boat had been full of rainwater. Not a pleasant job.

 

[Daydream believer]

It is good to see you have face protection but it might work better if you actually used it
i could imagine bits of GRP sting

 

[michael_w]

When I was faced with a similar problem a number of scenarios were considered after the insurers refused to cough up.

Remove any thing remotely useful for sale, including the ballast keel. Then chainsaw the remains for landfill.

Buy another of the same type and transfer all my excellent sails (one mainsail had only been used 6 times) and keep all the other bits for spares and then chain saw the hull.

Scuttle her in deep water as an artificial reef.

Donate her to a dive club as a "site".

Ended up selling her as a repair project. On advice, I retained the boat's name and removed all reference to myself from onboard.

 

[ChattingLil]

why did the insurer refuse to pay up?

 

[Avocet]

I imagine that if a fishing boat pulled one up there could be a massive fine & cost for the owner- assuming they found them

People regularly abandon cars after removing all traces of identification. With the kind of small GRP yacht of the age and condition that was ready to be scrapped, I bet it would be a lot easier to render it unidentifiable?

 

[JumbleDuck]

People regularly abandon cars after removing all traces of identification. With the kind of small GRP yacht of the age and condition that was ready to be scrapped, I bet it would be a lot easier to render it unidentifiable?

Particularly if it went on fire. Tricky stuff, old wiring.

 

[Stork_III]

Particularly if it went on fire. Tricky stuff, old wiring.

Once saw an Elan after a fire. It was 2-3 times the size afterwards once the glass was released from the resin.

 

[Lakesailor]

It is good to see you have face protection but it might work better if you actually used it
i could imagine bits of GRP sting

The Risk Assessment indicated that Safety Glasses were all that was required.

 

[lw395]

Once saw an Elan after a fire. It was 2-3 times the size afterwards once the glass was released from the resin.

Probably half the weight though.
We've taken a few 'beyond economical repair' dinghies to the local 'recycling point' (dump), in chunks that go in an estate car.
I think they end up incinerated, then the glass fibre will be landfill.
A boatyard operator I know admits to disposing of worthless yachts by 'smunching them up with the forklift and putting the bits in a big skip.'
I think they only do it when they have someone else ready to pay for the space the old boat is taking up, as skips cost money, while a yacht accruing debts for the owner looks good on the balance sheet....

 

[Sandy]

Do people really scuttle them? You know, two boats go out over the horizon, one comes back, no questions asked...? I've heard tales, but never any hard evidence.

How far is the Continental Shelf?

 

[TSB240]

Our experience of cutting up and disposing of a 20 foot fibreglass day-sailer was very profitable.
We used a large angle grinder with a diamond tipped cutting blade, a small amount of water to help keep the dust down. It was cut down into bits small enough to be trailed to the local council tip. No council charge made then!

Our net gain was a four wheel braked trailer, spare sets of sails, mast, boom and winches and fittings for a similar craft that we own. Our outlay was minimal (ebay project nobody valued)
Our cash profit was even better. The scrap man had never been confronted with such a single compact lump of lead weighing in at nearly 3/4 tonne.

It pays to find a boat with a lead keel . Cast Iron is a fraction of the value.

 

[Avocet]

Our experience of cutting up and disposing of a 20 foot fibreglass day-sailer was very profitable.
We used a large angle grinder with a diamond tipped cutting blade, a small amount of water to help keep the dust down. It was cut down into bits small enough to be trailed to the local council tip. No council charge made then!

Our net gain was a four wheel braked trailer, spare sets of sails, mast, boom and winches and fittings for a similar craft that we own. Our outlay was minimal (ebay project nobody valued)
Our cash profit was even better. The scrap man had never been confronted with such a single compact lump of lead weighing in at nearly 3/4 tonne.

It pays to find a boat with a lead keel . Cast Iron is a fraction of the value.

Yes, in my darker and more depressed days working on Avocet, I do muse on the 1.4 tons of lead in the keel...

I think that would more or less determine the starting bid if the boat ever went on eBay!

 

[catlotion]

The bed of Windermere has a lot of hulks.

any good stories about them Lakesailor?

 

[dmmbruce]

I'm surprised none of you have mentioned http://www.boatbreakers.com/

I have heard that they are well worth contacting.

Mike

 

[alahol2]

I'm surprised none of you have mentioned http://www.boatbreakers.com/

I have heard that they are well worth contacting.

Mike

See post #18

 

[Resolution]

Do people really scuttle them? You know, two boats go out over the horizon, one comes back, no questions asked...? I've heard tales, but never any hard evidence.

I have always fancied a sort of gladiatorial stock car racing equivalent. Take a bunch of old heaps out beyond territorial limits, one person per boat, last one afloat wins. Ramming accessories encouraged. Add a bit of live TV coverage and some online betting and you have a real party.

 

[sailorman]

I have always fancied a sort of gladiatorial stock car racing equivalent. Take a bunch of old heaps out beyond territorial limits, one person per boat, last one afloat wins. Ramming accessories encouraged. Add a bit of live TV coverage and some online betting and you have a real party.

I flame thrower & its all over