Where do boats go to die?

Larry Wilson · Oct 10, 2012

Offer it to your marina or service yard for salvage. The keel is worth at least $.60 a pound if it's lead. The engine at least $1000.I pulled my Yanmar 2qm with the help of one friend. We lowered it to the trunk of his Ford Escort using the boom, so I don't know why it would cost $600 to have it done.
Mast,sails, winches, railings, all have a value. Disposal in a land fill is around $40 a ton here in Virginia last time I checked, and if you cut it up into pieces no larger than 48"x48"...it's no charge if you haul it yourself.

Dalliance · Oct 10, 2012

Donation

smoothsailing said:
Donate.........

If the boat is in good shape there is a lot of places to donate it to.

Market value tax deduction credit.

Regards

Bill

Someone on my dock donated their boat to the Sea Scouts a couple years ago. They actually visited it a few weeks ago and were delighted to find it in better condition than it had been for years.

anchorclanker · Oct 10, 2012

And the end of the day its worth exactly what someone will pay you.

Looking at vancouver craigslist, there are 213 sailboats listed. 18 30 footers listed for $10K and below , 10 29's $10K and under, 18 27's $10K and under. Thats 46 boats similar size to yours for between $5K and $10K. And many of these are newer boats. Those are your competition.

You see the 42 footer for $8K or offer?? Very cool.

anchorclanker · Oct 11, 2012

You got me looking at sailboats on craigslist in Seattle and Vancouver. Its really dreamy to see whats available for under $10K. Its even dreamier to see whats out there under $30K. There are some really nice large and capable boats up there. I suppose other places along the coasts have similar stuff, I've just never looked.

Thinking about the other thread about it being worth fixing up old boats, we know different people have different desires. But if you simply want a decent sailboat, any money you put into an older one is more or less lost. Its like blowing $30K on a new panel for an airplane, it might make the plane worth only $1000 more, there are simply too many others out there a guy can nab for cheap. So putting $25K into an old boat is okay if your keeping it, and you like making the boat better to work with, but dont ever expect to get it back if you have to sell.

If your boat were here, in land locked Arkansas with our 25 total boats for sale, it would probably sell in a heart beat. But up against the boats available around you, your going to have a real tough sell. Not saying you cant get what your asking, but it will take that one time buyer who really wants a boat "just like yours", or someone so impatient they dont want to spend a lot of time looking. In reality it could take months and months and still no buyer, at the price your asking.

$5000 is probably more realistic, though probably still a bit tough. You other option is to sell off the hard parts, the engine, rigging, inboard gear, etc., and offer the hull for free. Say $4K to $5K for the engine, and various prices for the other stuff. I dont think you would have much trouble getting that kind of money for the engine if they can see it run and you have the reciepts, and people would likely show up like wolves to strip the boat if you offer reasonable prices. But sell the engine first, before you sell one single other thing off the boat. Another option is sell the engine as per above, then sell the whole boat off cheap needing an engine. Just make sure you get the price you need for the engine and youll probably come out okay.

anchorclanker · Oct 11, 2012

Those soft spots on the newer boats also work against you, many buyers are going to feel it will just get worst the older they go.

Pat · Oct 11, 2012

druid said:
I'm trying to sell my 1972 Crown 28 and I'm getting that it's just too old for anyone to want. It worked fine for me - I sailed it all the time until I bought my "new" (1976) boat.

I'd hate to junk the engine (2009 Yanmar 2GM20F), but it would cost me $600 or so to remove it and right now I don't trust my salesmanship enough to expect I'd get anything for it. Ditto the sails, GPS, Autohelm, stove, heater...

So what do you do with a boat nobody wants? I suspect it would cost me a lot to dispose of it, but it will cost me $4000 in Insurance and Moorage to keep it. What do I do?

druid

Here is what I would do...If the boat is sailable, donate the boat to your favorite junior sailing program....Any boat will give the kids something to sail on and also to learn the little art of maintaining a boat. Kids love to sail and race, but there not so hot on having to fix things...or maintain them...
Maybe even if it is not sailable....Good Luck, Patrick

Bad Obsession · Oct 11, 2012

List it on craigslist. Someone may come by and take it. If they won't buy it, give it away to anyone who takes it. If it is still floating and working someone will take it!

Merlin Clark · Oct 11, 2012

druid said:
I've looked at that. Unfortunately people don't see the difference between a $5K Catalina 27 with soft spots all over the deck and hull, with tiller and 2-stroke outboard and half a dozen blown-out sails, and mine.

druid

Sorry to hear about your boat Druid.
To me this is like the masses turning up thier noses at a classic car and oohing and ahhing over a new car beacuse it's shiney and has lot's of buttons. The new one must be good, after all they made a billion of them! and-they-all-look-exactly-alike, yippee!

mark_swart · Oct 11, 2012

This is an easy one, just ask less for it. Or put it on ebay with a no-reserve auction... somebody will take it.
I believe sailboatlistings.com is Canadian, and free?
She is a pretty boat, I can't believe somebody wouldn't want her. Definitely don't junk her.

cookwithgas · Oct 11, 2012

This is hard to watch....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0p2Yi4dbJA

Chris Patterson · Oct 12, 2012

I couldn't even watch the whole video...

Freedom77 · Oct 12, 2012

SEA SCOUTS, SEA SCOUTS, SEA SCOUTS. And take the tax write off.

fox islander · Oct 12, 2012

...this boat was tied up and abandoned at a Washington State Marine Park mooring bouy. Slowly sinking, it takes the state 6 months to clear the title and remove it. Meanwhile one less mooring at Penrose Point State Park.

Jackdaw · Oct 12, 2012

The answer to the original question is: They go to junkyards.

And they should.

I've fixed up and saved some old boats. But in the big picture 99% of all boats will get crushed. Most are too far gone. Some were just crappy boats to start with. Sorry, but we don't cry when a 1985 Olds Cieria gets crushed. Frankly, we need to get rid of old boats (and have some people buy new ones) if the sailboat manufacturing industry is to survive.

I don't weep for an old derelict boat any more than I do an old rusted car in a farmers field.

anchorclanker · Oct 12, 2012

Jackdaw said:
I don't weep for an old derelict boat any more than I do an old rusted car in a farmers field.

hey now, some of those cars out in fields are true collectors. But your right about most old boats, the Olds Ciera is a prime example.

However, in this boats defense its still a viable boat with a real good engine. Its worth a decent amount for the engine alone. Just not the $7500 hes asking probably.

I disagree quite strongly in stripping off numbers and abandoning a boat. Scuttling 25 miles offshore (or farther) in really deep water maybe, after all enviro concerns are met, but dont leave it around for others to deal with. Thats just wrong.

Merlin Clark · Oct 13, 2012

Jackdaw said:
The answer to the original question is: They go to junkyards.

And they should.

I've fixed up and saved some old boats. But in the big picture 99% of all boats will get crushed. Most are too far gone. Some were just crappy boats to start with. Sorry, but we don't cry when a 1985 Olds Cieria gets crushed. Frankly, we need to get rid of old boats (and have some people buy new ones) if the sailboat manufacturing industry is to survive.

I don't weep for an old derelict boat any more than I do an old rusted car in a farmers field.

Why does the fact that some (actually quite a few) of us have, like, can afford and sail old boats bother you so much?

monkeybars · Oct 13, 2012

Jackdaw said:
The answer to the original question is: They go to junkyards.

And they should.

I've fixed up and saved some old boats. But in the big picture 99% of all boats will get crushed. Most are too far gone. Some were just crappy boats to start with. Sorry, but we don't cry when a 1985 Olds Cieria gets crushed. Frankly, we need to get rid of old boats (and have some people buy new ones) if the sailboat manufacturing industry is to survive.

I don't weep for an old derelict boat any more than I do an old rusted car in a farmers field.

better to strip it of any ID numbers tow it out by a reef and sink it. The states spend big bucks creating these seed reefs, you'd just be doing a good deed for the enviroment and helping the state out, drain most of the fuel and oil if you can, but a few gallons won't really hurt anything.

anchorclanker · Oct 13, 2012

merlinuxo said:
Why does the fact that some (actually quite a few) of us have, like, can afford and sail old boats bother you so much?

I dont think he's saying anything like that. He's just saying there comes a point where some old boats get so dilapidated they need to salvaged, and that if its too much of a hassle or too expensive, they are abandoned.

If his marina is anything like the ones ive seen, there are probably some real derelicts hanging around. And perhaps as I have seen too, some people making use of these old boats as a temporary home. Some of these people arent even sailors, many have no intention of sailing, its just a means to an end and they are using the marina as a mobile home park, as it were. So, I'll excuse some of his cold opinions on crappy boats, and accept that he, like many of us, truly appreciates a nice boat, regardless of its age.

anchorclanker · Oct 13, 2012

monkeybars said:
better to strip it of any ID numbers tow it out by a reef and sink it. The states spend big bucks creating these seed reefs, you'd just be doing a good deed for the enviroment and helping the state out, drain most of the fuel and oil if you can, but a few gallons won't really hurt anything.

I respectfully disagree. Reefs are fragile environments. Worldwide, reefs are currently dying off for reasons no one yet understands. Dropping an old boat contaminated with who knows what into that fragile environment could enhance it, or it could kill.

I would really hate to imagine the oceans bottom littered with 100's of thousands of non-decomposing fiberglass boats in a few 100 years. Best to have it sent to a landfill after stripping it of all hardware.

Where do boats go to die?

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Attachments

.

.

.

.

.

.