Abandoned boats

[WX]

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. — Boat owners are abandoning ship.
[/URL][URL="javascript:pop_me_up2('http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2009/04/01/business/01boats_CA1_ready.html',%20'01boats_CA1_ready',%20 'width=720,height=600,scrollbars=yes,toolbars=no,r esizable=yes')"]http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2009/04/01/business/01boat.600.jpg
(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/01/business/01boats.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1&_r=1&th&emc=th#secondParagraph) Brett Flashnick for The New York Times
Gary Santos, a Mount Pleasant, S.C., councilman, checks a state notice on a forsaken sailboat.



They often sandpaper over the names and file off the registry numbers, doing their best to render the boats, and themselves, untraceable. Then they casually ditch the vessels in the middle of busy harbors, beach them at low tide on the banks of creeks or occasionally scuttle them outright.
The bad economy is creating a flotilla of forsaken boats. While there is no national census of abandoned boats, officials in coastal states are worried the problem will only grow worse as unemployment and financial stress continue to rise. Several states are even drafting laws against derelicts and say they are aggressively starting to pursue delinquent owners.
“Our waters have become dumping grounds,” said Maj. Paul R.

I wish they would start doing it here, I still need a few bits and pieces.

[PeterSibley]

I wish they would start doing it here, I still need a few bits and pieces.

I want the whole boat , I'll start with the one pictured !:(

[rbgarr]

It's a time-honored tradition among s'rimp boat owners in Georgia and South Carolina. There were particular backwater creeks in the marsh that were virtual junkyards. Old boats would be run up in there every winter. Some fg sailboats started appearing there in 2000 just before we moved away.

There are still boats in the Keys and along the west Florida coast abandoned after being wrecked in that hurricane (Fran?) that hit there right after Katrina.

[WX]

I contemplated buying an old boat one time for the gear still onboard.

[Larks]

I spent a pleasant afternoon a few years ago sailing quietly around Pittwater (Sydney) admiring the yachts at anchor and was amazed at how many yachts seemed to have been abandoned or forgotten there. I had just come back from a long off-shore stint and was looking for work and had the idea that I should try and track down owners or background on a few of the more "promising" looking abandoned yachts with a view to acquiring them (for the right price;)), doing them up and selling them.

Needless to say, something else came up with a more realistic financial outcome:D…. but they all seem to be there still

[WX]

A walk around any marina will show up a lot of boats that don't go anywhere. I always have a bit of a chuckle when I see a yacht with a name like Wavedancer or some such and it's bottom is supporting an entire ecosystem.
I saw one fibreglass yacht on a mooring in Port Macquarie, down by the head and black with accumulated dirt. The mainsail was still on it but it was in rags.

[Lew Barrett]

I always have a bit of a chuckle when I see a yacht with a name like Wavedancer or some such and it's bottom is supporting an entire ecosystem.


I'd do a thread on "worst boat names" but i'm sure it's been done already.

Wave Dancer would be on my list. Thanks for the chuckle, although the thread, and the losses themselves, are quite sad. It would be a black day if i ever had to scuttle her because the means to keep her had been exhausted, with no white knight in sight. End of the dream.

[Yeadon]

I once had a hurricane destroy my boat ... I was very lucky to find someone to give me $200 for the carnage. I think they were going to part it out. I really doubt they repaired it.

Ditching your boat like that is pretty unfair to society at large.

Edited to add - Wavedancer was the name of my boat.

Edited again ... Just kidding.

[Lew Barrett]

I can't imagine your possession of a boat named Wave Dancer, but if I was going to offend anyone Tim, I'd be most comfortable offending you! Your point about the ecological impact is not lost, nor did I mean to minimize it.

[Bob Adams]

It does beg the question, just what do you do with a boat that will sail no more? There is probably a business opportunity in disposing of the old tubs in an enviromentally responsible way. If I had some capital and a facility....

[2MeterTroll]

part that gets me is they will abandon these boats but if you track them down ( i did it several times and every time it came out the same) the folks want thousands for the damn boat. Its like some switch aint connected, I will take the chance of 50.000 in fines by abandoning my boat, but by god i am not giving it to some person for a couple hundred.

[Yeadon]

I think that depression and a feeling of being overwhelmed by the situation drives the plight of a lot of these sad, abandoned boats. They are a lot like pets.

Now, I think it's further toward lame on the lame scale to discard a pet in this manner ... but a boat isn't that far behind. It's really a sad thing to think about.

I think I'll go outside for a bit now.

Lew, let's buy a Bayliner ... rename it WaveDancer ... and donate it to the Republican National Committee.

[Lew Barrett]

Lew, let's buy a Bayliner ... rename it WaveDancer ... and donate it to the Republican National Committee.

I was going to suggest we speculate as to the politics of the abandoners, but thought better of that! I do like the idea of the donation though, but why buy what we can find on the side of the slew in La Conner? I like the idea of re-cycling found objects in a useful fashion!

[JimConlin]

I have thought that if you could hold boats at low costs, had the capital to buy enough boats to spread the risk, and had the patience to wait a year or three, there are probably some opportunities out there. There are other boats, though, whose long term value truly has gone negative. What kind of boats will the RNC accept?

[rbgarr]

If they have old fuel and foul holding tanks they probably fall into the 'toxic asset' class.

[The Bigfella]

I saw one on Sunday - just downstream of Neverfail. An old fibreglass half cabin cruiser around 20' - mostly sunk. I was on Grantala so didn't go into the bay for a look.

As for boat names. There's a ski boat that appears to be for sale that I go past on the way down to the river. Its called Sh!t Happens

[Paul Girouard]

but why buy what we can find on the side of the slew in La Conner?




No way , that stuffs not for sale , it's 'character ' you can't buy Hicksville's (La Conner's) classic charm!

You city slickers are all alike eh! :rolleyes: :D

Next you'll want to level the floor in Toby's :eek:

[Yeadon]

The Samamish Slough is where it's really at ... a while back I rowed from Kenmore to Bothell. There is a derelict Chris-Craft about a third up the way that will break your heart.

[floatingkiwi]

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. — Boat owners are abandoning ship.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2009/04/01/business/01boat.600.jpg
(http://javascript<b></b>:pop_me_up2('http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2009/04/01/business/01boats_CA1_ready.html',%20'01boats_CA1_ready',%20 'width=720,height=600,scrollbars=yes,toolbars=no,r esizable=yes'))Brett Flashnick for The New York Times
Gary Santos, a Mount Pleasant, S.C., councilman, checks a state notice on a forsaken sailboat.



They often sandpaper over the names and file off the registry numbers, doing their best to render the boats, and themselves, untraceable. Then they casually ditch the vessels in the middle of busy harbors, beach them at low tide on the banks of creeks or occasionally scuttle them outright.
The bad economy is creating a flotilla of forsaken boats. While there is no national census of abandoned boats, officials in coastal states are worried the problem will only grow worse as unemployment and financial stress continue to rise. Several states are even drafting laws against derelicts and say they are aggressively starting to pursue delinquent owners.
“Our waters have become dumping grounds,” said Maj. Paul R.

I wish they would start doing it here, I still need a few bits and pieces.

What do you need mate?

[floatingkiwi]

It is HARD work, I have been scrounging the sloughs around the Bay Area for a year or so now, in between fishing and what have you, and I have accumulated the equivalent of at least 4 sailboats worth of rigging, sails to carry 3 or 4 boats, all kinds of stainless and bronze and copper hardware of every description , rosewood helms, hydraulic steering, enough mahogany to sink a good sized Chris Craft, 5 masts and several spars sporting old original and beautiful hardware, clear fir planks, oak chunks from and for all kinds of places and it goes on a bit from there but I still haven't got ANY BLOODY PAINT.

[TimH]

Next you'll want to level the floor in Toby's :eek:

Leveling the floor is a bit much, but they should at least knock the spider webs off of the moose.

[Gary E]

I'd do a thread on "worst boat names" but i'm sure it's been done already.

Wave Dancer would be on my list. Thanks for the chuckle, although the thread, and the losses themselves, are quite sad. It would be a black day if i ever had to scuttle her because the means to keep her had been exhausted, with no white knight in sight. End of the dream.

Whats wrong with Wave dancer?

[Brian Palmer]

One of our state parks where we go sailing here in PA has a dry storage area that probably holds close to 100 sail boats. The biggest is probably a Marshall catboat, about 20 or 22 feet, I would guess. Others may be slightly longer, probably up to 25 feet.

Many have not moved in the 4 or 5 years we've sailed there and I wonder how many of them have effectively been abandoned and are now "wards of the state."

Makes me feel better about keeping mine next to the garage. To some extent, "out of sight, out of mind" probably accounts for 75% of the neglect.

Brian

[Soundbounder]

Soundings also had a story about this recently:

http://www.soundingsonline.com/news/coastwise/231712-abandoned-boats.html

[CarlZog]

This has always been a bigger problem in the warm weather states. I was in St. Pete, Fla. in the mid-90s and the municipal marina was filled with derelict O'Days and Catalinas.

Growing up around the docks in Key West and Miami, there were always half-sunk boats in the anchorages. Homeless folks usually moved aboard.

On the other hand, a few years ago, Mystic, CT was having a pile of legal problems with a few of them that the towns were afraid to, or unable to, haul away.

Carl

[Lew Barrett]

Whats wrong with Wave dancer?

I'll give you this. It's no worse than Wind Seeker or Dream Chaser. To my ear, all the (your adjective here) Dancers suffer just a little.

I classify all such names as "ER" names. Er...um...they couldn't think of anything else. The term "trite" comes to mind. If you can find your boat's name on somebody else's boat, you don't get extra points. ;)

I hope that explains this subtlety, Gary.

[BrianW]

You bastids can keep those Bayliners, thank you very much. ;)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BrianW/Sitka/baylinersinking.jpg

[Gary E]

I see SOMEONE Edited my post...

Must a been one of the hoytee toytee types that cant handle the truth.

[Bob Cleek]

If a hulk has a lead keel on it, she's going to be worth a lot more than many might think!

[Lew Barrett]

I see SOMEONE Edited my post...

Must a been one of the hoytee toytee types that cant handle the truth.

Huh? Talking to me?

[TimH]

Cape Dory Typhoons are still all 5k to 6k from what I can tell.

[Captain Intrepid]

You bastids can keep those Bayliners, thank you very much. ;)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BrianW/Sitka/baylinersinking.jpg

So the drums are to mark her location when she sinks eh? :p

[Dan McCosh]

Unfortunately, this mess is going to back up and make it more difficulty to get dock and marina space, particularly for wooden boats, as many operators already think that they are more likely to be abandoned.

[Yeadon]

Cape Dory Typhoons are still all 5k to 6k from what I can tell.

Not sure why you brought that up ... but here's one on Orcas Island (http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/boa/1103656920.html).

I think Happy Hour is a bad name for a boat.

[TimH]

Not sure why you brought that up ... but here's one on Orcas Island (http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/boa/1103656920.html).

I think Happy Hour is a bad name for a boat.

Thats exactly why I brought that up :) Its being offered for sale by a sailboat rental company up there. I looked in Yachtworld and $4800 isnt a bad price compared to what others are asking.
Not exactly recession pricing IMHO though.

Damn nice boats though. I almost bought one a long time ago when I worked in the marina. Nice thing about them is that they are real boats (in that I wouldnt hesitate to be go anywhere in the sound in one) and you can trailer sailor them and avoid slip fees.
I may go look at that one this weekend.

[TimH]

I think Happy Hour is a bad name for a boat.

not as bad as "Happy Adventure" :D

[Yeadon]

It would be a good Inside Passage boat.

[TimH]

It would be a good Inside Passage boat.

Yes, and for poking around the San Juans. Not much for accomodations, but would make a nice weekend camper-cruiser for 2.
Now if I can only convince the girlfriend to go in halves with me :)
Maybe teach her to like sailing and then upgrade to a bigger boat....then on to the round-the-world voyage :D

[Gary E]

Huh? Talking to me?

I was but it seems that someone edited my post before you read it.

[switters]

while wandering around ST Petes a few weeks ago a broker came to talk to me while I was looking at boats and said nevermind what the asking price is, just make your best offer. He said that goes for anything that floats right now with very few exceptions. A lot of people would be glad to get last years dock fees paid up and move on.

[TimH]

while wandering around ST Petes a few weeks ago a broker came to talk to me while I was looking at boats and said nevermind what the asking price is, just make your best offer. He said that goes for anything that floats right now with very few exceptions. A lot of people would be glad to get last years dock fees paid up and move on.

So basically I could pick out 5 boats I like, make 1/2 price offers on all of them, and chances are someone will take it.

Im not sure if a Cape Dory Typhoon would fit into that category though. They are pretty desirable boats.

[Yeadon]

If it's a Cape Dory you want ... there has been a Cape Dory 27 for sale out of Anacortes, or maybe Gig Harbor, for a while now.

Personally, I'd go with the smaller boat. Costs are proportional, even though the local waters stay the same size.

I hear there are some nice wooden boats in this area, too, though.

[TimH]

Cape Dory made nice boats. Id rather have wood, but between work and this fixer-upper house I just want something I can drop in the water, sail for a few hours, drag it back home and put it away wet.
I just dont have time for a project right now, and I dont have the money for a nice wooden boat. I loved that 32' cutter Nanoose posted a link to a few weeks ago, but 30k is too much for me right now. Plus then you have slip fees.
That CD Typhoon could live in my driveway.

[bamamick]

A old Typhoon is worth $5K? That is pretty impressive, really. You can get a lot of boat for $5K these days.

I have been trying to find someone who would abandon a wooden Penguin in my yard but haven't found one as of yet. I'm still trying.

Mickey Lake

[Sailor]

If they want to drop them off around here, I'd be happy to saw off any lead keels. I'll need about 10 tons so they better start soon! LOL Any other "shiny parts" that I could abscond with wouldn't hurt either.

[WX]

I wonder what the percentage is of unused or neglected boats would be in any given marina? I would imagine at least 30%. I certainly see plenty with peeling brightwork and great tendrils of weed trailing below the waterline.

[Brian Palmer]

My dad sold his Typhoon for about that a few years ago, along with a good outboard and a set of yard stands, no trailer.

They are not exactly a trailer sailer, though, but well made and pretty seaworthy for their size. I think they appeal to people who know boats and are not just looking for a floating cocktail lounge.

Brian

[Yeadon]

... and here you go, Tim ... Cape Dory 25 (http://seattle.craigslist.org/kit/boa/1104422837.html). This actually would be a great boat.

[soba]

CBC ran a story about the abandoned boats around Mt. Pleasant today. Chap they interviewed said that they had identified about 90% of owners, and that their primary concerns were environmental (battery acid and fuel from sinking boats) and navigational (hazards when the moorings pull loose.)

He implied that people were putting boats on moorings because they couldn't afford moorage or dry racking, and then after a few months of neglect (because it takes so damn much energy to row out there or something) people just left them instead of contemplating the fact that repairing the months of damage was in fact far more than the moorage would have been...

Is there a scarcity of moorage around there?

[rbgarr]

... and here you go, Tim ... Cape Dory 25 (http://seattle.craigslist.org/kit/boa/1104422837.html). This actually would be a great boat.

I worked at CD building those 25s in the 70s. My sister and brother-in-law bought one. They are okay in medium to strong winds but under-rigged for light even with a genoa. Definitely not a boat to launch and retrieve for a daysail.

[skuthorp]

Boat market has collapsed here and some of the boating mags have dissapeared or will soon. State took over most local moorings a year or two ago and hundreds of abandoned boats have been dumped or sold. Acquaintance bought a 60's FG with lead keel and bronze gear including winches for A$600.00 and is building a wooden hull to take them.
One of the boats found on Port Phillip had 2 tons of mussels attatched to the hull and nearly capsised the mobile crane off the pier.

[Brian Palmer]

One of the boats found on Port Phillip had 2 tons of mussels attatched to the hull and nearly capsised the mobile crane off the pier.

Strip the valuable metals (aluminum, bronze, lead), fill with enough concrete, sink off shore = artificial reef.

Brian

[willmarsh3]

It's a real shame that people walk away from their messes.

Here's what someone did to dispose of a boat here:

http://www.willmarsh3.net/lg/lake.html#bd

At the time I thought it was a bit silly but after reading this thread and seeing derelict boats around Deale, MD I decided that this disposal method was probably the next best thing to selling it.

[mariner2k]

Bob, Lead isn't worth that much these days. I know I've been trying to sell my ballasts from when my boat got wrecked last fall. I decided for the time being it is going to be a lawn ornament until (fingers crossed) the price goes up.

[Lew Barrett]

I was but it seems that someone edited my post before you read it.

So it's one of those other "hoytee toytee" types that can't handle the truth and not me....this time?

[bamamick]

Will, down here in hurricaneland we have seen many, many dumpsters full of old fibreglass boat sections. It's pretty much the standard. I'd say that after Hurricane Katrina we had maybe 30-odd hulls in the city park across the way, and almost everyone of them wound up in a dumpster.

Mickey Lake

[Sailor]

Anybody in NS have a couple of keels they need taken away? I'll go wherever in the province to get them that you may have them lying around..... ;)

[TonyH]

In Sydney the usual procedure is to tow the barnacle-crusted hulk (minus identifying marks and late at night of course) to the nearest Police mooring buoy (the blue ones) and leave it there. The cops dutifully tow it to their yard and eventually auction it. Apparently there is some wily chap who buys them cheap and then re-auctions them on e-bay, and thus the cycle begins again. It's beautiful.

[boylesboats]

Shame to see these boats gone to waste...
Ya think they should least go here http://www.woodenboatrescue.org/ before destroyin' a boat..

[The Bigfella]

In Sydney the usual procedure is to tow the barnacle-crusted hulk (minus identifying marks and late at night of course) to the nearest Police mooring buoy (the blue ones) and leave it there. The cops dutifully tow it to their yard and eventually auction it. Apparently there is some wily chap who buys them cheap and then re-auctions them on e-bay, and thus the cycle begins again. It's beautiful.


I've got a blue emergency mooring buoy less than 100 metres from my mooring, but the damn thing us useless for anything bigger than 30' - so I've been on a 24 hour public mooring since.... well, lets not mention it eh?

[Lew Barrett]

Thank-you for the heads-up Ian!

[Lew Barrett]

Just a simple and obvious comment. Those of us who have put a lot of time, energy, money and love into our boats, and this includes many, many wooden boat owners, are going to obviously be not just reluctant, but unwilling to deal with our boats in summary fashion.

For somebody who has spent little of their own energy and attention on a vessel, it's siimply not going to be as hard to cast it off. There's not a single member of my community who is thinking of this sort of action. This is going to be the behavior of a different class of boat keeper entirely. No matter how hard it gets, I can't conceive of abandoning my vessel to the tides. And I don't know anybody in my own circle that would either.

One of the benefits of doing things right is the display of commitment. I'm sure there are some notable exceptions, but I doubt many of the boats that have been abandoned thus far have been owned by truly committed and dedicated owners. The first to go will be the boats that were bought in haste and by dreamers. The good ones won't end up on the side of the slew unless things turn truly epic, and I do mean very, very ugly. Sure the market has collapsed, and there's no doubt a boat is the last thing most people need. But for guys like us (do I take liberties?), it's the first thing I want. It is a good time to be in the market.

[C. Ross]

The first to go will be the boats that were bought in haste and by dreamers. The good ones won't end up on the side of the slew unless things turn truly epic, and I do mean very, very ugly.

Not much different than people walking away from mortgages on houses bought in haste or by dreamers?

I'd add that most wooden boats probably won't get scuttled so much as painfully neglected into rotten compost. Also an ugly end, but less criminal.

And yes, we badly need a bad boat name contest, with photo documentation required. If no one else starts one, I will when boats start going in the water this spring.

[Lew Barrett]

A capitol idea, Cris. And I think a bad name contest is another thread with tremendous possibilities for legs. After all, who doesn't love a good dis aimed at somebody else?

[rbgarr]

Fifteen years of the most common boat names:
http://www.boatus.com/boatgraphics/names/top10.asp
Some real stinkers in there!

[Chip-skiff]

What's the law on abandoned craft, particularly those on which the marks of ownership (serial #, etc) have been removed?

[Lew Barrett]

They belong to somebody, and if titled, they are someone else's property. Being found in possession of a boat that has defaced markings and no title puts one at a distinct disadvantage. It's illegal to dump your boat by the side of the sea, and just as illegal to take it without attending to the niceties. If the vessel was documented, the Coast Guard gets involved, too. All told, it's like taking a car off the street because it's been parked there for a few weeks. Only worse. Maybe better because it's a boat.....

But parts is parts.

[JimConlin]

The current HIN regs require that there be a second HIN placque in a 'secret' place, known to USCG. Has this been the case for long?

[Soundbounder]

If a hulk has a lead keel on it, she's going to be worth a lot more than many might think!At one time that was very true, but today that is no longer the case.
A lot of the environmental costs involved in disposing an old hull offset any value from the keel.

[rbgarr]

http://www.boatbuilding.net/article.pl?sid=09/04/10/1123245&mode=thread

[BrianW]

They can be strangely pretty...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BrianW/Sitka/wrecks.jpg

[Lew Barrett]

I agree. It's a sight we're all very accustomed to seeing over the years, but times have changed, and the abandonment of the glass boats is a different deal. Or at least, in my mind there's something different happening here. Seeing a tired old wooden boat stripped of hardware at the high water mark was something we all grew up with, though.

[rbgarr]

NY waterfront scene, perhaps a stone sloop.

http://i44.tinypic.com/j9qxwi.jpg

[floatingkiwi]

I stripped and disposed of 3 complete 25 to 35 foot sailboats in the last 6 months wit my own two bare hands. Just takes a little time and a little effort and a whole lotta interest.

[keith66]

Over here in the uk every boatyard or yacht club has its derelicts, the amazing thing is some people still pay for them, case in point a Buchanan Nantucket clipper Grp with wooden interior. It has been laying ashore in our club for 25 years and is so full of water its well over the bunks, all the bulkheads & interior have literally collapsed. The owner gets real angry if anyone asks him if its for sale!
I was told a good tip from an old shipwright years ago he said "if you want to find out who owns an abandoned boat, start putting a coat of paint on it, the owner will pop up out of a hole in the ground!"

[ben2go]

It saddens me to see all the abandon boats around SC.It's not just on the coast.It's through out the state.Most of the boats I have seen only need a little labor to put back into usable condition.There's a guy here in SC that snatches up these boats,strips them,and then tries to sell the bare hulls on Ebay or Craig's list.It's sad, because someone that thinks they know or thinks they can, rebuild a boat and register it,gets screwed.I have been wanting to build a light weight trailerable 24' cabin cruiser.There's alot of those laying around going to waste. I inquire about buying a negleted boat,the owner wants blue book or higher.It really is sh*ty.

[Soundbounder]

It saddens me to see all the abandon boats around SC.It's not just on the coast.It's through out the state.Most of the boats I have seen only need a little labor to put back into usable condition.There's a guy here in SC that snatches up these boats,strips them,and then tries to sell the bare hulls on Ebay or Craig's list.It's sad, because someone that thinks they know or thinks they can, rebuild a boat and register it,gets screwed.I have been wanting to build a light weight trailerable 24' cabin cruiser.There's alot of those laying around going to waste. I inquire about buying a negleted boat,the owner wants blue book or higher.It really is sh*ty.They are dreaming!!!! Keep their phone numbers, and give them a call in six months. They are not going to get blue book for them

[floatingkiwi]

Yeah. One does not lose or make money on something until they sell it.The lazy people ,( or those genuinely unfortunate enough to have been incapable),who left their possession to get to the state it is in now, hate the situation and I guess they are waiting for some impossible turn in the market where shit has the value of gold, rather than accept they screwed up or admit they will have to accept loss.The sad thing is that they will wait until such time that it is obvious to a blind sheep that it's beyond recouping their money, and give it away because they can't pay to store it or want it off their mind and by that time, something you could have used at the time you asked them, is no longer much good to even the best scrounger. What a waste man.Fix it now or give it to someone who will, I say.

[floatingkiwi]

They can be strangely pretty...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BrianW/Sitka/wrecks.jpg
Let me at that thing. Where is that?

[BrianW]

Let me at that thing. Where is that?

Sitka Alaska.

[Dave Wright]

Puget Sounders must remember about 5 years ago, an old man in Tacoma couldn't sleep, so he sat on a bench one foggy night along Commencement Bay. He saw a big, decrepit, wooden power cruser towed by a dinghy, ghosting into the fog. Then he heard chopping noises, and a bit later he saw the dinghy coming back to a nearby marina.

Apparently the marina owner wasn't getting rent from dreamers who rented slips for their "project" boats and then lost interest. Clandestinely sinking the boats only a couple of hundred yards off his marina was the only solution the marina owner could come up with (what the heck was he thinking!):

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/163180_sunk04.html

I rent out our slip at a pretty low price so it's always occupied, but I've learned to make a pretty good assessment of the boat and the owner prior to taking the first months rent. I hate bugging a tenant, but if I don't get the subsequent rent on time I follow up immediately.

[TimH]

did they bring up the boats?

[Dave Wright]

I never saw a follow up to that story Tim. I'd guess that the state wound up footing a clean up bill if there was one. This stuff happens all the time.

Down where I live by Lake Washington there was a clean up going on for the new Seahawk's training facility. A couple of huge, old wooden drydocks showed up just offshore. It looked like they were going to be used as barges in the clean up of old pilings and all sorts of debris. They quiickly sank, but still protruded a dozen feet or so above the surface.

They sat there for roughly two years, the owner had apparently abandoned them. The city of Renton was mentioning figures of $150,000 to remove them. They were removed this past winter by a big barge and crane operation that lasted for a couple of months. I don't know who finally picked up the bill. I tend to feel that if the owners of the vessels have anything at all of value it should be confiscated for the clean up costs.

[donald branscom]

The state is at fault.

If the state would make it easier to get these boats rescued
some could be eliminated from being a hazard to navigation and a toxic threat.

They could just make it possible for interested parties to get the boat without a nightmare of paperwork. First come first served.

BUT DO NOT put it in the newspaper of boat stealing will occur!!!

I know because I had a boat stolen from me by the Petaluma sherrifs dept. when a newpaper reporter who knew nothing about boats, took a photo of MY boat sitting along the river in a lagoon and said it was abandoned. HE did not even check.

I had just finished building the boat and it was brand new. I took it out for a row almost every evening.

I had even been helping to clean up the river by pulling old shopping carts out of the river and washing off the mud and then i tried returning them to the store. I asked for Five dollars for all my work cleaning them and transporting them and the store manager was threatening to call the police on me.

The store had an article in the newspaper saying the stolen (abandoned) carts cost $250 each.

[Dave Wright]

I just noticed thiis article about the former abandoned drydocks off Renton:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004435875_drydocks24m.html

The $150,000 I'd first heard has risen to $1,000,000 and who knows what the final bill was this past winter. The ownership string reveals a total cluster f*ck, with a homeless man becoming the final owner.

I wonder if Lake Union Drydock got out of the picture a little too easy? If the state picks up the bill for major sized vessels like this you know small private boats will likely be handled without any financial responsibility for the owners.

I guess this is why we all pay $3 for vessel disposal in our Washington boat registration fees.

[donald branscom]

If people were rewarded for going out in the mud and getting stuff out of the water and making the river beautiful they might do it more.

Every town or CHURCH could have a "clean the river fund."

[donald branscom]

I just noticed thiis article about the former abandoned drydocks off Renton:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004435875_drydocks24m.html

The $150,000 I'd first heard has risen to $1,000,000 and who knows what the final bill was this past winter. The ownership string reveals a total cluster f*ck, with a homeless man becoming the final owner.

I wonder if Lake Union Drydock got out of the picture a little too easy? If the state picks up the bill for major sized vessels like this you know small private boats will likely be handled without any financial responsibility for the owners.

I guess this is why we all pay $3 for vessel disposal in our Washington boat registration fees.

I agree BUT if the registration numbers are missing and if it is a documented boat and the hull number is missing it is a moot point. The taxpayers will end up paying for irrsponsible
people.
The fact that a homless man got the boat is PERFECT justice. He got a home of sorts, and was kept busy rescuing the boat and saving he water from toxic spills.

[donald branscom]

I never saw a follow up to that story Tim. I'd guess that the state wound up footing a clean up bill if there was one. This stuff happens all the time.

Down where I live by Lake Washington there was a clean up going on for the new Seahawk's training facility. A couple of huge, old wooden drydocks showed up just offshore. It looked like they were going to be used as barges in the clean up of old pilings and all sorts of debris. They quiickly sank, but still protruded a dozen feet or so above the surface.

They sat there for roughly two years, the owner had apparently abandoned them. The city of Renton was mentioning figures of $150,000 to remove them. They were removed this past winter by a big barge and crane operation that lasted for a couple of months. I don't know who finally picked up the bill. I tend to feel that if the owners of the vessels have anything at all of value it should be confiscated for the clean up costs.

I agree but who can afford $150,000 dollars?

[donald branscom]

The biggest problem is telling WHEN a boat is abandoned.
Many times the slip space is being paid for but the owner does not check on the boat for extended periods.

If YOU know of a boat is being abandoned CALL the sherrif and ask if they could check up on it. Just like an abandoned car on the street. THAT ALL.

Start treating some of these yacht owners like they treat street people. Ask them about the boat.

[Dave Wright]

Not to be argumentative, and I appreciate that your thought would be an ideal solution in an ideal world, but these huge barges were totally open. They were pieces of crap with no livable space, not even a shack. The homeless guy never lived on them, I passed them in my boat many times.

There are all sorts of regulations involving living aboard, and all sort of issues when "homeless" people start living on hulks. I remember being in the Sausalito area 30 some years ago, saw some folks crawling out of what looked like dog kennels on derelict rafts - I guess that's all cleaned up now. I'll have to look for an old picture.

[donald branscom]

Not to be argumentative, and I appreciate that your thought would be an ideal solution in an ideal world, but these huge barges were totally open. They were pieces of crap with no livable space, not even a shack. The homeless guy never lived on them, I passed them in my boat many times.

There are all sorts of regulations involving living aboard, and all sort of issues when "homeless" people start living on hulks. I remember being in the Sausalito area 30 some years ago, saw some folks crawling out of what looked like dog kennels on derelict rafts - I guess that's all cleaned up now. I'll have to look for an old picture.

NO NEED DAVE Please!!!

This will just turn into a HATEFULL thread on homless people.

I was a live aboard and my boat was one of the best looking in the harbor.

I will not say anything else. I just do not want a bunch of hateful statments and photos of ratty boats appearing.

Thanks DAVE.

[donald branscom]

By the way I and other people JUST LOVE an old abandoned tugboat along the waterfront.
It is romantic. AND gift shops even sell little scenes like that.

Some rope ,a old boat , a seagull. Very pretty.

Now the s!!@## will start RIGHT??

[donald branscom]

Puget Sounders must remember about 5 years ago, an old man in Tacoma couldn't sleep, so he sat on a bench one foggy night along Commencement Bay. He saw a big, decrepit, wooden power cruser towed by a dinghy, ghosting into the fog. Then he heard chopping noises, and a bit later he saw the dinghy coming back to a nearby marina.

Apparently the marina owner wasn't getting rent from dreamers who rented slips for their "project" boats and then lost interest. Clandestinely sinking the boats only a couple of hundred yards off his marina was the only solution the marina owner could come up with (what the heck was he thinking!):

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/163180_sunk04.html

I rent out our slip at a pretty low price so it's always occupied, but I've learned to make a pretty good assessment of the boat and the owner prior to taking the first months rent. I hate bugging a tenant, but if I don't get the subsequent rent on time I follow up immediately.

Sounds good.

[ben2go]

Let's put our heads together and come up with a solution.Maybe petition the boat licensing agencies(DNR here) to allow marinas to turn over boats to salvage companies(us).As far as boats found adrift or beached,they should be fair game for us.Most of us can tell if a boat is abandoned or beached for storage.

[Dave Wright]

NO NEED DAVE Please!!!

This will just turn into a HATEFULL thread on homless people.

I was a live aboard and my boat was one of the best looking in the harbor.

I will not say anything else. I just do not want a bunch of hateful statments and photos of ratty boats appearing.

Thanks DAVE.

Wow! I think some sort of communication error took place here Don! I didn't intend to point the conversation in the direction it sems to be going, but if I'm to blame then I'm sorry!

I think I mentioned the deliberate sinking of derelict boats by a Tacoma marina operator, and the abandonment of a couple of 150 foot floating drydocks in Lake Washington - vessels that may have been sold to an intoxicated homeless man by an irresponsible prior owner.

I think I indicated that the costs were high to clean up the messes and I felt the vessel owners should be held responsible in some way.

But now I sense that I've somehow paved the way for a whole different tone and direction in this conversation - a direction indicated by your capitalized "hateful" word. I don't want to make anyone unhappy; I didn't intend to make anyone unhappy.

If something has gone wrong here Don, tell me what it is and I'll see if I can make amends to your satisfaction.

[stevedwyer]

Then there are the boats that are abandoned in the sense that the owner, having put the boat up for sale, ceases minimal upkeep.
I've looked at many boats lately that sit, deteriorating in value, as the owner maintains a high asking price.

I know it must be hard to accept that "your baby" would be better off in the hands of someone who would care for her, and actually go sailing.
But the thought of recouping your investment seems to prevail.

Here's one that should go in the water this year...
http://www.yachtworld.com/core/listing/pl_boat_full_detail.jsp?slim=quick&boat_id=1795089&ybw=&units=Feet&currency=USD&access=Public&listing_id=54589&url= Jeeze what a long link!
I tried to buy her, but alas, the owner would not budge. Maybe someone, desiring a boat of this type, will have better luck.

Can't help thinking some of these boats are "at risk".
On a very sad day, many years ago, my Dad gave away his 40ft wooden sail boat to the Sea Scouts, rather than let her fall into disrepair.