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BlackOak · 04-12-2012, 13:49

I dont know why I felt that way, but it made me so sad I couldnt stay an watch it happening. Today, at the end of my dock, these guys towed in and tied up this 30' Irwin.

After it was tied up, out came the tools and the dissassembly began. It had been sitting derelect on a mooring ball, from what they said, for about 7 years or so. The owner was never found, and so the Florida Game & Fish said it was time for it to go. I stood there watching them with the hacksaws, bolt cutters, and wrenches, taking things off the boat and tossing the pieces into a little flatbottom skiff. For some reason it made me sad to see this boat being cannibalized, and I had to walk away. I took these photos, to keep in my online scrapbook, so this sailing vessel would not be forgotten. Is that weird to yall?
Anyway, one of the guys said that tomorrow it will be drug up the boat ramp, and put in a dump truck. I dont think I will be able to watch that either. Its sad to me to see a boat die like that. Personally, I would prefer to see it taken out and sunk in deep water, at least that seems more appropiate.

sailorboy1 · 04-12-2012, 13:53

sad maybe in the same way an accident victim becomes an organ donor

MarkJ · 04-12-2012, 14:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackOak

Personally, I would prefer to see it taken out and sunk in deep water, at least that seems more appropiate.

That's a lot of plastic to pollute the sea with.

It's just a conveyance. Trash it into the trash like the garbage it has become. Maybe if its lucky some can be recycled, but the rest is land fill. Better there than plasticising the oceans

GaryMayo · 04-12-2012, 14:41

That's where I parked that! S#/t!

Khagan1227 · 04-12-2012, 14:42

I've always wondered about people that would let a boat go like that.

Makes you wonder if the owner died suddenly, or the cost to keep the boat became more than the boat was worth.

Better to be put in a landfill than dumped at sea. We've already done a pretty good job polluting the oceans.

maytrix · 04-12-2012, 14:45

The only thing I find sad about something like this is that the boat sat for 7 years and the owner(s) get nothing for it. Someone could have taken it 7 years ago and probably had a good boat. Heck, someone could probably have taken it now and turned it into a good boat. Clearly it still floats - that's certainly a good start!

Rhapsody-NS27 · 04-12-2012, 14:48

it'll buff out.. lol

Kettlewell · 04-12-2012, 15:00

That's one thing I really like about wooden boats--they are biodegradable.

MarkJ · 04-12-2012, 16:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

That's one thing I really like about wooden boats--they are biodegradable.

After hundreds of years. Before that they are just an anchoring hazard.

Kettlewell · 04-12-2012, 16:48

Well, if you don't want to wait until a wooden boat biodegrades you can always cut it up and use the good pieces and burn the leftovers. A lot of boatyards have had to do that, sadly. The fiberglass boats for the most part just get shoved off into the weeds somewhere and sit. Though there really isn't much to breaking up a fiberglass boat into pretty small pieces that can then get dumped in a landfill somewhere.

MarkJ · 04-12-2012, 16:56

You lot ought to stop being so miserably sentimental. The boats as probably on the market for years and where were you then?

When the owner said "Must Sell" where were you then?

Why didnt you buy it then?

Because it was a load of crap on H2O. That's why. So why do you crap on now? You had your chance.

Look at the web, Craig's List and many more and see all those boat there. Either buy them or make the realization of what they are.

ArtM · 04-12-2012, 17:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackOak

Anyway, one of the guys said that tomorrow it will be drug up the boat ramp, and put in a dump truck. I dont think I will be able to watch that either. Its sad to me to see a boat die like that. Personally, I would prefer to see it taken out and sunk in deep water, at least that seems more appropiate.

I think this confirms a now-long-standing theory of mine that bare hulls are not worth much. I suspect (but haven't yet proven) that attempting to recycle old sailboat hulls is more expensive than simply building a new one.

Fiberglass hulls are "relatively" new in the world, and we are likely just entering the time where the availability of scrap hulls will reach epidemic levels. Someone will find a way to recycle these things in way that is economical when put in combination with anti-dumping mandates that make it expensive to not recycle them.

Unfortunately, that will also increase the regulations on boat owners who are responsible for their moored boats

Wand · 04-12-2012, 17:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkJ

The boat was a load of crap on H2O. That's why.

But that's true of every plastic boat

The best thing to do with these plastic pretenders is to drag them to your fave fishing grounds and scuttle them - fish love'em...bless'em.

**David M** · 04-12-2012, 17:39

On the positive side they are getting rid of one of hundreds of thousands of boats that nobody wants that are filling up our marinas and rivers. Perhaps we need to think more of old unwanted boats as what we would have if we never scrapped old worthless cars...piles of junk clogging up our streets and driveways.

It would be illegal to dump a boat made of plastic or has plastic on board in any body of water in international waters and the territorial waters of the US.