Why are so many derelict boats sailboats?

[lestersails]

Originally Posted by mvweebles

On an extreme budget, an old sailboat with blown sails is more serviceable than an old powerboat with blown engines. Add the romance of nautical adventure and the sense that the wind is free, it's small wonder that the derelict boat path frequently includes a sailboat as the platform.

Peter

I am thinking along the same lines as Peter. I speculate that sailboats falsely appeal to people without much resources due to their 'free' propulsion. I think that everyone knows that it costs a fortune to keep their tanks full. And if sailboats attract such people, more of them are likely to go completely bust when the fantasy of 'free' is dispelled.

[JasC]

Originally Posted by Albinvega27

In the past we were considered romantics, apassionate and adventurers. Today, specially girls are looking for comfort, luxury and show off. Even the 50+ ladies are rejecting classics and "beautiful" boats. They want to have 50+ and 60+ foot boats, with grill, freezer on board, air conditioning, helicopter landing place and jet skies under the rudder. The boats require 2 wheels, since they don´t want to stand inclined on the deck, but have the comfort. Behind the wheel you need to install a chair which moves with the heeling and the winches have to be electronic. The boat requires 2 additional beds, for the massage boy and for the boy toy...

We are living in 2021, the year of the ultimate adventure... not to forget you require NETFLIX on the boat, so they don´t miss Orange is the new black...

Great post.You made me chuckle.

[oceanluvr]

Those 'dreams' of sailing away into the sunset, sipping piña coladas on the beach soon turn to the realization that sailing is as full of good days/bad days as life on the hard. Add to the mix confined space, weather, repairs, argumentative mates etc, etc....

[hpaabor]

I would suggest its an issue of what is actually valued. The value of my house adjusted for inflation is about 10 times what I paid for it. Public property seems to be valued a lot less now. We read about it but we don't live in it or use it. If those boats were abandoned on someone's lawn or gated community or even roadway - they would be moved first and discussed later. It would not wait for a pie social. Even with the moving the question only becomes where it goes to. In real (money) terms it seems not to be worth changing from the out of sight water location to the out of sight land location (landfill). The passing boater might be offended but probably not enough to pay towards having it moved. I can remember marveling at people that basically brought their basement apartment to the great outdoors and never actually left the apartment. Now it comes with high speed internet and Netflix. That's where our world is. We don't live in the world that the apartment happens to be at. I'm not expressing this very well but another example for me is the shocking news that New York is looking to find ways of not paying to maintain the Erie Barge Canal. A tragedy in my mind but perfectly rational given that the last time I went through it there was hardly anyone using it. Its a question of what the public values in real - money and resources - terms. P.S. It really hurts when the forum add algorithm choses a Walmart commode add for me

[Woodland Hills]

Originally Posted by Albinvega27

In the past we were considered romantics, apassionate and adventurers. Today, specially girls are looking for comfort, luxury and show off. Even the 50+ ladies are rejecting classics and "beautiful" boats. They want to have 50+ and 60+ foot boats, with grill, freezer on board, air conditioning, helicopter landing place and jet skies under the rudder. The boats require 2 wheels, since they don´t want to stand inclined on the deck, but have the comfort. Behind the wheel you need to install a chair which moves with the heeling and the winches have to be electronic. The boat requires 2 additional beds, for the massage boy and for the boy toy...

We are living in 2021, the year of the ultimate adventure... not to forget you require NETFLIX on the boat, so they don´t miss Orange is the new black...

Only in a lonely sailors dreams were they ever considered romantic and passionate adventurers! Sailors and port workers have historically been considered to be amongst the lowest of the various classes of transient workers. Commercial fishermen can be included in there too. The docks and dockside bars and eateries have always been considered shady and dangerous places which decent women and men avoided at all costs. If the dockside prostitutes didn’t give a disease then you could always get drugged and shanghaied.

Or are you referring to the fancy dress yachtsman at the member’s only yacht and sailing clubs? Are they the romantic and passionate adventurers?

[Bmorgan562]

Originally Posted by Woodland Hills

We have only lived on our boat full time for three years, but in that time I’ve noticed that nearly all the abandoned, 1/2 sunken or derelict boats are sailboats of one sort or another. In our yearly travels from the Keys to Long Island Sound it is extremely rare to see a powerboat beached or abandoned, but not sailboats. There seem to be many more powerboats than sailboats if one includes all the center consoles and skiffs, yet proportionally there are many more sailors who appear to have walked away from their boats leaving someone else to clean up.
Any possible explanation?

I’ll answer you. With another question. Why does poverty exist?

[hpaabor]

Originally Posted by Bmorgan562

I’ll answer you. With another question. Why does poverty exist?

I have always attributed this quote to Kurt Vonnegut but I scoured the internet without finding it so I will claim it.

Its no shame to be poor in America but it ought to be.

[Sailor_Jeff]

I think it's also the age of the owners. Yes, power boats go on trailers and die in back lots. Most sailboats are owned by older people no longer addicted to childish speed and bling. Then a heart attack or cancer happens then family inherits and young idiots don't know what they have and abandons it. Estates typically don't know how to care for nor market a sailboat.

[lestersails]

Originally Posted by Woodland Hills

What about those who don’t go sailing/boating for adventure? Who simply want to spend peaceful days living on the water with all the comforts of home? What’s wrong with that?
News flash! Not everyone has the same goals as you do, does that make them any less valid than your intentions? What’s is so wrong with living full time on the water in relative luxury, in what possible way does anyone else’s choices impact you anyway?

Or are you so hyper-sensitive and full of yourself that the mere existence of others making different choices in living their lives is an affront?

Here's one reason: Nearly every single one of them is discharging sewage into the water.

[LoudMusic]

Observation bias. I'd agree there are MORE derelict sailboats, but there are a LOT of abandoned power boats as well.

[Sand crab]

I'm reminded of the elderly gent who purchased a brand new $150,000 powerboat in Sweden I think. He parked at a marina then promptly forgot that he owned it. Some time later the marina was going to repossess the brand new boat for unpaid moorage fees. Somehow the owner was located or found out about it and paid up.

The moral of this story is that the boats aren't abandoned, we just forget about them.

[lockep]

Originally Posted by wingssail

I won't speculate on WHY you see mostly sailboats. I also see that. And I agree about how they become derelict and abandoned.

But what do we do to stop this trend?

I consider it a problem with inadequate local law enforcement and weak laws concerning boat ownership and insurance coverage. Localities could require insurance to cover the cost of clearing these boats. Local On-The-Water authorites can inspect arriving boats and require proof of insurance, or posting of a bond. Maybe the patrols can be funded by anchoring fees.

AND, at the time of arrival the authorities can get proof of identity so they know who to go after if the boat becomes a derelict.

Anchoring and insuring for clearing should be a cost of ownership.

Let's not get the government involved. They screw up everything they touch.

[Peace-o-cake]

Angry much?

Originally Posted by Albinvega27

In the past we were considered romantics, apassionate and adventurers. Today, specially girls are looking for comfort, luxury and show off. Even the 50+ ladies are rejecting classics and "beautiful" boats. They want to have 50+ and 60+ foot boats, with grill, freezer on board, air conditioning, helicopter landing place and jet skies under the rudder. The boats require 2 wheels, since they don´t want to stand inclined on the deck, but have the comfort. Behind the wheel you need to install a chair which moves with the heeling and the winches have to be electronic. The boat requires 2 additional beds, for the massage boy and for the boy toy...

We are living in 2021, the year of the ultimate adventure... not to forget you require NETFLIX on the boat, so they don´t miss Orange is the new black...

[tamicatana]

Originally Posted by hpaabor

I have always attributed this quote to Kurt Vonnegut but I scoured the internet without finding it so I will claim it.

Its no shame to be poor in America but it ought to be.

Because you have the quote, which is from SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE, completely inverted:
“ America is the wealthiest nation on Earth, but its people are mainly poor, and poor Americans are urged to hate themselves. To quote the American humorist Kin Hubbard, 'It ain’t no disgrace to be poor, but it might as well be.' It is in fact a crime for an American to be poor, even though America is a nation of poor. Every other nation has folk traditions of men who were poor but extremely wise and virtuous, and therefore more estimable than anyone with power and gold. No such tales are told by the American poor. They mock themselves and glorify their betters. The meanest eating or drinking establishment, owned by a man who is himself poor, is very likely to have a sign on its wall asking this cruel question: 'if you’re so smart, why ain’t you rich?' There will also be an American flag no larger than a child’s hand – glued to a lollipop stick and flying from the cash register.

Americans, like human beings everywhere, believe many things that are obviously untrue. Their most destructive untruth is that it is very easy for any American to make money. They will not acknowledge how in fact hard money is to come by, and, therefore, those who have no money blame and blame and blame themselves. This inward blame has been a treasure for the rich and powerful, who have had to do less for their poor, publicly and privately, than any other ruling class since, say Napoleonic times. Many novelties have come from America. The most startling of these, a thing without precedent, is a mass of undignified poor. They do not love one another because they do not love themselves.”
Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five

[Shrew]

1) Good luck finding a 30 - 35 foot powerboat that runs for under 5K.

2) The target market for these boats are allured to the idea that they can be moved for free.