Sailboat sadness

[got seashells?]

I am in St. Pete Florida and have seen A LOT of Sailboats that seem to be abandoned. in the bay by Tierra Verde there are at least 3 that are so shallow that they are tipping so close to being on their sides at low tide and one is taking on water now. And just today I was in Gulfport and saw 2 that were listing so badly and one that is fully on its side with the sails just floating (still attached)

It truly saddens me to see them like this. The joy they must have at one time brought to their owners seems to have been replaced with neglect.

[ensembull]

You are not alone. I am in Ontario, Canada. You would be amazed at the number of boats left on the hard and never looked at. There are even a few that get launched and hauled each year and never have anything done to them. Some very (or would be) nice boats too.

[Don C L]

I too have noticed many abandoned boats and I don't know if it is my imagination but it seems it is more common now. I wonder what everyone thinks about this. Has sailing lost its appeal? Is it too expensive to own a boat now? Catalina had its factory down the street from me and it closed up a few years back. I can't think of any affordable new boats now. There are many older boats, still great, but the new boat smell has been long gone, and perhaps the younger folks aren't aware of the virtues many of the older boats. Or is it the mystery of sailing and the sea has diminished because of things like Google Earth, and no more blank spots on the map?

[tuffr2]

Kings Bay Crystal River Florida 80 miles north of the OP. Looks like a junk yard for small sailboats with their keels stuck in the mud.



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[Midwesterner]

I've wondered if it isn't due to the age of my slightly older counterparts of the Baby Boom generation. I'm at the point where I can semi-retire and finally have time to sail and liveaboard part of the year.

I've been seeing lots of ads for 20, 30 and 40 year old boats with statements like, "We have grown too old to sail and must sail our boat due to health reasons. Price has been reduced to sell." Some of them sound like good boats, some requiring some TLC and updating, and have remained on the listings for 4 months

It's sad, to think about, but that 70 to 80 year old demographic is one of the largest in the US.

It's sad for them, but it's good for me, because it seems like it is a real buyers market right now for 20 to 30 year old boats. Many sound like they are ready to sail and only need the kind of repairs or upgrades that can be done as the new owner has time and money to do them.

This means that the more needy boats are likely to sit and not get new owners. I'm seeing some boats from the mid 1980's in ads that report being fitted with a new motor a year ago, new sails a year ago and a new hull job with an insurance survey from last season and they are listed for only a few thousand more than some boats with an original engine, 8 year old sails and in need of a bottom job.

Those boats are going to sit in the listings for a while, experience a few price reductions and then eventually get abandoned. I called on one boat where the husband had passed away and a broker was managing the sale for the widow. He admitted that the boat was over priced for the year and condition. The wife wasn't a sailor, but she had written the all checks for a complete bottom job, new sails, new rigging, new electronics and a larger capacity alternator in past three years when her husband was still alive. She thought that she should expect to get back a bigger portion of what they had put into it. The broker hinted that he had tried to advise her otherwise but she told him to keep trying. He encouraged me to make an offer and keep checking back.

I've talked to some older retired sellers who said that they spent a lot of money a year or two ago updating and upgrading their boat to sail, then got sick or disabled but have delayed listing it for sale because they have been hoping that their health would change. Now they have realized that it isn't and they have to sell. If somebody in the same situation dies, I can see where a boat might get forgotten by the heirs.

It seems that I am just in the right age group and era to benefit from my older peers.

[arsenelupiga]

same here in sydney.

you can see sailing mainly very new boats.

Older just sit there and rot, with few exceptions.

I guess older boats have lost appeal as newer have so many improvements.

Is still remember 10 yrs ago when tacking was issue for cats. Cat I have now, never failed to tack. All new boats benefited form computer simulation & statistical analysis. Bigger yard, more simulation they can afford.

[Ribbit]

It's that unmentionable word that begins with a 'D'.

The last one started in 1929.

This one is overdue by about 40 years.

The artificial delay is going to make everybody appreciate the truth of "Payback is a bi***".

Apart from that, the boating industry is killing the grassroots and destroying its future Market.

That's happened to other Markets too.

[Don C L]

So does that mean sailing is now back to being only a rich man's sport? Is there no hope for the middle class in sailing?

[arsenelupiga]

Originally Posted by Ribbit

It's that unmentionable word that begins with a 'D'.

The last one started in 1929.

This one is overdue by about 40 years.

The artificial delay is going to make everybody appreciate the truth of "Payback is a bi***".

Apart from that, the boating industry is killing the grassroots and destroying its future Market.

That's happened to other Markets too.

it will be avoided by unmnetionable word that begins with 'w'

[Tayana42]

Oh the middle class, middle aged, fat around the middle, in mid life crisis is stuck in mid-term economic uncertainty. No hope what so every in the middle of all of this middling short sighted thinking. But all things will eventually meet in the middle. Until then we can just muddle along.


S/V B'Shert

[Ribbit]

Originally Posted by Tayana42

Oh the middle class, middle aged, fat around the middle, in mid life crisis is stuck in mid-term economic uncertainty. No hope what so every in the middle of all of this middling short sighted thinking. But all things will eventually meet in the middle. Until then we can just muddle along.


S/V B'Shert

Oh everything will be alright in the end. But a lot of people aren't going to like what happens between here and the end.

Sonny: "Everything will be all right in the end, and if it's not all right, then it's not yet the end."

Great quote from The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.

The 'W' word doesn't work when there's no money around. The most common quote from the Great Depression, was "Suddenly, there was no money around".

A 'D' lesson that just about everybody has forgotten, is those that put their prices up going into a 'D', never survive the 'D'.

[leftbrainstuff]

Originally Posted by got seashells?

I am in St. Pete Florida and have seen A LOT of Sailboats that seem to be abandoned. in the bay by Tierra Verde there are at least 3 that are so shallow that they are tipping so close to being on their sides at low tide and one is taking on water now. And just today I was in Gulfport and saw 2 that were listing so badly and one that is fully on its side with the sails just floating (still attached)

It truly saddens me to see them like this. The joy they must have at one time brought to their owners seems to have been replaced with neglect.

During our 80 day roadtrip around the US in 2012 / 13 we were shocked at all the junk boats in Florida.

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[Adrenaline]

It is people who think it's a cheap alternative to rent a place on land. They buy a boat cheap and don't realize the cost of owning a boat to keep it in shape, and then they abandon it because it would cost more to repair than they are worth.

I watched the county remove three boats from the river and a month later two more showed up and abandon.

This is and will be a bigger issue in Florida and one day the state is going to make Florida boater pay the cost for these abandon boats!

[Davy J]

What you are seeing is impossible dreams. If you watch this forum, or any other sailing forum, their stories are all about the same, I am moving down from XXX (whatever cold place).

They want to buy a sailboat and set sail over the horizon. Unfortunately, the boat they bought for a few thousand dollars needs sixty-five thousand dollars of repairs and upgrades.

Then the marina starts to cost too much, so I'll just anchor it over here........

Then an every month visit becomes every six months, then about once a year, and then, well I can't remember when I was there last............

Going to ruin it for all of us.............

[tuffr2]

I wonder if we are seeing boats that were in a hurricane/thypoon. Boats that maybe were once in a pile of boats.

Interesting I do not see any powerboats.

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