Trojan Boat Forum

A friend sent this link to the NY Times about people abandoning their boats.

A sad story....



http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/01/busin ... 1&emc=eta1[/img]

Hard to imagine people just tossing their boats. You would think someone would take them off there hands, wouldn't you?

WOW - this sailboat is in MY CREEK!



It has been there since November - victim of a strong wind-storm. We looked it over for salvage, but the tiller rudder is broken off and the sails are missing ... taxes haven;t been paid in several years either, while the transom still says Michigan (but the last registration is SC).

The red tag on the rail was put ther 2 weeks ago by SC DNR - stating "Abandoned vessel". There are 3 other "abandoned" (taxes not paid and no anchor lite) sailboats at anchor in our creek as well. I had a 26' O'Day out there for a year myself - but it wasn't abandoned.

Small world!

ok, just in case, anybody out there have a boat they want to get rid of,, Im your man,,,,,

guglielmo6160 wrote:ok, just in case, anybody out there have a boat they want to get rid of,, Im your man,,,,,

I think this guy wants to get rid of his boat...

no THATS a good looking trojan,,,,,
Ill take it

okay, serious question.

if someone runs across a boat they KNOW to be ditched, what's to stop them from snagging it and claiming it for themself?

may sound like a corny question, but seriously. if a boat is still in good enough shape to restore, why don't some do it, if it's do-able?

I'm sure some people do that... but I expect that they are fewer and far between these days in the US.
Heck the prices of decent non abandoned vessels are pretty low... but there are still not enough buyers around to grab them up.

ready123 wrote:I'm sure some people do that... but I expect that they are fewer and far between these days in the US.
Heck the prices of decent non abandoned vessels are pretty low... but there are still not enough buyers around to grab them up.

That's a fact. Of all the friends who've been on my boat and asked where I "found" an older boat in such good condition, every one of them was shocked when I said it was trashed and I renovated the entire boat. Like it's rocket science or something!!
Americans are losing our ability to do things ourselves...scary and sad. I had an old guy tell me last month "I must be rich because I have boat." I told him I was rich with elbow grease.

TC

I guess you could do that, but all will be good until there is an accident, then they start to look at hull numbers etc,,
and then all the dirt usually comes out,
so what you have to ask yourself , is , is it worth it?

Juice

I totally agree with that, alot of people tell me the same thing, but you also have to remember, alot of people, and I do mean a major part of the population, cannot hold a screwdriver in their hands
there is no way in hell that I could own a boat like I do , if I didnt work on it myself,
I often wonder how people that are not in the business are able to afford holding onto a boat, as it is truely expensive to have one, its a luxory only a small part of the population could truely afford. I always say to my friends that buying a boat is super easy, keeping it is not so easy, you really have to love it, or dont bother doing it. If your good with your hands, there are so many boats out there that are avail as projects and if you have the time you can turn a nice profit doing it. My first boat was a 1987 sea ray seville, open bow, no cabin no nothing, 19 foot, which I paid nothing for, a year later I sold it for 3500, of course I spent some money on it, but mostly good old fashioned hard work. From that boat I now have my Trojan, which I made happen with the monies I have made on buying and selling, just in a few weeks, I have appreciated the value of the old girl , as the previous owner did not upgrade some basic items, and never underestimate a good old fashioned cleaning.

Make no mistake it is hard work, but I cant imagine not working with my hands. I love breathing new life into old machines, it makes me feel good
to hold onto something that someone else did not appreciate and take care of
all you have to do is look through ebay and see whats out there, if your willing to put in some time you can have a nice boat for not so much,
unfortunatly keeping it is not so easy, Marinas are expensive, but I just dont take expensive vacations, thats how I justify it

The laws reagading salvage are pretty complex (even on inland waterways)-I almost found out the hard way.
My boat, along with 125 others washed out of the Beaver River (tributary of the Ohio, 14 miles down stream from Pittsburgh). My boat was still tied to a section of dock with about 10 other boats when a tow boat operator snagged the dock and tied it to the bank (about 2 miles upstream from a dam). The process of claiming my boat, "salvaging" it, and getting my insurance company to "man up" was an absolute nightmare.
(there was a guy with a beautifullly restored 1958 Owens Yacht docked about 50 feet up the pier from me that watch it go over the Montgomery Dam-imagine the heartbreak).

up in ipswich i heard of a few scurryed (scurried) sank on purpose...all b/c the price to scrap is too high for them $0.07 per pound....we r not talking yacht owners....but they tow them out about 5 miles and sink them