Sad Boats

[Captain Smollett]

In the Destinations forum, CapnK wrote

she was in *sad* shape. Had dual waterlines - inside and out.

This got me to thinking: it's a sad thing to see neglected (or damaged) boats.  What are some 'sad boat' you've seen?

In the sailing club in which I used to be a member, we had a Mac 26 on a trailer that was purchased new mid-80's and only sailed once.  The hull was permanently deformed from sitting in once place on the trailer, there were trees growing in it, hull was photoxidized, etc.  The mast was still up, but rigging decayed.

The story goes that their first sail was a bit scary.  But the wierd thing is that they never even tried to sell her.  In fact, they continued to pay membership at the club for 20 years.

What a waste.  A boat wants life in her...to sail, to work the waves, to run aground occasionally (soft ground) to keep humble, to live.  To die ignominously on a trailer, not even in water, with hardly the taste of water on her hull in fact, must be the worst fate for a boat.

  :(

[The Edge]

The Edge is sitting in my driveway, on her trailer.  I am heading out without her.  I feel like crying. :(

[s/v Faith]

I am down to my boat nearly every day.

  The boat I walk past in the slip next to mine is a sad boat.  The 'River Rambler' is a Lancer(?) 26.  She is something of a mystery in our marina.  She has sat for at least 8 years without ever once leaving the slip (and she looks it). The owner pays his slip fee, but has never come down in the time I have been there or in as long as the current marina staff have worked there.

  Some in the marina hate that old boat, and look forward to the day her lines finally rot and she drifts away..... or sinks.

  One afternoon I walked past this last fall, and I noticed her cockpit drains had finally clogged.  The water was soaking the bottom companionway board.  Would not be long now.

  I went onboard Faith, grabbed my pump and a coat hanger.  I cleared the drains, and opened the cockpit locker, there was no sign of water there.  When I was done, I went back aboard and grabbed a couple of old dock lines.  I set a new spring and replaced the stern line that was nearly chafed through.

  The river Rambler is a sad boat.  But I can't help but wonder if there might be some guy sitting in a room somewhere.  Sitting maybe even dreaming some of the same dreams as some of us have.  Maybe he is to old, or sick to make it down to the water.  Maybe that boat gets used in a way that some will never understand.

  Maybe even sad boats have their place in the world.

[djn]

I just bought a 25' catalina that was used as a party barge for two years.  The privious owner before the guy I bought the boat from, put on a new Johnson 9.9, new mainsil, new furling jib, new Harkin furler, new AM/FM/CD and four speakers in the cabin and two in the cockpit, and all new cushions just before he sold it.  The guy I bought it from never sailed it and when I bought the boat, I carried three big garbage bags full of beer cans and Doritos bags off the boat.  He was in financial trouble and I ended up getting the boat for $1300.00  The new cushions throughout the boat cost the guy $1321.00

[Jack Tar]

[Dougcan]

Struck speechless 'eh Jack?  ;D

[starcrest]

actually sad boats should be considered for the artificial reef project.if people can live in them so can the fish.I know of some cars that would be perfect also.

[Rockdoctor]

Sad wooden boat rescue
http://www.woodenboatrescue.org/carview.php
Free boat-some assembly required

[Pixie Dust]

I see so many boats that just sit in their slips year after year.  Torn sails, thick mold, barnacles on the bottom.  I feel so sorry for them.  they never get to "go out and play."  When I get to Pixie Dust, I feel like she is dancing in the slip saying "Where are we going today?  Are we going out to play?"   I always feel like she is having fun when her sails are full and she is heeled over cruising along.  I feel sad myself when I see "sad" boats.  Often times though, it is careers, health, aging, aging parents or finances that get in the way.  These folks keep thinking they will have time again eventually.  Sadly, it often does not change.  I never understand people who keep paying dock fees for something they never use.  If my life ever changes to the point that I cannot take PD out to play, I have promised myselt that I will find her another good home. 
You guys are also correct.  The artificial reef program is a wonderful program.  Also there is a local regatta that takes boats, owners can claim a tax donation, and the boats are auctioned off to raise money for a local Cancer Foundation.   Everyone wins on this one... including the sad boat.   

[starcrest]

when you look at any boat it is a direct correlation to the one who ones it.that person is propably a sad person too.one one side of me there is a hapilly married couple living on a motorboat,never an arguement heard.directly they have the friendliest dog imaginable.then on the otherside,there is a motorboat with an american guy shacked up with a woman from saigon.the vietnam war realy never ended,and they are living proof.they are always argueing at like 3am,and as a direct result...they have a mean mutt that is always snarling at everyone.back in viet nam that dog woulda been on the dinnerplate.what I am saying is,a boat is a direct  result of its owner.

[captedteach]

These are the VERY boats I look for all the time.  I've picked up about six of these in the last few years, completely gone thru them and sold them to new homes where I hope they are getting used. I sent a MacGreggor 22 to FL  and a Catalina 22 to AR most of the others have stayed in MS.  I think I'm heading to some slips in a week or two to look for another one

[AllAboutMe]

captedteach,
Are you able to make any sort of a profit at this? I have three project boats I'm working on, as a hobbyist, and hoping to make it pay. What're the chances?
Larry

[Coastal Cruiser]

(sung to the tune of "The Drunken Sailor")
by Rita Walpole Ague, aboard M/V Derreen,
All Rights Reserved, 2000
Surveyed the boat at time of buying,
Broker said, "It's no use lying.
She needs work, there's no denying,
Soon you'll know what (clap) BOAT means."

Chorus:
Bring Out Another Thousand
Bring Out Another Thousand
Bring Out Another Thousand
Soon we'll know what (clap) BOAT means.

Prop shaft's leaking, needs new packing.
Cushion's rotted, mold in backing.
Radar's old, it won't keep tracking.
Soon we'll know what (clap) BOAT means.

Chorus

Bilge pump's failing, needs replacement.
Hatch is cracking, needs new casement.
West Marine's no bargain basement.
Soon we'll know what (clap) BOAT means.

Chorus

Bright work's needed, compound, waxing.
Registration, time for taxing.
New gen set, our credit's maxing.
Soon we'll know what (clap) BOAT means.

Chorus

Work is finished, we've weighed anchor.
We love cruising, bear no rancor.
But it's not cheap, we've told our banker -
Now we know what (clap) BOAT means.

Final Chorus:

Bring Out Another Thousand
Bring Out Another Thousand
Bring Out Another Thousand
Now we know what (clap) BOAT means.

[s/v Faith]

(sung to the tune of "The Drunken Sailor")
by Rita Walpole Ague, aboard M/V Derreen

;D

[Pixie Dust]

Coastal Cruiser- Loved the song and AMEN.  Funny though, I can write those checks for the boat without drawing a deep breath, but when it comes to that house and the car, it is torture.   I always think what I could have purchased for PD with "that" money.    :D

[Coastal Cruiser]

Coastal Cruiser- Loved the song and AMEN.  Funny though, I can write those checks for the boat without drawing a deep breath, but when it comes to that house and the car, it is torture.   I always think what I could have purchased for PD with "that" money.    :D

Here you go, all ready to launch. Where are you? No rebuilding, and loosing this up and coming season.

[starcrest]

I dont think they buildum like that no more.thats a real bote

[Pixie Dust]

Gorgeous lines on that one! Drop her in my puddle of water.  :)

[Fortis]

Okay..you asked for a sad boat.

This was previously published on the endeavour site, so lets see if I can cut and paste and keep the pics.

What you are about to read is a tale of abject woe and doom. Prepare yourselves.

The other day I was in an unfamiliar part of a familiar marina.
While walking along I noticed the transom of an E24 and thought I would wonder over... Little did I know I was about to encounter an Endeavour that had been tortured and mutilated into this Horror.




is where the terror begins. What is that thing jammed onto the bow? Has someone converted an E24 into a small whaling boat? Like driving past a multi-car wreck on the freeway, I had to take a closer look.

(Side note: The headsail seen on the foredeck is actually a very expensive top-quality racing sail...or at least it once was. People in neighbouring pens state that it has been sitting like that on the foredeck for the last four years. Very bizarre.)



The first thing that came to light was that whatever this thing on the front of the boat was...it had undergone massive change and revision at the hands of a peculiar mind. Reinforcement plates had been welded and riveted to the inside of the angle-iron frame. Fairleads that may have had some purpose early on where now just hanging on like barnacles in places they could not achieve anything. To make it so much more special though, the entire frame was made of mild steel and had been painted (possibly dipped, or more accurately sculpted onto) with bituminous latex in a remarkable shade of baby-cack. Anyone that has retiled their own bathroom will be familiar with bituminous latex; it is the moisture barrier you paint onto the undersurface in preparation to tiling. It is not UV stable and tends to go runny. Our hero's solution seems to be to have simply painted on some more over the top until a very organic and disturbing globbiness had been achieved on all surfaces.

(By the way, the little thing at the top of this picture seems to be a home made hawk (complete with its own coating of baby-cack latex. The fact that this is not clear of the wind distortion set up by the sails or, in fact, is not visible when the headsail is up seems to be irrelevant.



The dual bow-rollers at the base of this contraption seem to be a good idea, until you notice that they are made with welded in bits of tube instead of rollers and that the tube is about 18ga (would buckle with strong thumb/forefinger pressure). Since there is not the slightest mark on the latex that is painted on these, I do not think an anchor has ever come close to these.

Before leaving the bow of this aquatic Mad Max vehicle I should point out that what this thing seems to be for is a banana shaped bowsprit that has allowed him to place two extra forestays onto the boat in addition to the original forestay and the baby-stay further back.
The fact that these two stays are hanging slack and there are blocks and fairleads seemingly leading to nowhere managed to keep me awake for a couple of nights trying to puzzle it out. I have decided to quit that before I go mad(der).
The outermost of these extra stays, does have a downhaul.... but it only leads back to the foredeck...so you have to be standing right there to use it anyway. Utterly useless.

Lets move further back along this trainwreck...



This is the mast base...complete with taffrail and belaying pins.... ON A 24FOOTER?!?!?

Also note the HUGE mooring cleats that seem to be woodscrewed into the cabin-top. Yes that is a large crack next to the starboard one. I guess there was never any backing plate.

The "organic" nature of the boat continues with both the grime growing on the deck and the continued use of that bucket of baby-cack bituminous latex. Apparently it works on wood too!




The clever and stylish modification to the windows more or less speaks for itself. This belongs in Better Homes And Gardens...just not a frigging boat!
Notice the quality of application.

Say it with me people, Bituminous Latex..... Oooooh!



Not much to say about the mast except that it features sixteen stainless steel mast steps, all carefully fitted UPSIDE DOWN (the tread is visible on the "underside") and seemingly attached to the mast with mild steel woodscrews. But what about corrosion, I hear you ask, Well fear not, the bottom third (more or less) has been splashed vigorously with that miracle product for happy boating...Bituminous Latex!

So, by this point there really isn't a lot of E24 left. How much worse could it get? Well, please allow me to introduce you to the steering system...



Yes...it gets worse.



Please note the stinkpot compass on the port side. It is completely impossible to use accurately while using the "wheel" on the starboard side. Did I mention that bituminous latex seems to stick to timber?



And as we approach the end of this horror show...here is the elegant and functional steering box that sits atop the rudderpost. Yes that is a very expensive Lumar self-tailing winch. I have absolutely no idea what it is doing there. It does not go to a furler or a sheet or indeed anything else. It just has a coil of rope that doesn't do anything. It is a single winch (not part of a pair).

The elevated mainsheet traveller is kind of bulky (and latex covered, of course) but is understandable and practical in comparison to most everything else done to this poor boat.



Just a shot of the cockpit in all its splattered glory. I particularly like the non-slip safe flooring rubber that is laying around in chunks you can trip over.


And to conclude the tour...



No, you are not seeing triple. This boat really does have three backstays, all mounted within inches of each other. Only the centre one is on a proper chainplate. One of the stays has an insulator for a HF ariel mounted at the bottom, but not at the top. The other clutter is a whip 27meg ariel and a HF ariel all mounted to the back deck in a swiss-cheese sort of arrangement.

There are two fishing rod tubes welded to the pushpit rail...but there is no way to reach them past all this stuff.

Note also the huge stainless fairleads and mooring cleats.

The not unattractive blue used on hatch covers, by the way, is another brand (and thus colour) of bituminous latex. This guy didn't just have a ten litre bucket of the stuff he wanted to use up...he did this with planning and malice aforethought.

The solar panel is overshaded by nearly everything.

I wandered away from this boat a saddened man, my friends. This is obviously what happens to unwary Endeavours that fall into bad company. I am tempted to set up a fund and buy it from this owner and then rehabilitate it into a real boat once more.

Erk...just thought I would share the horror.


Alex.


Do I win for finding the saddest boat?
:)

[s/v Faith]

My God Alex,

  Yes.  You win.  PLEASE no more.....  :o

It must be some kind of a sickness, I had the same idea about purchasing this poor poor sad boat either to repair her or to put her out of her misery.

  Man, I feel bad just looking at those pictures.  :-[