T&T: Abandoned boats on the hard

[Lawrence Zeitlin]

Apparently most boats are not abandoned because owners want to get  
out of bank loans or are engaging in insurance fraud. The New York  
Times story on abandoned boats that I referred to a couple of days  
ago contains this passage:

"Marina and maritime officials around the country say they believe,  
however, that most of the abandoned vessels cluttering their waters  
are fully paid for. They are expensive-to-maintain toys that have  
lost their appeal.
The owners cannot sell them, because the secondhand market is  
overwhelmed. They cannot afford to spend hundreds of dollars a month  
mooring and maintaining them. And they do not have the thousands of  
dollars required to properly dispose of them."

>> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/01/business/01boats.html?  
>> _r=1&ref=business
>>

This was confirmed today by the owner of the boat yard where my  
trawler is laid up for winter storage. He stated that every year  
boats are abandoned in his yard while still on the blocks. Owners in  
financial trouble cannot pay their yard fees and simply walk away  
from their toy. The yard is located in the middle of IBM territory  
and a number of employees keep their boats in the yard. When the  
employee is transferred (or loses his job) the boats are often just  
left. Simply walking away from the boat has happened quite frequently  
over the last couple of years as IBM and other technology employers  
are downsizing.

My own fairly small trawler costs me about $3500 per year in fixed  
fees. That's before any maintenance, painting, marina fees and  
cruising costs are added on. I estimate the overall cost for the joy  
of being on the water is about $7000 a year exclusive of major  
repairs. Last year a new shaft and bearing job cost me over $5000. It  
would be an expensive toy to support if I was worried about my job.

The normal recourse of the yard owner is to slap a mechanic's lien on  
the boat and prevent the boat owner from removing it until the bill  
is paid. But that doesn't seem to bother most who have left their  
boats. Often the boat is worth less than the accumulated bill. Even a  
charity donation is difficult since charities are reluctant to take  
boats they can't sell. The yard owner has become a de facto broker.  
He has resorted to posting a list of boats whose owners are behind in  
their bills and tries to arrange a sale between potential buyers and  
debtors. Often the boat sells at a small fraction of its value in a  
normal market. That way everyone is happy. The boat owner is rid of  
the financial albatross. The yard owner gets paid. The buyer gets a  
bargain.

Larry Z