I have often wondered what happens to old yachts once nobody wants them any longer? When sombody can't sell an old yacht or even give it away for nothing where do they end up?

If it was an old car it would go to the wreckers squashed and sold as scrap metal. Is there such a things as a yacht wreckers? If it's an old timber yacht there might be something of value in the timber itself to make somebody break it up to salvage the wood. But what about old fiberglass hulls once anything of any value has been removed?

Old sailors never die. They just get a bit dinghy.

Many old yachts become mooring minders.

...for an American perspective on your question...

Yes I have seen that vid - not bad really.

But I am referring to yacht that are no longer even good for a mooring minder. Ones that really are at the end of the line. Is there someplace where old hulls go. Or do they just sink on the mooring they are minding - RMS wouldn't tollerate that.

If yu were trying to dispose of an old yacht. Is there anyplace you can take it that will break it up and transport it to land fill?

I am not intending on doing this or needing to dispose of such a vessel any time soon, just curious.

Sad thought trashing a yacht.

It is a sad thought.
Hey sponge bob is that a real bo diddly guitar?

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MatM14 said..

I have often wondered what happens to old yachts once nobody wants them any longer? When sombody can't sell an old yacht or even give it away for nothing where do they end up?

If it was an old car it would go to the wreckers squashed and sold as scrap metal. Is there such a things as a yacht wreckers? If it's an old timber yacht there might be something of value in the timber itself to make somebody break it up to salvage the wood. But what about old fiberglass hulls once anything of any value has been removed?

I did once ponder when I get old as well thought I might set up a heart monitor and when it find my pulse a bit off the Yacht goes into full automation mode pulls anchor and winches in the Genoa and sets sail for a nice spot via the navigation unit ( providing Big ears tony and center link dint take it by then ) and then if I stop pumping the sea cock will open and me the the old boat will go together to Davie Jones place
You can stick your old peoples home up your Jump

That's a good question, in my experience what happens is:

In an anchorage with a high demand for moorings, once a boat gets that bad, people stop paying! They stop the mooring fee, registration, and insurance, and sort of become uncontactable. So RMS try to contact them, eventually with no luck, they the seize the vessel, (after 6 r 8 letters). They remove the boat from its mooring to the local storage facility.

The mooring can then be re-issued to next person on waiting list.

The seized vessel then waits to be claimed, and if not gets sold or auctioned. Usually gets cut up for scrap/landfill......unless some dreamer thinks they can refurbish!

Most jus get cut up and karted to landfill.


In an anchorage with low demand and no waiting list, a lot of boats just sink quietly on their moorings. You say RMS would ot let this happen, but it does happen quite a lot.

I worked at Berowra waters for a few years, and it was common down there.

I raced out of Mosman bay, and even as a very high demand area, there were rumors and talk around the waterfront about boats and moorings that just disappeared during a bad southerly. Sometimes divers, cleaning hulls, would report boats on the bottom!

Not sure what you would do voluntarily if you had an old boat you wanted to get rid of....

I've been in a couple of yards where an excavator has been brought in to crunch up the old yacht into skip bin size pieces :(.

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Supersonic27 said..

That's a good question, in my experience what happens is:

In an anchorage with a high demand for moorings, once a boat gets that bad, people stop paying! They stop the mooring fee, registration, and insurance, and sort of become uncontactable. So RMS try to contact them, eventually with no luck, they the seize the vessel, (after 6 r 8 letters). They remove the boat from its mooring to the local storage facility.

The mooring can then be re-issued to next person on waiting list.

The seized vessel then waits to be claimed, and if not gets sold or auctioned. Usually gets cut up for scrap/landfill......unless some dreamer thinks they can refurbish!

Most jus get cut up and karted to landfill.


In an anchorage with low demand and no waiting list, a lot of boats just sink quietly on their moorings. You say RMS would ot let this happen, but it does happen quite a lot.

I worked at Berowra waters for a few years, and it was common down there.

I raced out of Mosman bay, and even as a very high demand area, there were rumors and talk around the waterfront about boats and moorings that just disappeared during a bad southerly. Sometimes divers, cleaning hulls, would report boats on the bottom!

Not sure what you would do voluntarily if you had an old boat you wanted to get rid of....

In USA there seem to sell them on e bay , the money generated goes to charity once the costs are taken out

There is usually a whole flotilla lined up at waterways blackwattle bay on their way to sailboat heaven

On a side note, last month an old salt careened his yacht against the stone walls in blackwattle bay, tied off to some trees.

It was a real contrast with probably australia's most expensive haul out across the bay

Most of the Sydney yachts either get auctioned off by the MSB or more likely end up with "Maxiyacht1" on eBay. Jonathon does not have any yachts listed on eBay at the moment but he generally sells boats that the owners have reneged on fees etc. Some of these boats are well known racers from years past. Private owners seem to use Gumtree or eBay to move the smaller boats. There was a Flying Fifteen on eBay twice recently for $400 and never got a bid! I was really tempted. The larger yachts sold on eBay seem to be bought by beginners and end up on moorings near me! Have another one coming soon.

Is that the one near Jacobs Well? I saw something similar there a couple of months ago

Yes. Same one. Been there for nearly a year. Nice to see the headsail is still nicely furled.

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Ramona said..

Most of the Sydney yachts either get auctioned off by the MSB or more likely end up with "Maxiyacht1" on eBay. Jonathon does not have any yachts listed on eBay at the moment but he generally sells boats that the owners have reneged on fees etc.

Is this Jonathon the same one who has the Cavalier 28 called Cavort up for sale??

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cisco said..

Ramona said..

Most of the Sydney yachts either get auctioned off by the MSB or more likely end up with "Maxiyacht1" on eBay. Jonathon does not have any yachts listed on eBay at the moment but he generally sells boats that the owners have reneged on fees etc.

Is this Jonathon the same one who has the Cavalier 28 called Cavort up for sale??

Looks like it.

Couple of boats off eBay, that Flying Fifteen is back again!!!!!

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/131161760184?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

And if your looking for a mooring in Moreton Bay!

www.ebay.com.au/itm/121313454046?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

That explains where Jonathan sources his boats and their condition. Quite a good potential profit margin though.

Met a bloke once on Sydney Harbour, no names no pack drill, who told me how he just loved doing up old boats and onselling them to boating beginners. It gave him enormous pleasure he said to be able to introduce them to the joys of boating. And I presume, the same sort of ecstasy that gamblers experience, throwing good money after bad.
The main source of these restorers delights was the Waterways or MSB base at Blackwattle Bay and the reason they were there in the first place was that they were mostly wrecks. Rotten old hulks that had sunk at their moorings or had broken away and washed ashore in a storm. And yes others that after years of neglect
has simply been abandoned by their owners and removed by the Maritime. Most of them after having been bought at auction or aquired from the Maritime are then patched up, tarted up and sold to unsuspecting and unknowledgeable first timers.
If buying a done up boat that came from the Waterways is going to be your first experience of boat ownership it could well be your last having been an unpleasant and expensive learning experience. Best to buy a boat that has been at least partially maintained. The boats that end up at Maritime are there for a reason and it's not because they are sound. Having seen these wrecks at Blackwattle Bay during 40 odd years of sailing on Sydney Harbour and on a mooring in the Balmain area I wouldn't touch one of these things with a barge pole. Just sayin'.

http://www.boatsales.com.au/boats-for-sale/boatdetails.aspx?R=23718622&Silo=Stock&Vertical=Boat&Ridx=14&eapi=2
This would keep you out of the pub for a while boys Just a few slabs worth $2500 gets you a BOAT as Cisco would say

Well I like it! Looks like a plywood hull. Would have been hard to get that curve in the ply near the stern, probably two layers.



Noticed Jonathon's latest sale on eBay[Maxiyachts], the Etchells 30 "Kirribilli" sold for just over $2000. Staggeringly good buy!

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Ramona said..

Well I like it! Looks like a plywood hull. Would have been hard to get that curve in the ply near the stern, probably two layers.



Noticed Jonathon's latest sale on eBay[Maxiyachts], the Etchells 30 "Kirribilli" sold for just over $2000. Staggeringly good buy!

I some how feel the same Ramona she would have looked nice in her hay day

There's a boat graveyard in Mordialloc in front of Pompei Marine.


I'm sure Bayside council hate it. It's an eye sore.

That Pompeii is real junk, about 50 m from Nepean hwy.
Your remember the one in Seaford off Dandenong - Frankston Rd.
Most boat end up on property right before Yaringa marina.