MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. ”” Boat owners are abandoning ship.
They often sandpaper over the names and file off the registry numbers, doing their best to render the boats, and themselves, untraceable. Then they casually ditch the vessels in the middle of busy harbors, beach them at low tide on the banks of creeks or occasionally scuttle them outright.
The bad economy is creating a flotilla of forsaken boats. While there is no national census of abandoned boats, officials in coastal states are worried the problem will only grow worse as unemployment and financial stress continue to rise. Several states are even drafting laws against derelicts and say they are aggressively starting to pursue delinquent owners.
“Our waters have become dumping grounds,” said Maj. Paul R. Ouellette of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. “It’s got to the point where something has to be done.”
This was on the front page of Wednesday’s Times–I had no idea this was going on. Read it all.
I’m not terribly surprised, dock fees being what they are. But it is a pity these aren’t simply donated. There are a number of organizations that take donated boats. One in North Florida takes donated boats and fixes them up as project boats to teach troubled kids useful trade skills. That’s the probable destination of the little sail boat I left behind when I moved to Atlanta. I’ll post the name if I can get it from my dad, who told me about it.
boats are really the proverbial canary in the coalmine, one of the very first things people dispense with in tough economic times. here’s another article from the region about this:
Are boats moored off Hilton Head polluting shellfish beds? Town says no, DHEC says maybe
http://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/story/791089.html
Let me know where to go pick one up!!!
Maybe D’Ohbama can gather them up and flotilla them to Cuba and Haiti – where the mooring fees are probably non-existent – and the current owners could legally write them off. Most of the marina owners are nor “owners” but lease their marinas from some government entity – a series of little monopolies.
Alas, Juandeveras,
People in Cuba aren’t allowed to have boats unless they have a special permit from the govt.
Carol,
Same here.
You have to have a special permit (hence the registration numbers being filed off) before you can legally float your boat. The old saying about a boat being a hole in the water into which one pours money is very accurate, which is probably why so many are abandoning their ships.
However, there should be a better way to get rid of them than illustrated in the story. Isn’t there a ‘boat junk yard’ somewhere? Money making proposition, folks!