Boat taken, stripped and trashed

[gazza]

if you do take on the refit of this boat, i wish you the best of luck.

 

re the sentimentality bit. i am un/fourtunate enought to have been blessed with this quaility. to this end it means i now have a fair collection of motorcylces, some of which i have raced with reasonable success. if i used my head, they would have been moved on before they had a value of about 50p, but as i am rather attached to them for various different reasons they stay in the barn.

 

same goes for cars, i have been known to shed the odd tear when it comes to going to the scrap yard in the sky.

 

my mayland has been in either my dads or my ownership for about 17 years now. it has a fair amount of memories attached to it now. to say i would be upset if it was trashed would be an understatement.

 

lump of steel/plastic with no emotional attachment? think i will disagree with you here chap, but the point is, my opinion is not the last word

Edited February 5, 2009 by gazza

[GRPCruiserman]

if you do take on the refit of this boat, i wish you the best of luck.

 

re the sentimentality bit. i am un/fourtunate enought to have been blessed with this quaility. to this end it means i now have a fair collection of motorcylces, some of which i have raced with reasonable success. if i used my head, they would have been moved on before they had a value of about 50p, but as i am rather attached to them for various different reasons they stay in the barn.

 

same goes for cars, i have been known to shed the odd tear when it comes to going to the scrap yard in the sky.

 

my mayland has been in either my dads or my ownership for about 17 years now. it has a fair amount of memories attached to it now. to say i would be upset if it was trashed would be an understatement.

 

lump of steel/plastic with no emotional attachment? think i will disagree with you here chap, but the point is, my opinion is not the last word

 

This is strange as I have no sentimentality when it comes to cars, even my old Capris which I loved driving, all car decisions are made totally on economic grounds; I once scrapped a perfectly good old Volvo as the alternator cost £125 (strange fit) and the car was only worth about £100!! There was no rust on it but couldn't get a second hand alternator anywhere.

 

Boats are different though, I have a Glen-L squirt speed boat which needs a new transom and all the plywood; ie it's just the frame thats good, but I hang on to it, sat rotting in the garden!!

[gazza]

off topic i know!! for my first car i had a 1600 l capri that bore no mechanical resemblance to what mr ford intended by the time i finished with it. a mate of mine was in need of a car and as i had caved in and purchased a diesel fiesta (saving for house purchase 50 odd mpg campared to 20 odd!!) i sold it to him for not a lot of money, shed a few tears as it went up the road without me in it!!

[WJM]

I constantly meet people who are angry with the world and angry with how poor their lot in life is. The consistently common factor, every time, is not that they are lazy or unlucky. It is that they pour their efforts into pointless low-return endeavors. Happiness comes from making sure your efforts produce a return that is worthwhile. Spending six months slaving over a boat refit is a worthy endeavor, if the starting point, ie: the shell, is worth the effort. A tired old Springer is not worth it. Get a better shell. Then in two, five or ten years you will not be cursing the cost of re-plating or scrapping. In life you have to make your own luck, and that can mean not building a house on sand.

Edited February 5, 2009 by WJM

[Hairy-Neil]

If it wasnt for peoples hearts ruling their heads.....

 

There would be no canals.....

[Hairy-Neil]

Happiness comes from making sure your efforts produce a return that is worthwhile.

 

Fortunately there's lots of people less mercenary than WJM or we'd have no IWA, waterway recovery group and no canals. A return needn't be monetary to be worthwhile....

[bottle]

I can understand your point (WJM) but do not necessarily agree, the boat in question has already been re-plated so it is a sound shell.

 

Yes, it may well be 'just' a Springer but for this family she is their boat and may well go on for many years.

 

The happiness from rebuilding her cannot be measured in monetary returns, it may well return something that is priceless.

[GRPCruiserman]

I constantly meet people who are angry with the world and angry with how poor their lot in life is. The consistently common factor, every time, is not that they are lazy or unlucky. It is that they pour their efforts into pointless low-return endeavors. Happiness comes from making sure your efforts produce a return that is worthwhile. Spending six months slaving over a boat refit is a worthy endeavor, if the starting point, ie: the shell, is worth the effort. A tired old Springer is not worth it. Get a better shell. Then in two, five or ten years you will not be cursing the cost of re-plating or scrapping. In life you have to make your own luck, and that can mean not building a house on sand.

 

Personally I dont believe you make your own luck; there have been times in my life when I've been VERY lucky; and times when I've been very unlucky. The time spent on the Dawncraft brought loads and loads of bad luck; perhaps I'm superstitious; but in my experience that's what seems to happen.

 

I know a couple who are the nicest people in the world; they cant do enough for other people, friendly, generous, just really nice, and the bad luck they've had over the last few years is unbelievable. Then I know of some pretty nasty people who have there own, succesful business, and just seem to fall lucky with opportunities.

 

Maybe you have to be nasty to be lucky?? Dont know; all I know is the OP on this thread has had some rotten luck NOT through their own making, so to me that suggests that it's not always the case that you make your own luck.

 

Although I'm not very well off financially; I do see myself overall as reasonabley lucky; I have (albeit small) my own flat and a loving family with several children so to me that is good luck.

[WJM]

I never mentioned money. I meant the heartache of being told two years down the line that the boat is even beyond re-plating. You could take that on the chin if you just had ten years of easy enjoyment from it. But if you knuckles are still bleeding from a massive refit then it is going to hurt like mad! A Springer is on borrowed time. Dont store up misfortune, make your own good luck. My advice to the OP is to seize this opportunity to forge a new beginning. And anyway is unlikely that the boat that was perfect twenty years ago is still the right one for you now. Traveling forwards is generally the best way to make progress.

[alan_fincher]

WJM,

 

Can you please pont us at the boatyards, scrapyards or whatever that are cutting up the oldest Springers in large numbers.

 

I may be out of touch, but I've never yet seen a Springer scrapping facility.

 

Am I just cruising the wrong waterways ?

[chris w]

Personally I dont believe you make your own luck; Maybe you have to be nasty to be lucky?? Dont know; all I know is the OP on this thread has had some rotten luck NOT through their own making,

 

...............so to me that suggests that it's not always the case that you make your own luck.

Sounds like you have had an epiphany in a few sentences, going from the one emboldened statement above to the other.

 

Someone once said, "Luck is where opportunity meets preparation". Well the thieves got "lucky" because they came across an opportunity where insufficient preparation had been done by the OP.

 

I have nothing but sympathy for the OP but, if the boat is left where it is vulnerable, not immobilised and is not alarmed etc etc, then it's not just bad luck that it was taken and trashed. I'm not trying to lessen the heartache to the OP, just debating your assertion that some people are "lucky" and others "unlucky".

 

Chris

[Yoda]

I think that all of you are missing a point here. The people who committed this crime are likely to do it again. Then it will become the norm to strip boats.

 

Another point is that Springer's are likely to become collectable in the future so worth more money due to their rarity.

 

With the cost of raw materials increasing, it would be better that the family rebuilds the boat themselves. Then at their pace they can have a better interior than before.

[Hairy-Neil]

I think that all of you are missing a point here. The people who committed this crime are likely to do it again. Then it will become the norm to strip boats.

 

I don't think so. The folks that make a living like this are opportunists. Today they strip copper from a boat, tomorrow its the lead off the church roof, the next its catalytic converters from cars. Do it at random then move on with your transit and caravan...... If you just nicked copper and brass from boats on the Coventry canal you would soon get rumbled.....

[Naughty Cal]

I constantly meet people who are angry with the world and angry with how poor their lot in life is. The consistently common factor, every time, is not that they are lazy or unlucky. It is that they pour their efforts into pointless low-return endeavors. Happiness comes from making sure your efforts produce a return that is worthwhile. Spending six months slaving over a boat refit is a worthy endeavor, if the starting point, ie: the shell, is worth the effort. A tired old Springer is not worth it. Get a better shell. Then in two, five or ten years you will not be cursing the cost of re-plating or scrapping. In life you have to make your own luck, and that can mean not building a house on sand.

 

Actually sand is a pretty good founding material for a house but thats a different matter.

 

Other than that you have a good point.

 

Its an old boat thats been gutted. Do you really want to spend the next six months slaving away to refitt a boat that may well be knackered in a couple of years. Take the money and put it towards another boat that may see you out a little longer. A change may do you good.

[Ex- Member]

Its an old boat thats been gutted. Do you really want to spend the next six months slaving away to refitt a boat that may well be knackered in a couple of years. Take the money and put it towards another boat that may see you out a little longer. A change may do you good.

 

Read the whole thread the boat has been overplated, so will go on a good many years yet I suspect. It's not gutted either, badly damaged yes, gutted is a completely different thing. I know I've only seen a photo, but i would bet that an indepth costing on what has to be replaced and repaired would have this boat put right to a good standard for less than 17k if most of the work was undertaken by the owners. And let's be honest, you're not going to get much for 17k by the time you spend money on surveys and the like on a replacement craft even in a recession.

 

I would only suggest taking on such a task though if the owners feel reasonably confident in their abilities to complete the task. I found fitting out our boat quite easy and more importantly very enjoyable and rewarding. Ok a few swear words have been uttered during the work, and a few clangers dropped, but the satisfaction in doing this for yourself far out weighs the niggles you'll get on the way. At the end of the day if there's something you're not confident of doing yourself, get a pro in to sort it, or someone competant you can trust.

 

I understand lots of equipment has been stripped. List everything that's been stripped and get prices from the internet to cost it all. That's a good starting point and and will give you a figure that remains to refit said missing items and repair or replace panelling and other fitments.

[gazza]

This is strange as I have no sentimentality when it comes to cars, even my old Capris which I loved driving, all car decisions are made totally on economic grounds; I once scrapped a perfectly good old Volvo as the alternator cost £125 (strange fit) and the car was only worth about £100!! There was no rust on it but couldn't get a second hand alternator anywhere.

 

Boats are different though, I have a Glen-L squirt speed boat which needs a new transom and all the plywood; ie it's just the frame thats good, but I hang on to it, sat rotting in the garden!!

 

just to clear up any confusion, i was trying (badly!) to direct my post to WJM, i am in total agreement wih you - apart from the car bit!

 

whilst it is fair to say economic considerations should be takien into account, it is not the be all and end all, unless you are in love with collecting money. whilst i am not a spendthrift i couldnt lead my life wondering if every decision i made was the correct financial one. one of my race bikes requires a gearbox rebuild, parts will total about 350 quid, it is worth 700 tops. crush it? sell it? no chance!whilst it may realisticly be beyond economic repair i wont part with it. i have won several events on it, had countless hours of fun racing it, preping it etc. now i know we are talking different monetary scales here, but the point is the same.

 

as for the 'it will be beyond repairing at some point' here too you are wrong. it is only beyond repair when the money runs out! give me a cutting torch, a grinder and a welding set and i can take the world on if it is profitable is another thing.

[Naughty Cal]

Read the whole thread the boat has been overplated, so will go on a good many years yet I suspect. It's not gutted either, badly damaged yes, gutted is a completely different thing. I know I've only seen a photo, but i would bet that an indepth costing on what has to be replaced and repaired would have this boat put right to a good standard for less than 17k if most of the work was undertaken by the owners. And let's be honest, you're not going to get much for 17k by the time you spend money on surveys and the like on a replacement craft even in a recession.

 

I would only suggest taking on such a task though if the owners feel reasonably confident in their abilities to complete the task. I found fitting out our boat quite easy and more importantly very enjoyable and rewarding. Ok a few swear words have been uttered during the work, and a few clangers dropped, but the satisfaction in doing this for yourself far out weighs the niggles you'll get on the way. At the end of the day if there's something you're not confident of doing yourself, get a pro in to sort it, or someone competant you can trust.

 

I understand lots of equipment has been stripped. List everything that's been stripped and get prices from the internet to cost it all. That's a good starting point and and will give you a figure that remains to refit said missing items and repair or replace panelling and other fitments.

 

I have taken time to read the whole thread i have been following it for a few days now and struggle to believe that people are actively encouraging the refit of this boat. If its only worth 17k in good nick as it stands its pretty much worthless.

[estwdjhn]

A few points here.

 

1) The OP has clearly said they want to keep the boat. I can understand that. I once spent £3000 plus most of my spare time for six months on a written off Landrover, that has special value for me, and that I was determined not to scrap just because a twit in a lorry couldn't drive. Book value for the completed machine is probably only about what I spent on parts alone, but if I was in the same position again, I would do exactly the same thing again. I know that when all is said and done, I only have a fairly normal lwb 1967 IIA, but that particular vehicle has a special place in my heart, and so I am happy to have done the work. On the other hand, if someone writes off the knacked SIII that I'm using as a runabout, I'll take whatever they offer me and run, as I don't really like it - I only use it because it does a job.

 

2) If the boat is kept well blacked, and is regularly tested for thickness, it should be possible to keep it afloat for many more years. There are not many boats out there that couldn't be kept going - and if it is a case of a patch here and there every year or two, although in the longer term it may have cost an arm and a leg, if it is only a few ££ ever couple of years, that is a lot more affordable way of paying.

 

This being the case, I personally wish the OP well, in trying to sort out his dammaged boat, and am advising him not to give up on it.

[bottle]

I have taken time to read the whole thread i have been following it for a few days now and struggle to believe that people are actively encouraging the refit of this boat. If its only worth 17k in good nick as it stands its pretty much worthless.

 

Not quite, the shell has a value somewhere between, there have been many wannabe boaters on this forum that would jump at the chance of getting this boat to 'do up'.

[Naughty Cal]

Now not knowing much about narrowboats or the market i have just done a quick search of boats for sale.

 

In the 10 minute search i did i found at least 3 boats for under 17k that have to be worth a look. One stood out but has already sold. A 31 Foot Harbrough (forgive the spelling if its wrong) for 16k looked to have been retrimmed recently and has a recent survey. Has to be a better bet than resurecting the dead.

[carlt]

Now not knowing much about narrowboats or the market i have just done a quick search of boats for sale.

 

In the 10 minute search i did i found at least 3 boats for under 17k that have to be worth a look. One stood out but has already sold. A 31 Foot Harbrough (forgive the spelling if its wrong) for 16k looked to have been retrimmed recently and has a recent survey. Has to be a better bet than resurecting the dead.

So that old harborough marine, before its refit, wasn't worth refitting, by your logic.

[MaryP]

Hi Vic and Mrs. Vic,

I have a Springer too, and I love it to bits. It was in a bit of a state (not anywhere near as bad as yours!), and I've done bits to it as I've been able to afford it.

I have been told (and not by a Springer fan) that Mr. Springer used thin, but good quality steel which is why they go on and on. A surveyor I locked with said he was a great fan "You'll never see a Springer scrapped" was his comment, saying that they may have been built cheaply, but they were built to last. Another person told me I had a classic, and they thought it was a great little boat.

 

I've just had blacking done, and the verdict was sound.

 

Good luck with getting your boat up and running again! You may buy another boat, and find you still would have loads to do. Springer owners unite!!

Edited February 5, 2009 by Mary P

[WJM]

£17k and six months hard labour

or

£17k and go boating...

 

You decide!

 

 

 

http://www.whiltonmarina.co.uk/Used-Boats/Details/1266.aspx

 

http://www.whiltonmarina.co.uk/Used-Boats/Details/1318.aspx

 

http://www.whiltonmarina.co.uk/Used-Boats/Details/1358.aspx

[Debby]

£17k and six months hard labour

or

£17k and go boating...

 

You decide!

 

 

 

http://www.whiltonmarina.co.uk/Used-Boats/Details/1266.aspx

 

http://www.whiltonmarina.co.uk/Used-Boats/Details/1318.aspx

 

http://www.whiltonmarina.co.uk/Used-Boats/Details/1358.aspx

 

Very nice, and very reasonable. But the OP said that their boat was 6 berth, and they need 6 berth. You've offered them 2 berth and 4 berth.......Not a lot of use - they'd still have to spend time and money refitting.

[Ex- Member]

I have taken time to read the whole thread i have been following it for a few days now and struggle to believe that people are actively encouraging the refit of this boat. If its only worth 17k in good nick as it stands its pretty much worthless.

 

No one said the boat was worth 17k, it was suggested by the owners that the insurance cover they afforded to the boat was 17 to 18k and if paid out to them in full I suggested could be a sufficient sum to repair the boat themselves IMO

 

I would not say I'm actively encourage anyone to do anything, They asked a question and they stated the boat has sentimental value, it has been previously overplated so will probably last several years yet and the boat will likely be written off as 17k might not cover repair cost at a boat fitters. So an option exists to do much of the work themselves thus saving labour costs to repair the boat within a possible 17k insurance pay out. I don't consider that as actively encouraging anything. It's simply an option available.

 

People do the same with written off older cars, deemed as beyond uneconomical repair, many take the insurance pay out, keep the car, repair the car them selves using scrapyard parts then pocket any change if left.