BLUEMOMENT

I have an old boat, and some parts on it are also old, some even obsolete.
I've used eBay to source various bits and pieces, but have often wondered why there's not an equivalent to a car wreckers for boats.

Is this a business opportunity - to have a breakers yard where used parts for yachts are available. They might range from sails to cleats, engines to bottle jacks, - in short anything re-usable off a scrapped boat.

What do you think?

I think you'd need a very big shed!
Cars are a bit more straightforward I think and there is a market for the shells once stripped. I think you'd have to do such a lot of work to build up a stock and then start haggling over the price - don't boat jumbles already perform this function - sort of?

The problem I see is finding scrap boats of suitable quality. Logic says that with the number of new boats in marinas there should be a ready supply but where? I reckon it would need a mandatory and stringent MOT-style testing of yachts to get people to scrap their pride and joys. Ideally the testing would condemn some of the more modern AWB's as unseaworthy so Geoff and I could upgrade some of our bits.

I think there are some boats lying in marinas and never go anywhere, some not on land not even launched year to year. Various backwaters seem to have boats growing green on top and green underneath. But the stainless parts are re-useable. Some mooring areas (like Arrochar, Holy Loch, Millport) seem to have boats that appear abandoned, only still there until the mooring fails.

Boatyards seem to have various stuff lying about. I note in our yard a range of masts that never move off the rack. I noted this year several masts lying in Inverness marina against the fence growing green stuff, Wick was similar, Kinlochbervie had boats with weed over a metre long under them, tied up with green covered ropes.

I doubt there's a market for hulls, so these are scrap (reducing the size of the required shed!)
Distribution could be by an eBay style listing website, so opening the market to those other countries south of us, or even beyond!

Computerised listing in only way to manage the storage info I think.

The (Scottish) Government is promoting the "Circular economy" -where we don't just scrap or recycle, but re-use. I paid >£400 for a new pulpit a few years ago (storm damage), one off another boat would have done if it fitted.

Would you buy and use second hand bits?

I would be perfectly happy in general to buy second hand parts. There are some exceptions: I would be leery of second hand standing rigging.

"I would be leery of second hand standing rigging"

So would I. Just before changing standing rigging you have second hand anyway, but that's secondhand where you know the treatment meted to it over the years.

There are some things where second hand is just not sensible. Loo paper is another example!

I was able to find stanchions & bases, guardwires, and pulpit and pushpit for my new boat (stripped of these things by previous owner for mysterious reasons)- got everything secondhand from a boat that was being scrapped. So it can work.
Anybody on here good with welding stainless? The downside is, the pushpit will need a section cut out to make it fit...

Clearly you are all very talented chappies who have the necessary tools, vision, skills, abilities and time to start stripping boats down, cutting and shutting 'liberated' items and fitting them to your own fine craft (s)
I have none of the attributes listed above so can only stand in awe and wonder at your achievements....

I also feel a type of comfort derived from the knowledge that if I bought something new and it doesn't work - there are clear avenues for dealing with this type of problem.

Why are we even discussing 2nd hand rigging?

All these boats that have rigging, pushpits, stanchions etc must have had winches. Where are all the second hand winches gone?

Donald

I got rid of mine (winches) at a jumblie. (and when I've finished with something it's pretty well scrap -believe me)
I've never seen displaced instruments though. I would expect to see lots of GPS 128s and the like coming on the SH market as everything including my phone and camera (never mind the plotter and VHF) has a GPS chip in it nowadays.

There seems to be such a thing. Sounds like a good idea to me but the site doesn't seem very active.

https://www.facebook.com/Fairlie-Boat-B ... /timeline/

Good find Ian

I've scored lots of good gear - used and usually satisfactorily cheap - from the Buy and Sell sub-forum 'somewhere else'. Mind you, for my sins, I live among the Heathen doon sooth.

F'r example, last munf I bought a low-mileage midrange Jacobs cradle ( listed at over £1600 ) for £350; another fella got a near-new unused Sea Feather windvane s/steering gear ( now listed at over £1700 ) for £400.

I'm wondering if there might not be a role for that sort of facility oan 'ere?

I'm looking for a second hand roller furle. I have a Wykeham martin so would just need the foil to get the sail tight.