How do "nautical salvagers" make a profit on junk boats?

[jsc7]

There is a guy in Portland, Maine, who offers to haul away sailboats for free.

https://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/ma...569980875.html

How is he making any money. An engine might have a scrap value of $50. Deck hardware even less. That's not going to pay the bills for dragging a big junk boat around. How is he making any money?

[JPA Cate]

keel lead, for one.

Repurposing old rigging wire.

Rebuilding and selling winches.

Recycling timber

But salvage businesses usually operate at a different level, and obtain salvor's rights, have contracts, etc., deal with ships, not wee sailboats.

[IslandHopper]

Strip and sell anything of value, if you get the boat for free then it's a bonus...

Here's the subjects website, i think it's fairly obvious how they make money from 'junk boats', same principle as Auto Recyclers.....

Captain Jim's Marine Salvage and Nautical Antiquities

[SFS]

It's hard physical work, and gats worse if you have to cut a boat apart before the dump will accept it. But Ann is right, it's mostly about the lead. The guy I worked with wouldn't touch a boat with an iron keel.

[CSY Man]

I did that with 3-4 boats.
One of them was a wooden 62’ motor sailor abandoned at a yard.
Got it for free, sold mast and rigging for $10k.
Hired guys with chain saws to cut up the hull and dispose in dumpsters.
Also sold or kept SS cleats and trim work etc.
Got $150 for the lead keel.

Another was a Dutch 50’ Fiberglass sloop of a type called Glasslipper.
Sold it on eBay without doing anything, just promised the yard to get read of it.
A guy showed up with a few thousand $$ cash and hauled it away on a big trailer.

Did a few more gigs, but grew lazy, not in the market anymore.

[CSY Man]

Picture of the iron keel, probably 20,000 lbs.

[Island Time O25]

I got 2 sailboats for free. Used one for 1 season but the outboard motor was not my cup of tea. Sold it as is when it was on the water for $1,500. Could've gotten more but since I was a 3 boat owner at the time was happy with the quick sale.

The 3rd boat at the time was also free and used its diesel motor in another boat I picked up cheap which but for the blown engine was otherwise in very good shape. Sold it too as plans for it changed and since I did not want to deal with winter storage etc just wanted to cover the costs of ownership of "free" boats - hauls, storage etc.

[Island Time O25]

My winter storage marina also doubles as a boat junk yard. The owner says he makes about $2-3k on the average junked boat 25-30+ft parting it out. Plus whatever he gets for hauling it from someones backyard. But his is a substantial operation with good lease terms. It takes a while to sell parts etc. But lead and rigging are usually sold quickly so they can then afford to slow sell the rest.

[Colin A]

Take a look at what certain used parts go for winches, rigging bow and stern pulpits all bring good money. That said the key is having space to deal with the boats and a way to get rid off the hulls in a cost effective manner. I know a few guys who have done it on the side with power boats (strip off the outboard or stern drives for parts sell the trailer etc) One stopped when the local dump decided he was abusing his $50.00 a year residential dump permit the other gave up when he lost his lease, thou he appears to be doing it a little again at a new building he inherited (mostly doing engine rebuilding thou)

[trifan]

Originally Posted by CSY Man

Picture of the iron keel, probably 20,000 lbs.

Yep, that's why bobbers look so good on the bottom: mast up, keel down but still on the bottom. One of the biggest reasons I like multihulls. No keel weight, floats when holed (some more than others)... y muchas otras cosas, but that's for another round.

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by trifan

Yep, that's why bobbers look so good on the bottom: mast up, keel down but still on the bottom. One of the biggest reasons I like multihulls. No keel weight, floats when holed (some more than others)... y muchas otras cosas, but that's for another round.

What are you on about?

[CSY Man]

Originally Posted by trifan

Yep, that's why bobbers look so good on the bottom: mast up, keel down but still on the bottom. One of the biggest reasons I like multihulls. No keel weight, floats when holed (some more than others)... y muchas otras cosas, but that's for another round.

You been smoking crack trifan...?

The boat I am referring to died on land, it never sank, it never foundered: It had to be dismantled in a yard 50 years after it was built and launched. The heavy keel had to be hauled away with a crane and a big trailer to a junkyard.
Try engaging brain before hitting keyboard.

[model 10]

My guess is "bobbers" are mono hull boats, which after they sink, are still right side up because of the heavy keel. Where as cats flip and float upside down.

[sonofasonofasailer456]

His resale prices are high, especially blocks and whatnot.

[hellosailor]

He hauls junk away, sells it for cash, and launders millions in drug money for the mob (what mob? that's a horrible slander!) in exchange for keeping ten percent.

Pretty good way to make a living.

If you have a low enough overhead, lots of things can work.