This is something you don’t see on the Great Prairie
Issue 33 : Nov/Dec 2003
We were working our way back home from a wonderful excursion down the middle of the country. We had traveled from near the Canadian border to the Gulf Coast looking at boats and places to sail them all along the way. One stop brought us to the yacht club of a friend and frequent correspondent of Good Old Boat magazine. After we’d seen the clubhouse and sailing waters, we asked to walk the docks. Our friend was proud of these docks. He’d helped to build, modify, and repair them. As we walked along, he gave us a running commentary on the collection of boats suited to the local sailing conditions.
Among them were some sad vessels that had been left there to die. We’d seen it before in other places where the sailing conditions are mild enough to allow boats to be kept in the water year-round . . . otherwise fine craft, obviously neglected, deteriorating with the seasons, some to the point of no return.
At one point, as we were moving from one dock to another, I said to Karen, “They’re like elephants. It’s better if they go somewhere else to die.” After that we saw a Marshall catboat, a Sanderling, with some lovely species of flora growing out of her teak handrails. Our host said she’d sunk several times just from rainwater. She had lovely lines and had been a lovely craft but was now beyond any possible repair.
You don’t see this on the Great Prairie. Winter is long. The water freezes. All boats are hauled. Only the fit are launched again in the spring. Those condemned to neglect die slowly in the backs of storage lots. Our friend was working hard to make dock space for the boats in his club, and it can be said in general that space for a boat on the water is always at a premium. It would be better to get the neglected ones off the water.
I offer this suggestion. Make it a marina or club rule that all craft occupying a slip or mooring should pass or be able to pass the Coast Guard courtesy inspection, have reasonable insurance, and be considered seaworthy if and when surveyed. The others should be on the hard, either neglected or making their return in the loving hands of owners who have the time and inclination.
Thank you to Sailrite Enterprises, Inc., for providing free access to back issues of Good Old Boat through intellectual property rights. Sailrite.com
