The save-a-wooden-boat folks would have cried . . .

[Bill Huson]

I dropped by a soon to close down marina today to see if I could salvage some small spars for the beach cat I'm building for my daughter. No luck, but I saw several old wood boats. The marina guy was in the process of sawing the last few feet of the hull and transom off a 52' Chris. He's gonna make a bar out of it. Another large wooden cruiser displayed two gaping holes on each side of the hull. Boat had sunk, marina dude had retrieved it and sold the engines, which actually still ran. PDQ engine removal - saw the hull apart and drop the engine and sawed bearing mounts on the ground. Sorta like removing a kidney with a Sawzall.

[62816inBerlin]

I sympathize with you, and know the feeling.

Several years ago I visited the local secondary school on the island Scharfenberg, a bit like the outward-bound style schools. In the bushes behind the boat dock, there was a lovely open keelboat (~ 18 footer) hull in salvageable condition. I thought that it was a restoration project for the pupils.
Two years later I asked my friend who is the school's ferryman and passe-par-tout about how the project was progressing and he informed me that the school's janitor had sawn it apart and sent the pieces to be dumped. Apparently the boat had been use till she leaked so badly that she was taken ashore and left to decay!
I have trouble finding the time to maintain (and sail) a wooden Mirror plus a GRP daysailer, so I understand that not many people are able or have the time to restore antiques. Maybe someone should start a kind of "save the boat" site worldwide to bring together hulls and potential restorers.
I seem to remember having bumped into something similar on the web, but can't remember where - unfortunately I never bookmarked it.
Gernot H.