Restore or rot?

What happens to boats at the end of their lives? As these reports show, some are lucky enough to be restored and shown some well-deserved love, whilst others are left to clutter up the waterways.

Maritime museum exhibit draws attention to legacy of abandoned GRP boats

The GRP wreck on display at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall. Photo: wreckfree.org

The loaded legacy of abandoned end-of-life GRP boats has been highlighted in a new museum exhibit.
The wreck of a small sailboat has gone on show in the National Maritime Museum Cornwall, drawing attention to the ‘forever’ nature of glass-reinforced plastic as a boat material.
Recovered from a creek near Falmouth recently, the little yacht is thought to have been abandoned up to 20 years ago.
Cornish sailor Jake Burnyeat, who retrieved the boat with friends, says there are likely to be hundreds of such wrecks in local rivers, and, nationally, possibly thousands.
His new website, wreckfree.org, allows people to pinpoint places where they have spotted such wrecks.
The better-policed waters of the inland waterways mean such boats are more easily recovered on canals, but they are still a headache for waterway authorities in finding la…