Yacht Wrecks littering beaches, harbours, rivers and canals have become commonplace across the UK. With yachts losing any value they had people can quite simply wash their hands of the boat.
Within a mile of our Boatbreakers yard in Portsmouth, there are currently three yacht wrecks at least. One yacht was blown off her mooring during a storm at the beginning of 2018. The yacht hit the rocks and was looted overnight by local thieves. By the time the owners made it to the boat anything of value had been stolen.
In this case the owners went to the local paper to complain about the crime. However as the boat wasn’t insured the cost to recover the boat are down to the owner. Not surprisingly the boat has since been sat on the rocks until eventually, the local council will have the buck passed to them.
If you ever sail through Portsmouth Harbour and you are heading towards Trafalgar Wharf or Port Solent keep an eye out for the boat. The boat is up on the rocks opposite Portchester Castle.
Another yacht wreck in the area is next to the local Boating and Angling club. It had been on a mooring near Whale Island but over the course of a few weeks, it began to sink.
After sinking when the tide was up all you could see was the mast poking out of the water. The yacht stayed there sunken on the mooring for a number of weeks. Slowly it turned from white to a shade of greeny brown.
After a month spent under the water, the boat was eventually pumped out at low tide. It was then towed across to the foreshore next to the boat club’s pontoon. It’s there that the yacht wreck has sat since summer 2018.