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oat rescues usually happen at sea. This week in Oriental, there’s a may-day for rescuing two boats abandoned on land.

For as long as humans have had boats, their unwanted ones have been left near a shoreline. If no one came to claim them, they would rot or rust. Particle by particle, they would slip back in to the waters they once plied.

Deck of Little Lady, one of two boats destined for destruction if someone doesn’t take ownership.

A less poetic and far more brutal fate awaits abandoned boats today, especially fiberglass ones left behind in boatyards.

There are a number of reasons why a boat becomes orphaned in a boat yard. Sometimes, the owner might lose interest and not think it worth the trouble to sell.

Koantik, the other boat that could soon be literally on the chopping block, right now is on the hard at SailCraft.

Unpaid boatyard bills are another cause of abandoning ship on land. The yard bill becomes greater than the boat’s worth, greater even than the sentimental value of the vessel. The boat owner cuts his or her losses and leaves it. That leaves the boat yard with the challenge of getting rid of the boat in order to make space for another — paying — customer.

An orphaned boat at SailCraft Services.

Which is why, sometimes, the boats are literally sawed to pieces.

Kathy Lichter, the office manager at SailCraft Service in Oriental, says that they hire a boat hauler to trailer such vessels to another lot. There, crews chainsaw the boat. There is some salvaging. Stainless and bronze bits will be stripped and the lead keel saved for use in future ballast projects. But abandoned fiberglass boats meet a brutal end, being sawed in to pieces that would fit in to a Dumpster. After that, the landfill.

Little Lady may be headed for the landfill.

Sometimes however, there’s a small window of opportunity to rescue a boat from such a fate. A time when someone can come in and just take the boat off the boat yard’s hands and spare it the expense and effort.

There are two such opportunities right now at Alan Arnfast’s SailCraft Service boat yard.

A green light on Little Lady.

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One is “Little Lady,” a New Horizons 25, built in the early 60’s in Toledo and owned since 1973 by a Raleigh couple. After years of tending to the boat, taking care of it, and most importantly, sailing her, they don’t have time for “Little Lady” any more.

SailCraft Services owner Alan Arnfast and Koantik, one of two boats that may be sawed to pieces unless someone takes them.

The other orphaned boat is a MicMac, made in 1972 by McVay in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia. She is a cruise-worthy vessel whose last owner named her “Koantik,” which means squirrel in the Breton language. Bretagne is where Kevin Nealey grew up before buying the 26 foot boat in Toronto almost a decade ago. He spent a Lake Ontario winter on it before heading south in late 2003.

At SailCraft, the MicMac 26, Koantic, and the squirrel on her bow. (The name means squirrel in Breton.) One SailCraft employee suggested that the boat was solid and just needed “a shoe-shine”.

Kevin Nealy arrived in Oriental that December. It was an unplanned stop. He helped his new-found friends Sean Prendergast and Esther Granville bring their dismasted boat in from the ICW, just before Christmas. He had plans to sail south, very far south. Patagonia was a destination, in large part because that is where his mother had sailed. In France, Nicole van de Kerchove made her mark as a sailor and writer. Her son showed photos of her adventures – crossing the Atlantic solo and later with her daughter, and still another trans-Atlantic passage on a boat outfitted with a kite.

Down below on Koantik.

In 2004, Kevin put his sailing plans on hold, anchored Koantik in Smith Creek and made his way to British Columbia where he settled in. For more than three years, Koantik’s dark blue hull became part of the scenery on Smith Creek, bobbing on a mooring until 2008 when Kevin returned. This time, he had photos of his new baby daughter to show and plans to have Koantik hauled to British Columbia where he could work on it.

An abandon ship list from a time when the owner prepared for the emergency of leaving the boat while at sea. Instead, the boat itself has been abandoned on land.

He got Koantik out of the water, and over to the SailCraft Service boat yard. Then, the company he’d found online to transport the boat never showed up – but did take some of his money. Kevin had to fly home and thought he could arrange for the boat’s transport. But it never happened. Shortly after that, he put Koantik up for sale. That was two years ago. She’s sat in Alan’s yard since.

Alan Arnfast expresses genuine angst about have to cut up a boat. He has spent all his life around boats, and is in the midst of rescuing and refitting a wooden sailboat himself. But he has a boat yard to run, and employees to pay. Yard space needs paying customers.

Alan mentioned to TownDock.net last week that he was about to have Koantik and Little Lady taken apart and removed. We wondered though if, just as with rescue pets, there might be someone out there who wants to rescue a boat – or two. Both boats served their owners well – they just need new ones. The new owner of either boat should be ready to to do restoration work. After brief inspection though, it appears Koantik may need more clean up than actual structural restoration – it seems a solid boat.

Those interested in having either boat for just a thousand dollars, should contact SailCraft within a week. Call 252-249-0522.

Posted Wednesday May 12, 2010 by Melinda Penkava