Where do superyachts go to die? Yacht Graveyard?

The worst situations are the ones sold on Craigslist or given away or sold for
$10 in Key West to people who know no better, whether young or homeless or whomever. They have no idea that the boat is free but moving it will cost plenty and involve danger of it sinking. They're sitting all around deserted and derelict. This isn't the spend $100,000 and you have a $50,000 boat, but sold to people who can't spend anything on them.

As I cautioned someone recently, you never want to be a boat's last owner. Some may think 'at the very least I can part it out or sell it for scrap', but there's not much call for old toilets. electronics or fittings unless they're from something special like a Hatteras. And no professional scrapper is going to pay anything if it'll cost them a ton to move and a ton more to cut up and sell. While there may be some value in old steel or aluminum, there's none in old fiberglass or wood. So the guy who bought that old girl and ended up her last owner has to pay, sometimes big time, to dispose of her.

Must say though, when I saw the thread title I didn't expect to see it referring to 60'-70' boats. Have superyachts shrunk? I'm curious about the 100' to 200'. Many millions invested in these, and with the number being produced these days and the mega-rich all seeming to want only the latest and greatest (new) I wonder about the ones built 15 to 30 years ago. Something tells me there's a lot of "losses" being written off someplace. For instance, back in the early 90's Jim ***** had a gorgeous 167' Gallant Lady Fedship that he was asking $18M for. It later became the Detroit Eagle (we all know the owner, but I won't mention since he's still with us). Does she still exist? If so what's her value today. Where did or will something like that meet her end?

That's where it's really going to get expensive. Fortunately the life of a fiberglass boat is longer, if from the better manufacturers. You've got some very old Hatteras' still going strong. But Fiberglass over 100' came later and it will be a long time, but one day people will need to dispose of some 120's and 160's.

Boats like some women have a funny ability to encourage men to empty their wallets trying to preserve the past or at least give it a nip and tuck where their mates say it needs one, this whole process is often called a Refit.

Over the years there have been some very good ones and there have been some very bad/sad ones.

There have also been some that were cut up. I know of one ( It is mentioned here on YF) that was at one stage if not the fastest afloat but very close that was cut up and recycled at the shipyard right next to the one that had built it originally.

Yes, and that was a shame, one of the nicest boats ever built...

She still exists under the name Ice Bear from what can be seen online.

It looks like a couple of boats are getting mixed up ... Detroit Eagle was never one of the Gallant Lady tribe and is still alive and well as Sea Racer. It is one of the boats with the cleanest generator exhaust known to man.

My avatar shows Sea Racer's incredibly beautiful generator room.

There was a Gallant Lady (Feadship) that became Detroit Eagle, but she was just 116'. She later became Allegra and Ozark Lady.

Thanks for the info ... I missed that one. When it was Detroit Eagle was the owner the same one who built the Detroit Eagle I mentioned or just a coincidence?

It was RP and then he was building the new YachtFish where the propulsion was on his wishlist...

@todd raises a good point... It's beginning to be a real issue that's not going to go away. Some of the larger older yachts (Burger, Feadship, Broward, Cheoy Lee, Westship, etc... to name a few) that have been on the market for multiple years with no interest can cost their owners 1/4 to 1/3rd of their total value (and sometimes more) each year to maintain. Donation is an option for some, but my experience is that even this is becoming selective among the larger recipients in the arena unless the vessel is reasonably well maintained.

Thanks for the info guys. It really is a spectacular boat from an engineer's point of view.

Now I'm curious. The 167 was one of my all time favorites (She and Echo). After looking at pics of Sea Racer, Detroit Eagle and Allegra my old fading memory isn't recognizing her. (It's been 20 years since I've seen her. Saw Detroit Eagle in Newport around 2000 and thought that was her.) With there having been over 200 Gallant Ladys it can get confusing. The one I'm talking about graced the dock at the Marriot in F.L. for years in the early 90's. She had a heliport on the foredeck that raised and a beautiful Riva speedboat/launch would be carried out on slings from underneath and lowered off the side. I believe there was a second launch under there as well. Seating at the dining table for 18, beautiful skylounge with fiber-optic stars in the ceiling, and a fighting chair on the aft deck (I used to muse that anything caught would be sushi before it made its way inside). I kept her sales brochure for years, but it's gone now. The Morans were truly epic yacht owners.

This was the first Detroit Eagle (that I know of). It was built as Gallant Lady (Mr. *****), then became Detroit Eagle, Allegra, and now Osark Lady.

I know of a situation recently where someone tried to dump a derelict boat on a charity. They almost fell for it, but then had someone go check it out.