Cigarette butts, beer cans and plastic bags are common pieces of trash to see washed up on the beach. But now, thanks to the sunken economy, a new, more interesting form of trash is appearing on coastlines across America: boats.
For anyone who isn’t involved in the commercial fishing industry, owning a boat is a luxury – one that many Americans are finding they can no longer afford. As employment rates drop and pocketbooks are cinched tighter, boat owners around the country are finding it difficult to shell out hundreds of dollars a month for mooring fees and maintenance. And try as they might to sell, nobody seems to be in the market to take the problem off their hands. Since It costs thousands of dollars to properly dispose of boats many people have decided instead to just sand off the name and registration numbers and set their burden free.
“Our waters have become dumping grounds,” Maj. Paul R. Ouellette of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission told the New York Times. “It’s got to the point where something has to be done.”
Abandoned boats are more than eyesores. They leak toxins and can break up and create dangerous obstacles for other craft. But they also could make pretty sweet forts. If you consider yourself a good environmentalist and a good parent then you should drag one of these onto a trailer and put it in your yard. You’ll be a hit with your HOA too…
[Via: New York Times]
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I really like abandoned boats. They’re, errrr, romantic.