"A thing of beauty is a joy forever..."
It's loveliness increases, it will never
Pass into nothingness..." Keats, Endymion
You study the lines of these 25 to 35 footers clamped in their stands. The poor Columbia really wasn't as cute as the Ariel, not as well proportioned as an H-28, I'm sure.
Somehow you hope the attractive ones are favored and will go on forever giving an eyeful of joy - and give the skipper a magic transcendence from the gloom bekoning on the shore.
I can see it may have been better to be attacked by marina sharks and crunched by orcas than to pass passive and wounded into nothingness for lack of a bit of love and attention.
A pretty boat is as good an invention of the human spirit we'll ever have. It is a weird excess to abandon a boat. You won't get a seat in that big clam shack in the sky for that insult. And I'm thinking I'll not be happy with those jam cleats off a damned unlucky little ship.
Remind them of bone yard boats!
For those that don't know, there is a newsletter (and web site) that offers the boat yard a chance to get a few $$ back, and save a great old boat. http://www.by-the-sea.com/ has the on-line version of the long running newsletter. If you see an old Bone Yard Boats.
And if you are looking for a classic boat for nearly nothing (and sometimes free), consider rescuing one for your self. I hope to do that when I get to retirement age.