Sailboat Cowboys Flipping Sail Post-Sandy: The Art of Buying, Repairing and Selling Storm-Damaged Sailboats

Epoxy is the way to go when doing any structural repair. Within a week we had the boat ready to paint. The life-line stanchions were welded straight for sixty-five dollars at a local shop. The wooden toe-rail was spliced with Home Depot oak and stained to match. The black anti-fouling paint was applied. The Yanmar 4JHE was lifted in place with my p

A recirculating pump for a 32 horsepower Universal 5432 engine lists for $406 from Universal. It’s based on a 1501 Kubota tractor engine and a tractor parts website will sell them for $106 all day long. Another example of industry theft is the Westerbeke W30 water pump which Westerbeke lists for over $700. This engine is based on the British Leylan

If a buyer is getting financing they will want a survey. This happens less than half the time, so play along. Part of the boating public still thinks highly of these frauds and some prospective buyers believe they can gain leverage from any defects found to lower the price. Remember that they are paying for this, so when they ask if you have a copy

‘Copart’ was the first and best auction site to get in on for the Sandy salvage and still has some sailboats, though the pickings are now thin.

On any body of water you absolutely must render assistance. It’s the Way.

Nauti-Nell’s Marine Thrift Store

A booster will be a necessary piece of gear.

We prowled the auction sites, craigslist up the east coast, then across the gulf coast, then large cities up and down the Mississippi River and Tombigbee internal waterway system, Chicago Nautical Donations, Deltaville Maritime Museum (field of Dreams), Cooper Specialty Salvage, eBay, Certified Sales and the other auction outlets. After a week we w

I contracted to scrap some junked and abandoned sailboats for the lead in the keels while we were there, sawed one up and sold the lead keel and netted $750 for ourselves the first day.