lots of free 30ft+ sailboats up for grabs. quick and dirty remodel to open day boats?

That's true Gonzo. At the club I belong to there are a few cruisers that are towed out of the backwater and put in their slips each spring. Just summer camps, cocktail barges. But these belong to club members of long standing, older people. If someone applied for membership with a boat that was derelict I don't think the board of directors would look very kindly at him/her. But when their health goes bad and they die, those boats become a problem for the club and can become abandoned.

Another aspect of all this is that boats, even derelicts aren't made to be taken apart, gutted and turned into day boats. I gutted mine years ago. It was harder than rebuilding it. Everything's glued and screwed. Can it be done? Yes. Will most people have the motivation to do it? No.

If I've learned one thing over years as a boat owner it is that mother nature does everything she possibly can to turn every boat I have ever owned into a derelict. As I'm sure most people reading this know, having a nice boat that is comfortable to live on is a LOT of work and attention to detail, not to mention the money needed.

I can't speak for San Diego but we used to have a waiting list for new membership, it wasn't easy to become a club member. Those days are long gone, at least 10 years or so. We have a number of open slips today that we use for transients or seasonals. We can fit up to 40/45 feet and one problem is that we don't get enough boats in that size or smaller. What we have been getting over the past few years is the 60/70/80 foot behemoths that we can't take save for maybe one or two at the gas dock. We're doing OK financially BUT a real concern is that the membership is aging. We're having a problem getting younger people (by that I mean people under 55 or so) into the club. It seems that most younger people can't afford to get into even a smaller cruiser like they did years ago and then work their way up.

Best,

MIA