I think the point about the cost of a lift out and cradle being 10% of the value of the older boat is a bit irrelevant.

If the boat you are living on is your home, then surely 10% of its low value is a small price to pay to ensure the hull is sound.

But what to do with older worn out GRP hulls?  How can these hulls be either disposed of safely, or repurposed in some way, maybe with larger hulls being used as glamping facilities, or basic accommodation for the homeless, on land, and smaller ones being used as flowerpots on the edge of town or given to community projects maybe to learn to do up and sail in.

I think i read somewhere that in The Netherlands, boats were being ground up and incorporated as material in bicycle paths, though i suppose that creates the risk of runoff into the environment, but having said that, the billions of particles from tyres and brakes being released from vehicles and being washed into water courses are as big a threat to the environment as anything else.

Yes, a fascinating article, and a problem here in NZ, too. 

Another problem with small, old boats is that the cost of hauling out and spending a week in a boatyard can be about 10% of its value.  For the $600,000 boat, it's more like 1%.  This makes it more and more difficult for small boat owners (usually far from wealthy in the first place), to maintain their boats properly, and the problem is exacerbated by the removal of drying grids and environmental laws that bear little relationship to reality.  (Think of the poisonous chemicals from hundreds of thousands of cars' brake linings and tyres that run into our waterways every time it rains!)  It is so easy for a local authority to come down heavily on 'polluting' boats, because there aren't that many of them in the first place, and even fewer of them belong to people on a tight budget.

Sadly, sailing is being gentrified out of existence for normal people.

Thanks for that link to a very informative yet sad article. 

I don't remember if I mentioned this; the owner of Teleport, toward the end of my visit showed me a storage yard he owns, where he kept construction equipment and a collection of a wide variety of power boats. I stopped counting at 25. All uncovered. Some looked like make-overs that had come to their final resting place.

I recall reading somewhere that a study of liveaboards at marinas showed that if up to 6% of the boats were liveaboards, they were an asset to the marina. Beyond that they began to stress the facilities. One of our liveaboard members emerged from his boat one day to discover an electrical fire in one of the runway floats. Faulty installation. He ran to the switch box, shut off the power and ran back to put out the fire with a bucket.

Thanks for setting me straight on the deck tubes. that were installed by Chris Bray. I'll edit my text.

Some of the photos I took while visiting.

The first was taken by the owner, sail up while tied up at his borrowed, floating wharf. Note the two masted junk rig on this side of the wharf at the back. It belongs to the owner's nephew, I'm told. Next, tied up, Por t to, at another wharf. Note the marking on the Stb  side of the boat. Next, a temporary repair made to a hole in the hull that occurred while going aground. Next, a photo of the damage to the hull surface on Stb. side. Some of it down to the wood filler. Next, a photo of a puncture wound to the transom. Next A view of the yard halyard and mast fiberglass damage. Next, a closeup of the detaching fiberglass. Next, a view of the glass damage and cracking on the mast. Next, A closeup of a crack reaching the mast partners. Next, a view of an addition to the deck, providing tubes for the running rigging., by previous owner, Chris and Jess Bray who took TELEPORT through the Northwest Passage. Last, a picture of TELEPORT in better days, transiting the Northwest Passage.