Not only did I get a free boat (well, nearly free: I bought the engine and the boat came with it), but now I've got a free mooring buoy.
It s pretty big one designed to have a swivel with a shaft through the centre, but the swivel is missing as it rusted away. No matter, I'll run the chain through it or something similar.
I love free stuff sites. The main ones are Freecycle and Freegle but there are others. What you do is register and then other members post ads for stuff they want to get rid of but are still usable. You can also post wanted ads, but its a bit ambitious posting a "Free Yacht Wanted" ad and the administrators will tell you so at the same time as canning your ad.
The thing to do is be realistic and honest in your expectations. A mooring buoy isn't that big a deal and some ex-yachtie might have one in the garage that they've not used in years: be prepared to spend some time scrubbing the old mooring number off it and any weed and/or barnacles.. Chain is a bit more rare, as its rusts to bits or gets weighed in for scrap.
You also will have to accept that whatever you get isn't going to be the latest and greatest, it might need some work, or you're going to have to be patient and wait for someone to place an "offered" ad.
But if you're prepared to put in the work, you can save a ton of money. Its the essence of skint sailing.
Thinking about it I forgot I got my VHF Handheld Radio off Freecycle a couple of years ago, which let me give my old low power one to Jim. So it saved a considerable amount of money and benefitted a friend.
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