Wreck Installation Highlights Environmental Crisis

Visitors to Museum will notice something unusual in our foyer this month – a small, weathered yacht named “Hurley Burley” that stands as a stark reminder of a growing environmental problem.

This vessel wasn’t carefully restored like most boats in our collection. Instead, it was recovered from a creek in the Helford River where it had been abandoned and left to decay for approximately 20 years. We’re displaying this powerful exhibit to support the Wreck Free Fal and Helford initiative.

An installation with a message

As home to the National Small Boat Collection, our museum typically celebrates the stories and craftsmanship of vessels that have shaped our maritime heritage. Displaying the Hurley Burley, takes a different approach, with the small glass reinforced polymer yacht being displayed as a “dead boat” – a powerful symbol of the environmental impact that abandoned vessels have on our natural landscapes and wildlife.

“While we are sad there is a need to exhibit this wreck, we welcome the opportunity to work alongside ‘Wreck Free Falmouth and Helford’ to highlight their invaluable work, to raise awareness of sustainable practices and to inspire visitors to safeguard our environment for future generations,” explained Richard Doughty, our Museum Director.

Steve Green, of Clean Ocean Sailing, was responsible for removing the Hurley Burley from Anna Maria creek on the Helford River, with the help of his trusty VW camper Cecil. Steve hopes seeing Hurley Burley in the Museum will give visitors a chance to consider what happens to boats at the end of their life.

Launching the Wreck Free Fal and Helford Initiative

The installation marks the launch of an important community initiative addressing the growing problem of abandoned end-of-life boats in our local waterways. On February 28 the museum played host to the first meeting of the Wreck Free Fal and Helford forum, which brought together over 100 stakeholders including harbour authorities, yacht clubs, the RYA, boat yards, foreshore owners, moorings operators, conservation groups, and parish and Cornwall councillors.

The initiative has already documented over 150 abandoned boats around the Fal and Helford estuaries through their online wreck map and database at wreckfree.org, but organisers believe this represents only a portion of the total.

A Growing Environmental Challenge

Jake Burnyeat, who chaired the forum, explains the scale of the problem: “When a car reaches the end of its life you can take it to a scrapyard, get paid a few hundred pounds, and it will get recycled. It costs a lot of money to dispose of a boat responsibly, so sadly they often get left in the corner of a creek to die; leaking toxic paints, oils and microplastics into the ocean.”

With approximately 5,000 moorings on the Fal and Helford and an estimated 2% of boats reaching end-of-life each year, the region potentially faces dealing with around 100 boats annually. Most abandoned vessels are smaller GRP boats from the 1970s and 80s, but as boats have grown larger and production has increased, today’s problem foreshadows greater challenges ahead.

The Wreck Free Fal and Helford initiative is supported by Cornwall Community Foundation’s Marine Environment Fund, the Duchy, the National Maritime Museum Cornwall, and Restronguet Creek Society.

For more information about the initiative or to report an abandoned vessel, visit wreckfree.org