OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW

Boat owners, like homeowners, are constantly upgrading equipment and renovating their boats. Sometimes, the old equipment just needs to be scrapped. But sometimes, it is reusable. In the short term, the old item is usually relegated to the garage. What happens next?

If you are a HISC member, you can place an "ad" in the ION or on our FB page and try to sell the item. If you can't sell it and you still need to make more space in your garage, you can donate that item to HISC for inclusion at the annual Nautical Flea Market (NFM) held in Pompano Beach each January. This event is a fundraiser for our club's youth sailing program.

Years ago, the HISC committee chair of the Nautical Flea Market (NFM) would keep these donated items in their garage until January. In 2019, the club made the decision to rent a storage unit to house these items. It was a good plan, however, when the Covid 19 Pandemic hit, the NFM was cancelled for 3 years. The storage unit got pretty crowded. This January, we hauled everything out for the two day NFM and made approximately $2000.00. But there were still a lot of left over items that were returned to the storage unit. What happens next?

Enter the new HISC Committee Chair of the Nautical Flea Market, Bill Bratt. "Out with old ideas, and in with New ideas!"

Bill Bratt runs a marine pump refurbishing business in Fort Lauderdale which is located inside a large warehouse. He very generously offered to house the remaining flea market items. And, rather than just store them for an entire year, he plans to take photos and offer up the items online.

This is just another example of how an old idea can gain new legs when club members work together to solve a problem.

Whether the items are sold at the Nautical Flea Market, or online, our club is able to recycle nautical items and raise money for our Youth Sailing Club.