Swap, Don’t Toss: How Chicago CYC Promotes Sustainable Sailing - Sailors for the Sea

Swap, Don’t Toss: How Chicago CYC Promotes Sustainable Sailing

 August 14, 2024  | By: Emily Conklin

Disposing of old or unused boating gear can be tricky. We all have items we’ve outgrown, are duplicates, or don’t fit our purpose anymore. Whenever possible, those things should be rehomed rather than thrown away. Our Skipper volunteer Ben Stern, based in Chicago, IL, worked with Chicago Corinthian Yacht Club (CCYC) to organize a gear swap and put used boating items into new hands. We caught up with Ben to learn more about this event and how other clubs might be able to do the same.

Chicago's Corinthian Yacht Club's gear swap day
You never know what you’ll find at the gear swap!

Chicago Corinthian Yacht Club’s Annual Gear Swap

This spring, Chicago Corinthian Yacht Club hosted its second annual gear swap. The gear swap is similar to a nautical flea market, except no money changes hands. Timing the event, however, is key to its success. Ben shared that this event is held about a month after the harbor opens, “good timing to reevaluate the gear you have and what you need.” After the boats are in, CCYC puts out the call through their newsletter and social media so that folks can do their boat setup with the coming gear swap in mind. The event has quickly become a tradition, with members eagerly anticipating the chance to trade in unused items for something new.  

When the day arrives, the setup itself is straightforward. Ben set out a few tables by the harbor, encouraging members to drop by during a set time. “It’s a very happy vibe. Folks drop off all this stuff and they end up walking away with just as much.” The gear shared is varied: from radios and grills to Velcro straps and fenders. Ben himself walked away with a new (to him) drogue he needed for the upcoming Mackinac Race.

Chicago's Corinthian Yacht Club's gear swap day
Timing the event about a month into the sailing season lets boaters evaluate what gear they want aboard.

What Happens to the Leftovers?

Of course, there can’t be a new home for every donated item – but that doesn’t mean they go to waste.  Ben works with Nautical Donations, a local charity supporting nautically related non-profits in the Chicago area through the sale of donated boats and equipment. Usable items that haven’t been successfully “swapped” at the end of the day could find a new life through this local connection. In this way, the gear swap is supporting the larger boating community in Chicago beyond the CCYC.

In the past, sails donated at the gear swap have been sent to a local maker, Jibe Sail Craft, to be made into bags. This didn’t exactly work, Ben says, because “past experience demonstrated that [sail] donors didn’t want the end result – they wanted to donate, but didn’t care about getting their sails back in a new form.” Instead, CCYC plans to continue to bring donated sails to Jibe Sail Craft, and have the bags embroidered with Club logo and sell them in the CCYC store to support their cruising fleet. This plan will hopefully be a win/win/win: repurpose old sails, raise money for the club, and raise the profile of the local maker.

Chicago's Corinthian Yacht Club's gear swap day
Gear swap day has become a favorite event at Chicago Corinthian Yacht Club

Sustainability in Action

With the gear swap, the Chicago Corinthian Yacht Club shows us one way that members can support one another and the boating community at large by emphasizing sustainability and reuse. It doesn’t take much – a few tables and plenty of advertisement – and usable gear can end up with someone who needs it instead of in a landfill.