First ferry built for Washington state system sells -- again -- for $200K

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

A pile of scrap metal or sold off at auction to someone with a dream. Those are the two usual fates that await a 60-something-year-old Washington State Ferry.

Unless that dreamer wants to pass along the opportunity at sailing the "largest registered private yacht," which is exactly what happened with the Evergreen State, the first boat built specifically for use as a ferry in Puget Sound. After being bought for $300,000 at auction in 2018 by Greg Jones, an entrepreneur from Florida, under the buyer name of Jones Broadcasting, it was put back on the auction block.

The unnamed (as of Monday) buyer cast the winning bid on eBay at $205,100. Theoretically the boat could sail again under the new owner, but a few steps get in the way of that, WSF spokesman Ian Sterling told SeattlePI.

"Once the ferry has been officially sold, it has inspections to go through by the Coast Guard before it's able to be used fully," Sterling said. "But once that's done, you could drive cars right on it and sail it."

https://www.seattlepi.com/local/transportation/article/First-ferry-built-for-Washington-sells-again-15026689.php?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailynewsletterspi&utm_term=spi

[caraher]

1. This sale apparently fell through

This Jones guy seems like a real piece of work. He's substantially in arrears on payments to the Port of Olympia for docking the ferry there, and he's going to take a bath on the original investment.

Tuesday's The Olympian reported

“I still need to get paid,” he said, adding that he wasn’t willing to comment at length. He hoped to have more information about the transaction later in the week.

The ferry, once known as The Evergreen State, was listed on eBay under a 10-day auction. The auction closed Friday night and attracted 130 bids, finally pushing the sales price to $205,100.

If the winning bid holds true, it represents a loss of almost $100,000 for Jones, who paid $300,000 for the 310-foot ferry in 2017. After he bought the ferry, he docked it at the port, not always paying his docking fees to the port on time.

Since April 2018, Jones has paid more than $80,000 to the port to moor the ferry. His most recent payment to the port was on Jan. 2. However, a balance is currently due for the months of December and January, according to the port.

Then Wednesday, the winning bidder said that Jones claimed he found a different buyer, but not before a shady-sounding move:

Altman asked for documentation about the vessel, including proof of ownership, but he claims the seller Greg Jones didn’t want to provide any of that until he transferred the money. Altman found that disconcerting, so he reached out again to Jones on Saturday after the auction closed Friday night, only to be told that Jones had found a different buyer.

I'm not expecting to see the ferry leave anytime soon.