EVERETT — Poor Miss Vicki.
Still on the sunny side of 35, she’s in no need of a facelift, if appearances count for anything. A bright teal-green tapered streak cuts clean across both sides of her hull. The color is a bit dated, perhaps. Miss Vicki was born in 1975, but she’s still a child of the ’80s.
Her story is a mystery. What was clear on Wednesday is that she was abandoned by her owner, left to rock gently for the rest of her days in Possession Sound.
When auctioneer Ron Hannon first offered her to the crowd gathered at the Port of Everett’s boat auction on Wednesday, there were no takers. Not for $100, not for $50, not for $25. Miss Vicki was rejected.
Hannon’s sentimental streak must have gotten the best of him. After moving down the auction line, he returned to Miss Vicki.
“Anyone?” he asked. “Anyone?”
Steve Kelleher stepped forward. He offered $100.
“Sold!” Hannon shouted.
Kelleher hadn’t planned on buying a boat. Miss Vicki charmed him.
“She’s a good boat,” the Lake Stevens man said, already dreaming of lazy afternoons spent on Puget Sound, trolling for salmon and steelhead. “She’s probably worth $2,000, $2,500.”
The port holds at least one, maybe two boat auctions each year, said Karen Bukis, credit control administrator for the Port of Everett. Boat owners fall behind in their moorage payments for a host of reasons: the loss of a job, medical issues, the death of a loved one. The port does what it can to offer options for those who are struggling, Bukis said, but once an owner decides to just walk away, the boat goes up for auction.
Proceeds from the sale goes to the previous owner’s delinquent moorage fee, Bukis said. Usually, the sale price doesn’t cover the outstanding debt. That means the previous owner still has to face a bill, even if their boat is gone.
These days, the boat auctions tend to be a bit more interesting. The economic crisis is taking its toll on those who pay anywhere from about $100 to more than $1,000 each month to park their boats at the marina.
“We always have boats for auction, but we’re getting nicer, more expensive boats,” Bukis said.
Once a boat is auctioned off, the new owner has five days to remove it from the port’s property or begin paying for moorage. Even a boat that sells for $25, like a 1961 sailboat that sold Wednesday, can get expensive after moorage bills roll in month after month.
Some of the boats were abandoned because they have unseen ills, Hannon said.
“They’re all here for a reason,” he said. “For some of these, the economy has nothing to do with it.”
Missing parts and moldy interiors are common. One boat up for auction Wednesday was filled with water, but even she had an admirer: Richard Sullivan of the Sea Scouts said youngsters could learn a lot by repairing such a vessel. He hoped the Port of Everett might consider donating the boat to his cause.
Wednesday’s auction went better than most, Bukis said. A 1977 34-foot sailboat sold for $4,800.
“Once we get up over $1,000, we’re doing good,” she said.
Most boats, though, like Miss Vicki, went dirt-cheap. Kelleher was almost giddy as he ran his hand along her bow. He plans to rename her Mabel Ann, in honor of his mother. An older name, for a boat that’s not a teenager anymore. She’s been around the block a few times, seen some hardship.
But there’s a new love in her life. She glowed in the morning sun.
Kelleher grinned.
Krista J. Kapralos: 425-339-3422, kkapralos@heraldnet.com.
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