Low bid price for classic state ferry raises eyebrows
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BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, Wash. - The classic old state ferry Rhododendron was sold at auction this week for just 40 percent of market value - at a time when several lawmakers were asking for more ferry capacity.
The high bidder got the ferry for $300,000 - even though the market value was placed at $750,000.
The low price might not turn any heads except that several state lawmakers had just asked the Washington State Ferries to consider putting the "Rhody" back into service because several other ferries are out of commission.
That was unlikely to happen before - and now it definitely will not happen.
The Rhododendron was retired from service in January after 60 years on the job in Puget Sound - banned by the Coast Guard for any trip more than a mile or so from dock.
The classic ferry was sold Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. via a state-sanctioned auction website for $300,000 - credit cards not accepted - to someone named "Kingstontown."
Now the race is on to find out the name of the new owner of the Rhody - and what the plans are for her.
She was one of the originals of the modern ferry system when the state bought her in 1952. The interior is classic - in generally good condition after some restorations. It carries just 48 cars.
Some lawmakers clamored to bring her back. But state Rep. Judy Clibborn, chairwoman of the House Transportation Committee, agrees with the decision to auction off the Rhody.
She says the Rhody was at the end of her life and would have been too expensive to restore to service.
On ferry-savvy Bainbridge Island, there are plenty of opinions.
"The $300,000 bid - I would question, 'Is that the best use of that asset?'" says Steve Baird of Bainbridge Island.
Mike Rogers, a barber on the island, muses, "What would I do if I had a ferry? I'd make a casino out of it. I'd make it make some money.
Other ideas were to turn the classic vessel into a floating garden - or convert it a large houseboat, complete with parking.
The high bidder got the ferry for $300,000 - even though the market value was placed at $750,000.
The low price might not turn any heads except that several state lawmakers had just asked the Washington State Ferries to consider putting the "Rhody" back into service because several other ferries are out of commission.
That was unlikely to happen before - and now it definitely will not happen.
The Rhododendron was retired from service in January after 60 years on the job in Puget Sound - banned by the Coast Guard for any trip more than a mile or so from dock.
The classic ferry was sold Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. via a state-sanctioned auction website for $300,000 - credit cards not accepted - to someone named "Kingstontown."
Now the race is on to find out the name of the new owner of the Rhody - and what the plans are for her.
She was one of the originals of the modern ferry system when the state bought her in 1952. The interior is classic - in generally good condition after some restorations. It carries just 48 cars.
Some lawmakers clamored to bring her back. But state Rep. Judy Clibborn, chairwoman of the House Transportation Committee, agrees with the decision to auction off the Rhody.
She says the Rhody was at the end of her life and would have been too expensive to restore to service.
On ferry-savvy Bainbridge Island, there are plenty of opinions.
"The $300,000 bid - I would question, 'Is that the best use of that asset?'" says Steve Baird of Bainbridge Island.
Mike Rogers, a barber on the island, muses, "What would I do if I had a ferry? I'd make a casino out of it. I'd make it make some money.
Other ideas were to turn the classic vessel into a floating garden - or convert it a large houseboat, complete with parking.
because they have no idea what they are doing in management, take a look back at what they sold the steel electrics.... not only them, but the high speed passenger only boats. millions of tax dollars have been lost by wsf management (george cappacci to be precise). speaking of passenger only boats, when they were built, they were built with two motors, which was what the boat builder recommended, then management decided to come up with the bright idea to "upgrade" with two more motors?? bad mismanagement, because this was the beginning of the end to the high speed boats, bremerton residents started complaining that the wake the vessels put off was erroding their beaches, and the fact that they doubled the fuel burned and hour (all was fine before the doubling). ultimatly the vessels were auctioned off and the origional boat builder bought them back at auction and made a mint off them by selling them to california... just your typical top down mismanagement of the downtown offices, that have no idea how to run a ferry system. for that fact, an auction either
Why didn't they put a reserve price on this?
this has george cappacci's name all over it,,, he must go.. 300.000 is rediculous and i am ashamed at washington state ferries management for wasting more of our tax dollars... so what is the real tally here after auction costs? 220.000 for a 750.000 dollar boat?? wtf? wake up george cappacci, and quit making shady deals
I believe it was the M/V Rhododendron that was found to have many steel hull plates were reported
during the last Coast Guard inspection to be too thin to allow continued service of the vessel and would
need to be replaced. That would require dry docking the large vessel for repair and that is a very
expensive task
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With that fact in mind, they were lucky to have any bidders at all.
 @pete1427 Lots of red lead primer under all of the other early lead paint. It takes lots of money to remove that stuff.
Garage sales say a lot about the economic strength of an area. Who shows up, what do they buy and what do we pay. And professionals in the trade can explain the potential costs as well as realistic potential profits. I hope the last election brought some realistic people to Olympia.
The IRS defines "fair market value" as what a willing buyer will pay to a willing seller when neither is under any pressure to buy or sell. I suspect that the "fair market value" assessed by the state was more wishful thinking than anything.
I used to love going to Andy's Diner as a kid. Any chance of having a Ferry Boat turned into a floating restaurant ?
@Joe Talk to the new owner of the Kalakala.
There might be $300,000 worth of scrap metal there but how much will it cost for hazmat abatement (lead paint, asbestos, oily waste), dry docking and labor and materials to reduce it to pieces small enough sell?
Remember she was condemned by âHomeland Securityâ. These punks were bad enough when they were Department of Transportation, but now they are just brown shirts wearing blue imitation Navy uniforms. Take that boat and add about $100K renovations, and you have the sweetest NW cruising vessel you will ever see.  You can get about 1/3rd of that selling the stuff you may not want to keep. If you are a boater who would love to have a large yacht, think of the possibilities. Yes, you do have to have a fairly large budget, but for those who do, we be talking kick a$$!   Â
 @oldster70 The reason that the US Coast Guard restricted movement is because
of the thin hull plates. Dry docking a vessel of that size would eat up your $100,000 renovation
fund long before the problem is fully dealt with. I do agree that it might be a fun vessel to own,
but the expenses for repair and operation of such a beast would seriously make a millionaire
cry.
Where is Peter Bevis when you need him?
They will get that just scrapping it, probably a lot more. Did our State employees look into scrapping before they auctioned it off? Or were they too busy?
whoever bought it for 300 k  thats cool and all but its gonna take 5 times that amount to make it even usable as a barge. it will probably get drug into a harbor somewhere and there it will sit and rot, like another famous ex ferry boat down in Tacoma.  if thats the case Make Kingstontown pay every dam dime for towing and disposal. You buy an old boat you get the Maintenance bill that comes with it. And it will be huge for this one.  Â
 @sportbuff01 I drive by that old ferry in Tacoma when I go to work, it actually looks like whoever the new owner is has been doing some work to it.
 @MoonDragonWitch  @sportbuff01 Please, she's the Kalakala. (Probably named for the sound she made when she was running. ;-)
 @Glassman  @sportbuff01 Still, it would be nice to see her turned into something useful, like a floating community garden or a club or something.
You don't know what you've got until it's gone...
We don't have a good track record for dealing with old fairies...I mean ferries, though.
I think this would make a great cannabis coffee house, if you could keep people from walking off of the deck. I wonder if they will ever sort that mess out?
I would love to see her preserved as a museum.
I would think scrap value would be more than 300K no reserve
Man - if there's THIS level of debate about putting this piece back in service, that GLARINGLY points out how this ferry system has slowly but surely run itself closer into the ground.
This ferry system - for one factor or another - is embarrassingly becoming more disfunctional & inadequate by the day. Glad we have our priorities straight in this State...
That could be a pretty sweet houseboat.