Fixer-Upper, for Sale Cheap
If you’re the sort of bargain hunter who’s constantly on the lookout for the ultimate boat deal, you’ll be interested to hear that the once-gorgeous Gunboat 55 catamaran (#1) Rainmaker is up for auction this month, with bids starting at $15,000 — less than 1% of its original value.
As regular readers will recall, this is the boat that was dismasted on January 30, 2015 while roughly 200 miles off Cape Hatteras, then was left to drift after her crew was rescued by the Coast Guard. After drifting, partly submerged, through two winters, the big cat was finally located and taken under tow to Bermuda, where she now awaits auction.
As you can see, her needs are well beyond ‘cosmetics’, but despite losing her cabin during the dismasting and being partially submerged for more than a year, her hulls appear to be relatively unscathed — at least in the photos we’ve seen. That said, she apparently needs everything else: engines, a rig and sails, all new interior systems and furnishings, etc., etc. As some waterfront sage once said, "There’s nothing more expensive than a cheap boat."
Nevertheless, we wouldn’t be surprised if the auction facilitators at Connecticut-based Cooper Capital Specialty Salvage, LLC receive many bids. (Final bids will be taken September 6.) Via their website, Cooper Capital "strongly encourages bidders/buyers to personally examine all assets in which they have an interest in placing a bid." To arrange an inspection, call CCSS, LLC at (860) 395-4745. And if you get her, we wish you the best of luck in resurrecting her. (You may also want to check out Cooper’s other sailboats, one of which is a Farr 40.)
