The good news is people interested in buying one of the two boats from the beleaguered Adventure Bound Alaska tour company have a couple of extra weeks to submit sealed auction bids. The bad news is that’s because the minimum bids had to be increased massively due to liens placed on the vessels.
The company’s 56-foot-long Adventure Bound vessel had a minimum bid of $8,815.68 when originally listed March 15, but on March 27 that was increased to $32,985.68. The 65-foot-long Captain Cook originally listed with a minimum bid of $10,180.69 was increased to $53,520.33.
The original bid deadline of March 27 has been extended until 2 p.m. April 10, according to an auction notice for both vessels published on the City and Borough of Juneau’s harbors Facebook page. Bids will be opened immediately at that time.
The original minimums were to cover payments due to the city, but harbor staff recently learned there are liens on the vessels as well, Harbormaster Matthew Creswell said Thursday.
“Per our policy, the liens have to get paid as well,” he said. “So once we were made aware of those liens we extended the auction by two weeks and included those liens into the minimum bid.”
Adventure Bound Alaska, which began operating in Juneau 33 years ago, became the target of complaints from people who said they booked and prepaid for trips not provided starting in mid-2022 and continuing well into 2023. Also, Petro 49 sued the company, and its owners, Steven and Winona Weber, for nearly $20,000 in unpaid bills, and Steve Weber was given four notices of deficiencies by the U.S. Coast Guard resulting from a grounding incident in Canadian waters in October of 2022.
The auction for the vessels is by local regulation an in-person process where sealed bids are submitted to the harbormaster’s office at 1600 Harbor Way, in contrast to items such as vehicles impounded by the Juneau Police Department that are sold via a public surplus auction online. Creswell said if nobody offers the minimum bid by the new deadline for one or both vessels the next step will be a public surplus auction.
“I don’t think what I have to do in this case,” he said. However, “once we go to that procedure we can set the minimum bids to whatever we want. But we would still include that lien cost in that minimum bid.”
If and when the vessels are sold, the lien holder is paid first, Creswell said. Any remaining funds after the city deducts the money it’s owed would go to the vessels’ former owners. The Webers can also reclaim the vessels by paying the money owed to CBJ by April 9, although the liens would still be in effect.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
