By JIM THARPE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 05/27/08

It costs $3,600 just to fill the fuel tanks. But look at the bright side — you might be able to pick it up for a song.

The state of Georgia is auctioning off a 60-foot-long ferry used since the late 1970s to carry up to 149 passengers at a time to coastal Sapelo Island.

The state has two other ferries, so it's dumping the aging workhorse called the "Sapelo Queen" to raise money. Bidding so far has topped $85,000 in the online sale, which ends Wednesday on the Web site GovDeals.com.

"We really don't have the money to maintain three ferries," said Fred Hay, Sapelo Island manager for the Department of Natural Resources. "She's a good boat and has a lot of life in her, and it doesn't make sense to keep her and just let her fall apart."

The ferry, which has a rebuilt diesel engine with less than 200 hours on it, was first put into service in 1978 and has carried up to 70,000 passengers a year between the McIntosh County town of Meridian and Sapelo Island, Hay said.

The ferry, which holds 800 gallons of fuel and cruises at 13 knots, made up to three round trips per day.

The auction company, a subsidiary of Liquidity Services Inc., sells surplus property for more than 200 local, county and state government entities and agencies in Georgia — it handles items for about 1,600 governments and public utilities nationwide.

Company officials have seen their share of odd items over the years. Two years ago, the company sold 200 tons of scrap Georgia highway signs to an Alabama buyer for $227,010.

But the boat is the first ferry that the company has handled, said Terry Bazzoon, the marketing director for GovDeals.com.

"I've gotten an e-mail from some interested bidders in France, Chile and New Zealand," Bazzoon said. "It's been an interesting sale."

The state has set a secret floor, a price below which the vessel will not be sold. Bazzoon declined to publicly reveal that price, but was confident it would be met.

"There's usually a lot of movement at the end," he said. "The price can move significantly in the last 5 minutes."

So if I bid above the reserve price I can have my own 65 foot boat? Is it seaworthy? Does it have a survey?

I've had the honor of riding Sapelo Queen.