Judge sends schooner ‘Timberwind’ to public sale
ROCKLAND — A U.S. federal court judge has directed that an advertisement be placed in the Portland Press Herald announcing the public sale of the schooner Timberwind. Bar Harbor Bank and Trust started foreclosure proceedings on the vessel in May, and on June 18, Judge D. Brock Hornby ordered that the bank be paid $331,562, with interest of $43.57 per diem from June 3 forward.
Hornby ordered that the advertisement be published at least 14 days prior to the sale.
In May, Bar Harbor Bank called its note on the boat, claiming the Timberwind must pay $329,054, as well as a per diem cost of $43.57 for each day after April 23, 2014, to cover expenses and attorneys’ fees.
In January, the schoonerTimberwind, a longtime fixture at Rockport’s Marine Park wharf, was towed out of Rockport Harbor and tied up in Lermond Cove, in Rockland. Her owner, Bob Tassi, said at the time that she was in the process of being sold. In early May, Bar Harbor Bank and Trust initiated foreclosure on the vessel, filing a maritime claim in U.S. District Court.
The 81 year-old Timberwind continues to sit in Rockland, under her winter plastic.
Tassi has owned the 96-foot schooner since 2003, when he bought her and made extensive repairs to the transom, stem and planking. Tassi operated the Timberwind as part of the Midcoast windjammer fleet, taking visitors for day and overnight sails on Penobscot Bay. Tassi paid Rockport approximately $3,200 annually for a year-round berth at the town’s public wharf at Marine Park.
The Timberwind, designated as a national historic landmark, has been, and continues to be listed on the market for $410,000.
The Timberwind remains in Lermond Cove under the custodial care of Equinox Corporation, as determined by the court.
Just before Thanksgiving, a storm that blew out of the southeast sent strong swells and waves into Rockport Harbor, resulting in the Timberwind’s breaking loose from the mooring and smashing against the dock. Besides a broken bowsprit, pieces of the dock broke, and the town sectioned off a piece of the wharf to foot traffic as a precaution. The town intends to replace float dock this summer.
The Timberwind was built in 1931 by Victor Cole at Union Wharf in Portland, according to a history of the boat.
The Timberwind was not the only schooner to slip its mooring without much warning this past winter. On Jan. 9, the Nathaniel Bowditch was towed to Camden from its berth at Lermond’s Cove in Rockland. The schooner is tied up in a legal suit concerning financial contracts.
The Nathaniel Bowditch is on the market now for $350,000.
Timberwind specs:
LOA: 96 ft 0 in
Beam: 18 ft 6 in
Length on Deck: 70 ft 0 in
Minimum Draft: 10 ft 6 in
Displacement: 112,000 lbs
Engines
Engine Brand: Timberwind has no engine. She is maneuvered by a yawl boat
Accommodations
Seating Capacity: 20
Related stories
Bank places lien on schooner ‘Timberwind’
Schooner Timberwind moves long-time berth from Rockport to port unknown
Schooner ‘Nathaniel Bowditch’ going to public auction Feb. 14 at Camden’s Sharp’s Wharf
Editorial Director Lynda Clancy can be reached at lyndaclancy@penbaypilot.com; 706-6657
