ROCKLAND, Maine — The city has formally notified the owner of a former ferry and floating restaurant that the vessel must be moved or it will be seized and sold by year’s end.
Rockland Harbormaster Matthew Ripley sent the owner of the Monhegan a letter last month, informing her that he had declared the vessel to be abandoned and that she had six months to move it or the city would seize it and sell it.
The Monhegan has been moored for more than two years in Rockland Harbor off Jameson Point.
Ripley said an unattended vessel left for a long term poses potential risks. He said the boat could break loose, damage other boats, damage harbor facilities or sink and leak fuel.
The Monhegan is owned by Kinda Remick Priestley of East Greenwich, Rhode Island. She inherited the vessel from her father, Ray Remick, who died April 24, 2014, in Rockport.
Ray Remick purchased the vessel from the state after the Maine State Ferry Service retired the former ferry, which had gone under the name the William S. Silsby. The 84-foot-long Silsby was built in 1959 at Wiley Manufacturing facility in Port Deposit, Maryland, as one of the original members of the fleet for the state ferry service. The ferry began serving Swans Island in 1960, carrying up to 125 passengers and up to eight vehicles.
A retired commercial airline pilot, Ray Remick had many business ventures in Maine, including running restaurants, according to his obituary. When he acquired the Monhegan, he used it for charter trips as well as a floating restaurant that was docked in Rockland for more than a decade. Remick leased space each summer on the city-owned middle pier in Rockland and the public landing.
A 2010 article in Maine magazine talked about the restaurant aboard the vessel.
“If you’re curious about Rockland characters and up for a nightcap, head down to the floating Mermaid Lounge aboard the M/V Monhegan. Capt. Ray Remick, former rodeo trick rider, air force pilot and engineer, is always hosting a party, even when tied up at the dock. His highly customized boat is a former Maine state ferry that goes out for tours and charters during the day,” the article stated.
Former Harbormaster Ed Glaser said he tried, after Remick’s death, to have his daughter do something with the vessel. He said he had multiple people contact him interested in possibly buying it, but there was no response from Priestley. He said the Monhegan still has value.
“The value of the vessel goes down, however, the longer it stays moored there,” Glaser said.
New Harbormaster Matthew Ripley, who just started in March, also has tried to get Priestley to do something with the vessel.
“The city has helped keep an eye on the vessel since [2014] and to provide background and contact information to interested buyers. Regrettably, we have not heard from you in over a year, and the Monhegan remains, illegally, at anchor in the harbor,” the June 24 letter from Ripley to Priestley states.
“If, within six months of the date of this letter, you have not removed the M/V Monhegan to an authorized berth in the harbor, or to another location, the city will cause the vessel to be sold to the highest bidder at a public auction, donated to a charitable organization, or otherwise disposed of. The proceeds from such auction, less expenses, shall inure exclusively to the city’s benefit,” Ripley’s letter states.
Multiple attempts over the last two days by the BDN to reach Priestley by phone at her home in Rhode Island have been unsuccessful.
Ripley said Thursday that Priestley called him and said she would try to do something with the vessel.