Captain John's towed from Toronto waterfront to scrapyard

[explorerzip]

So long you old rust bucket.

http://www.citynews.ca/2015/05/28/captain-johns-being-towed-from-toronto-waterfront-to-scrapyard/

 

[waynward]

Heard the cost to tow it was outrageos. Something like 50 million. But then again the hot dog stand guy told me that LOL. So not sure of the accuracy of the information as he said he heard from his friend works the city. (Maybe also selling hot dogs by the City office)

 

[SchlongConery]

Heard the cost to tow it was outrageos. Something like 50 million. But then again the hot guy stand guy told me that LOL. So not sure of the accuracy of the information as he said he heard from his friend works the city. (Maybe also selling hot dogs by the City office)

Fifty Million!?!?! LOL

Sounds like something one of the completely-out-of-touch clueless swivel servants would say! Don't believe it.

It was $500,000.00 A half million dollars... total. The Port Authority paid some, the developer of the codes next door paid some.

 

[waynward]

Yeah I took it with a grain of salt. He's not likely selling hotdogs because he is a financial wizard.

Fifty Million!?!?! LOL

Sounds like something one of the completely-out-of-touch clueless swivel servants would say! Don't believe it.

It was $500,000.00 A half million dollars... total. The Port Authority paid some, the developer of the codes next door paid some.

 

[james t kirk]

Glad to see it gone. It's been an incredible eye sore for a decade or more.

I'm amazed it didn't sink actually.

I was on it once maybe circa 1999 and it was in tatters even back then.

 

[scouser1]

I caught an interview with the guy that owned it, dude was reminiscing about how Bob Hope and the Village People visited it, wow talk about time to move on geez.

 

[Insidious Von]

I had some good times there sad to see it good. It's being towed to Port Darlington where it will be dismantled. Most of the scrap metal will be melted down and used for something else.

And the cost is around $80K.

 

[GPIDEAL]

I was told that that vessel originally belonged to Yugoslavian dictator Marshal Tito as his personal yacht.

 

[SchlongConery]

I had some good times there sad to see it good. It's being towed to Port Darlington where it will be dismantled. Most of the scrap metal will be melted down and used for something else.

And the cost is around $80K.

According to the specific details of the Toronto Star article the cost is around $500,000.00

According to the reported particulars of the Court approved bid, it is not casting taxpayers "a dime" and the Scrapyeard is making money off the scrap, and is being subsidized by an adjacent condo developer and the Port Authourity.

And it is going to Port Colbourne, not Darlington.

"“Captain” John Letnik. He was invited by Marine Recycling Corp. to accompany his beloved ship, along with a scrapping crew of seven, to its final resting place in Port Colborne.As a tearful Letnik, 76, prepared to board just before 10.30 a.m., he told reporters: “I gave the City of Toronto and my family all I could. The hardest part is going to be leaving the ship tomorrow (at the Port Colborne scrapyard), but life goes on.”

 

[SchlongConery]

I was told that that vessel originally belonged to Yugoslavian dictator Marshal Tito as his personal yacht.

Notoriginally . It was built in 1957 as a passenger cruise ship and then later as the private yacht of Tito. Letnik bought it from the Yugoslavian gov't.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_John's_Harbour_Boat_Restaurant

 

[GPIDEAL]

Notoriginally . It was built in 1957 as a passenger cruise ship and then later as the private yacht of Tito. Letnik bought it from the Yugoslavian gov't.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_John's_Harbour_Boat_Restaurant

All right Mr. Connery, I stand corrected. Still a remarkable fact that Tito owned and used it at one time.

 

[GPIDEAL]

Glad to see it gone. It's been an incredible eye sore for a decade or more.

I'm amazed it didn't sink actually.

I was on it once maybe circa 1999 and it was in tatters even back then.

I dined and partied there a few times. Yeah it was dumpy lol.

 

[JackBurton]

I could never figure out why it was famous or why it continued to stand at the dock? Maybe I'm too young but hey, I'm almost 50 and if it isn't in my recollection of timeline, then yeah...tow the junk and scrap it

 

[explorerzip]

He could have used the ship for harbour or booze cruises just like the Empire Sandy, Kajama and so many other boats do today. Sad that he never saw that opportunity.

 

[herbnessman]

He could have used the ship for harbour or booze cruises just like the Empire Sandy, Kajama and so many other boats do today. Sad that he never saw that opportunity.

The problem is the ship hasn't been seaworthy for years. And the owner had no money to make improvements of any kind. He didn't even pay for the removal.

 

[SchlongConery]

He could have used the ship for harbour or booze cruises just like the Empire Sandy, Kajama and so many other boats do today. Sad that he never saw that opportunity.

Yeah, probably never saw that opportunity.


Yeah, if only this thread came around when his wife divorced him, made a claim for 50% of the business which resulted in him filing for bankruptcy.

But seriously, those other boats are rarely even close to full on their dinner cruises and earn the majority of their revenues from privately organized charters and private/corporate/industry events. And they only run 4/12 months.

Never could a boat that size operate profitably on dinner cruises in Toronto.

 

[explorerzip]

The problem is the ship hasn't been seaworthy for years. And the owner had no money to make improvements of any kind. He didn't even pay for the removal.

But it was seaworthy at one point in time and he got it there somehow. It was never in his business plan to operate a cruise company anyway, only wanted to be a restauranteur.

 

[james t kirk]

Notoriginally . It was built in 1957 as a passenger cruise ship and then later as the private yacht of Tito. Letnik bought it from the Yugoslavian gov't.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_John's_Harbour_Boat_Restaurant

Fascinating story there.

I love the very last sentence......

"The day before the ship sailed, Letnik received a reminder from the city that he still owed $814,656.12 in back property taxes."

Good luck to the city of Toronto on that one.

 

[GPIDEAL]

Fascinating story there.

I love the very last sentence......

"The day before the ship sailed, Letnik received a reminder from the city that he still owed $814,656.12 in back property taxes."

Good luck to the city of Toronto on that one.

How in the hell does the City permit a tax debt to go that high? Seize and sell (WTF?).

 

[james t kirk]

How in the hell does the City permit a tax debt to go that high? Seize and sell (WTF?).

Cause it would have cost the city more money just to get rid of it.

They would have had to commission an internal study, then go to the street for an environmental assessment, then hire an engineering firm to oversee the moving and prepare a tender to sell the thing to the highest bidder, blay blah blah.

Would have cost the city a million bucks just to get rid of it.

They should have scrapped it 3 or 4 years ago when scrap iron had some value to it.

Now, it's going to cost money to scrap it.