Everything to be going, going ... gone in SkipperLiner auction

Assets and equipment of SkipperLiner Inc. in La Crosse, which closed for the second time last fall, were sold in an online auction Tuesday.

The Cal Fremling, one of the final watercraft built at SkipperLiner, pictured in the factory before its launch in June.

People depart from the Cal Fremling after its christening on June 6 in Winona.

Assets and equipment of SkipperLiner Inc. in La Crosse — at one time the nation’s largest builder of luxury houseboats and commercial passenger boats — will be sold in an online auction Tuesday.

SkipperLiner ran aground when demand for its yachts dried up during the recession, and owner Noel Jordan closed it in April 2010. Entrepreneur Jeb Griffith tossed the company a lifeline when he bought it from Jordan six months later and operated it until he closed it again last fall.

In addition to the equipment and assets, the SkipperLiner headquarters at 127 Marina Drive are on the market — for leasing of office and warehouse space at $5 to $12 a square foot.

A representative of the real estate firm handling the leasing of 12,355 square feet of office space and 39,206 square feet of warehouse space declined to comment Thursday. He referred questions to Griffith or his son, Peter, the company’s executive vice president, who did not respond to a request for an interview.

The auction, through Orbitbid.com, will begin at 8 a.m. Tuesday, with staggered end times depending on items up until 8 p.m. It features a boatload of items with starting bids at $5. Perhaps one of the more intriguing items for auction warriors is billed as an “Evans Monon 48’ van type trailer and contents of misc. carpet rolls, window and other misc. items.” Starting bid: 100 bucks.

The hundreds of items on the auction block range from A to W, from aluminum stepladders and airless paint sprayers to Witco kitchen equipment at the starting bid of a Lincoln head, as well as a couple of vehicles. Potential deals vary from nuts and bolts, to hand and power tools for working up a sweat, to a beer keg tapper/cooler to slake your thirst at the end of the day.

SkipperLiner, which was established in 1971, crafted almost 1,000 vessels, according to its website. Its products included large commercial dining boats, tugs, barges, water taxis, paddle-wheelers, yachts and luxury houseboats in the 40- to 120-foot classes.

Before the recession, SkipperLiner employed about 100 people, but the economic downturn dropped its payroll to about 30. It had 55 workers before Jordan closed it, but the number of workers when the Griffiths dropped anchor is unavailable.

“It’s a sad event whenever we lose a company that employed 50 to 100 people,” said Barry Blomquist, the founder of Mid-City Steel Fabricating, which was a subcontractor for SkipperLiner.

“Noel Jordan is a great guy who created a lot of jobs for a very long time,” said Blomquist, who is retired after selling Mid-City in 2007 but remains active in the community, including being an Onalaska Common Council member.

“(The year) 2008 was trouble for a lot of industries,” he said in an interview. “The economy had as much to do with it as anything.”

Although not as familiar with the Griffiths, he said, “I think they tried. I think it’s too bad the economy took down the houseboat and tour boat industry. It’s expendable income and the cost of fuel.”

One of the final boats SkipperLiner launched was the Cal Fremling, Winona State University’s $1.4 million floating classroom, which took to the Mississippi River a year ago.

A spokesman for Orbitbid.com did not respond to a request for comment on the auction, but the website of the Byron Center, Mich.-based company describes it as having “the latest in internet bidding technology, and a huge following of online bidders from all over the world.”

The company conducts more than 300 auctions a year totaling millions of dollars, its website says.

Local bidders will have a bit of an edge over more far-flung deal seekers, as the lots will be available for inspection from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Those who cannot bid on Tuesday can place maximum bids on items now. The bids will not be visible to the general public and will not be placed until 8 a.m. the day of the auction, according to Orbitbid.com’s rules.

Bidders on SkipperLiner’s assets and equipment might be able to snag a bucket of nuts and bolts for a starting bid as little as five bucks, or a running 1994 Ford F350 pickup truck, with a V-8 gas engine, dual rear wheels and hitch with a mere 128,523 miles, for $500 to start.

The online auction will include hundreds of items, including the following, to name a few:

The highest opening bid appears to be a Grover Cleveland, on several items.

A full auction list and guidelines are available online here.

Click here for information on leasing office or warehouse space in the SkipperLiner building.

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