Fintry Queen still waiting for forever home

KELOWNA – She looks a little lonely out there, anchored in Sutherland Bay, waiting for something to happen but the man tasked with selling the iconic Fintry Queen says interest has been steady since it was put up for sale two months ago.

“We’re still marketing it, still waiting for the right buyer but we’ve had good enquiries and good traffic,” says Richard Wilkins, a realtor with RE/MAX Penticton Realty. “It’s unique to the valley and it has its own personality, which is a good thing. But there is a lot of activity in the Alberta market right now which doesn’t help.”

The Fintry Queen listing ended up in his hands after a failed attempt by owner Andy Schwab to resurrect the well-known dinner cruise ship and relocate it to Penticton.

As part of the plan, Schwab sought to raise $600,000 from investors under the B.C. Capital Investment program and use the cash to build a dedicated dock in Penticton, plus make improvements to the vessel.

The program would have allowed his company Okanagan Lake Boat Company to offer a 30 per cent tax credit to investors who bought in at $1.00 per share.

However Schwab wasn unable to persuade enough investors to sign on and he chose to list the former car ferry for sale.

“There is a $349,900 list price on it which represents good value, in my opinion. It is in very sound mechanical shape,” Wilkins says. “It is being sold as a commercial vessel but somebody could make a real nice house out of it, if they had a place to put it.”

However, Wilkins adds the Fintry Queen should see out its days in Okanagan Lake.

“It would be a terrible task to move it and I think once it’s out of the water, that’s it.”

Anyone interested in kicking the tires on the Fintry Queen can reach Wilkins at 250-488-4652.

To contact the reporter for this story, email John McDonald at jmcdonald@infonews.ca or call 250-808-0143. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.