All the reporting on this story talks about a “ghost ship” for sale by auction in Newburyport, MA. “Newburyport ‘ghost ship’ on the block,” is pretty typical. The “ship” in question is, in fact, an Endeavour 37 sailboat, a bit small to be termed a ship. No one is thought to have died on board the boat and there are no report of a haunting of the vessel, though a presumed death is the cause of the boat’s sale. The most interesting part of the story may be the disappearance and presumed drowning of the sailboat’s owner, Richard Decker.
Decker was a German national who had recently purchased the boat and planned to live aboard. On November 15th of last year, he disappeared and is presumed to have drowned in the Merrimack River. No one knows what happened to him and his body was never recovered, though there are theories. As reported by the Gloucester Times:
Decker’s disappearance was first suspected when his dog was found tied to a post at Cashman Park. The Coast Guard discovered his swamped dinghy tied to the stern of his sailboat, which was located on the Salisbury side of the river opposite the park.
Gradually, a theory emerged to explain what must have happened: Decker planned to row his dinghy to his boat, then motor it back to Cashman Park to pick up his dog. A rope became entangled in the sailboat’s propeller, and when Decker attempted to free it, he fell into the river and drowned. A search was launched but his body was not found.
When Decker’s family had no interest in the boat, the town of Newburyport winterized it and put it in storage. It is now offering for dale to the highest bidder on Municibid, an online government auction site. Bidding is open until May 29th. As of this morning there were 31 bids and the top offers was $10,100, which is below the reserve price. A brief check of the yacht brokerages suggests that the average price for an Endeavour 37 of this age is around $40,000, with boats being offered between a low of $27,000 and a high of $65,000.
It is unclear whether the current low bid price reflects the time until the close of the auction, concerns about the possibly of the boat being a “ghost ship” as widely reported, or just that the current color scheme of a green hull with gold boot and cove stripes might be somewhat off-putting. Perhaps a bit of all three.
Thanks to William Nicholson on Facebook for pointing out the story.
Much of the reporting regarding Richard’s disappearance has been wrong. Richard was one of my boatyard neighbors for a few years; he had owned the Endeavor for several years, it was not a recent purchase. The vessel was in ill-repair and hadn’t been in the water for several years. Richard was living in a run-down R/V and working under the table as a landscaper/gardener and was very reticent to discuss his background. Rightly or wrongly there was the perception that Richard had a criminal background and had left Germany under less-than-ideal circumstances.
He was the sort of interesting character one meets within the sailing community.
As for his disappearance, I have no reason to doubt the story for the simple fact that Richard was VERY devoted and attached to his dog, Tollman (a Tamaskan, not a huskie, and a very expensive breed). He would never have abandoned his dog unless he’d had an accident.
Interesting. Thanks.
I can tell you for sure that no one had died on board the 37′ Endeavour as this was the sailboat formally known as Solitaire that I grew up on sailing. Unfortunately my Dad sold it over ten years ago since he lost his crew, I left Massachusetts for the Marine Corps and my Mom got tired of being the only crew left on the ship. I hope who ever was lucky enough to win the auction takes good care of her…the only ghosts that are haunting Solitaire is the memories of great family moments and the occasional party by a teenage boy who would sneak out out on the boat with his buddys.