Shattererd Dream: Homemade catamaran for sale on eBay

How much is a shattered dream worth?

James “Hot Rod” Lane has listed his at $80,000.

That’s the price tag he’s put on his “Flyin’ Hawaiian,” the homemade catamaran he had dreamed of sailing to a new life in Hawaii.

The 65-foot-long, eight-ton behemoth has been put up for sale on eBay, advertised as a “custom sailing catamaran” affording “private luxury.” Describing it as “75 percent complete,” the ad goes on to say that it’s “perfect for someone looking for a project and to add all the personal touches.”

As of late Tuesday afternoon (Nov. 19), there were no bids.

For the past three months, the “Flyin’ Hawaiian” has been anchored in open water off Sausalito, becalmed by the 52-year-old Lane’s legal and financial woes.

The Marin County District Attorney’s office has filed a misdemeanor charge of battery with serious bodily injury against him stemming from a fight he got into with Loch Lomond Marina Harbor Master Pat Lopez in August, biting Lopez’s right middle finger “almost to the bone,” according to police. The altercation was over Lane’s continuing use of the marina’s showers and facilities long after he had moved his boat elsewhere, unable to pay the berth fee.

He is scheduled to be arraigned this week in Marin Superior Court. Deputy District Attorney Shawn Spaulding said he faces a maximum sentence of a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. After the bloody brouhaha with Lopez, he was arrested on an outstanding warrant from Sutter County for failing to appear in court on a charge of driving with a suspended license.

A self-described “new mariner,” Lane designed the “Flyin’ Hawaiian” himself, despite his relative lack of knowledge about sailing and boat building.

He and his 28-year-old son spent three years putting the bulky, wood and fiberglass sailboat together in the Loch Lomond parking lot, becoming an object of curiosity in the upscale bayside neighborhood.They finally launched their dream boat in the middle of the night last Memorial Day weekend, 18 months behind schedule.

A jack of all trades, Lane envisioned himself and his son sailing off to Hawaii, where they would build sailboats for a living on a plot of land he said was waiting for them in the shadow of Diamond Head.

“This is the beginning of my adventure to make some real money, to be able to relax and live life, to enjoy it,” he said at the time. “It isn’t about the money, it’s about the lifestyle.”

In the end, though, it was about the money. Lane didn’t have enough to finish the seven-foot-high, 32-foot-wide yacht, or to berth it at Loch Lomond or any other marina.

As far as anyone can tell, the “Flyin’ Hawaiian” has never been under sail. Before it found relatively safe harbor in Richardson Bay, it spent a few days stuck in the mud off San Rafael’s Spinnaker Point.

Source: Marin Independent Journal