It’s been a fixture at St. John’s harbour for more than three decades, but on Thursday afternoon the Scademia — the iconic 90-foot schooner used to operate the province’s first boat tour business, a successful venture that ran for over 40 years — was towed from its longtime mooring space on the waterfront to a spot further west.
Under orders from the St. John’s Port Authority (SJPA), the schooner has moved from Pier 7, behind the Keg Steakhouse, to Pier 1, toward the Oceanex property dry dock at the west end of the harbour.
“They want me, for some reason, to get out of the way,” Scademia owner Charlie Anonsen told The Telegram just minutes before the move.
He said the SJPA told him the space was needed to accommodate the increased traffic in the harbour.
“I don’t get that because it’s never been so slack here,” said Anonsen, 65. “I’ve been here a long time and the harbour has never witnessed such a big drop in shipping.”
While the Scademia hasn’t operated since 2006, Anonsen has continued to pay thousands of dollars in port fees to keep his docking spot. However, year after year, he was denied the right to operate. Instead, he said, another company has been given exclusive rights to operate a boat tour business at the harbour.
It’s the latest in a long, drawn-out battle between Anonsen and the SJPA — which has resulted in the veteran skipper filing a $10-million lawsuit against the authority.
It all started in 2005, when Anonsen, operating the Scademia under the business name Adventure Tours Inc. (ATI), terminated his lease to dock at Pier 7, so the business could operate outside the province for a season. However, he claims he had informed the SJPA that he wished to retain a renewal right to operate back at St. John’s harbour the following season.
But the SJPA opted not to renew ATI’s lease the following season, having introduced a new policy limiting the number of tour boat operators permitted to dock there.
Attempts by Anonsen to obtain a lease to operate at Pier 7 in subsequent years were unsuccessful.
He first filed the lawsuit in 2008. Although a Federal Court of Appeal decision three years later struck down the lawsuit, the court did not outright dismiss it. Instead, the decision granted Adventure Tours the right to file a new statement of claim.
The new claim was filed nine months later, in 2012. Since then, the SJPA has made several attempts to strike down the claim, but to no avail.
The case is scheduled to return to court in January 2019.
Anonsen said while his business doesn’t operate anymore, it’s still worth the fight.
“This was my business, my livelihood,” he said, noting he had employed many people over the years. “I’ve lost millions of dollars over the last 10 years. This was my brand. I mean everybody knows the Scademia.”
When contacted by The Telegram Thursday afternoon about the order to have the Scademia relocated, SJPA president and chief executive Sean Hanrahan said he couldn’t make any comment while the case is before the court.
Anonsen, meanwhile, said he might sell the Scademia in the near future to a potential buyer in Conception Bay.
“It hasn’t been working in 10 years and that’s very hard on a boat and likely won’t be used to operate as a tour boat business again,” he said. “But it’d make an ideal exhibit or a little cafeteria or something like that.”
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