ON THE WATER:A fixer-upper by the bay

Somewhere, there is a home for the unwanted boats of Newport Harbor.

The barnacled, the rusted, the falling apart, or just plain-old forgotten ? at 9 a.m. today these boats get a chance to find a good home in the Newport Beach city boat auction.

The city auction, held several times yearly by the city’s Harbor Resources department, offers boats ? from kayaks to power yachts ? that have been abandoned or impounded in Newport Harbor.

While some of the boats are in rough shape, others are in fine condition, said Harbor Resources supervisor Chris Miller. The auction is a good chance for boat owners to buy a fixer-upper or get a good deal on a decent boat, Miller said.

A viewing will be held from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. today at the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, 1901 Bayside Drive, Corona del Mar. The auction starts at 9 a.m. and only cash is accepted as payment. The boats are sold as-is and there are no returns.

If the boat has a registration number, it has to be picked up that day. If not, the boat can be picked up after 10 days.

The city holds the auction any time during the year when they’ve amassed enough boats for a sale, Miller said. The harbor patrol rounds up boats that have been left, found floating in the harbor, or on moorings or docks.

“If a boat’s adrift, since it’s such a tight-knit harbor, somebody will see it and call us,” said Orange County Sheriff’s Harbor Patrol Deputy Joel Monroe.

Well before the sale, harbor resources makes every effort to find the boat’s owner. If a boat is registered, they try to contact its owner. If they don’t hear back, harbor resources will sell the boats at auction, Monroe said.

“If we get boats, either [found] or [impounded] and we can sell them as opposed to having to pay somebody to have them destroyed, it’s a win-win for both us and the city,” Monroe said.

Depending on where the boats were found, the money from the sales goes to either the city or the county, Monroe said.

Harbor resources decides how much each boat bid will start at. Kayaks, dinghies and smaller boats typically start at $20 and go up in $10 increments. The large boats will start at $200 to $300, Miller said.

The city has been holding auctions for three years and they’re gaining in popularity, Miller said. When they first started, about 20 people showed up, and now they average 75 interested buyers.

“I think people are just interested in finding a bargain,” Miller said.

Once a buyer secures the bid on a boat, harbor resources takes their information. That way if anyone decides to dump the boat in the harbor again, they know who to call, Miller said.

“We don’t want people to buy a boat for not very much money and return it to the harbor again,” Miller said.