Boats will be going, going ...

With a broken radio antenna hanging on the side and trash strewn next to a Nissan motor, a white 25-foot sail boat docked in front of the Orange County Sheriff’s Harbor Patrol station may not be much to look at.

But if someone buys it today at the Newport Beach city boat auction and fixes it up, the boat may have a new life at sea.

The impounded vessel is one of 15 boats that will be auctioned off at 9 a.m. today at the Harbor Patrol station at 1901 Bayside Drive, Corona del Mar.

The impounded or abandoned boats, to be sold to the highest bidder, include kayaks, power boats, inflatable boats and dinghies.

“The motor could be a selling point,” said Harbor Patrol Deputy Joel Monroe about the 25-foot sail boat’s Nissan motor.

Prospective buyers will get a chance to see the boats up close from 8 to 9 a.m.

The boat auction is held several times throughout the year by the city’s harbor resources department, with the help of the Sheriff’s Department.

The vessels are sold as they are, and only cash payments are accepted.

Six of the 15 boats up for auction are registered. People who buy those boats won’t get to take them home the same day, harbor resources supervisor Chris Miller said. After the auction, the boats stay with the city for 10 days, giving the original owner a chance to claim the boat and pay impoundment fines. Miller said the city makes every effort to find the owner of the registered boats before the auction. All other boats with no registration must be removed by 5 p.m. on the day of the auction.

Harbor patrol deputies, like Monroe and Deputy Jim Slikker, find the boats floating in the harbor or on docks.

A 48-foot sailing boat with a cement hull was found abandoned in a mooring, Slikker said. It’s in poor shape.

“It’s seaworthy but not in very good condition,” Monroe said. “Sometimes they are left to drift. If they have no identification, we’ll put them up for auction.”

People abandon boats for various reasons, mostly because they cannot pay for the expense of a mooring, Monroe said. Some owners of impounded boats decide not to pay the fees and leave the vessel to the city.

Boats that are not sold at auction are destroyed or kept for the next auction.

The auctions are held depending on the number of abandoned or impounded boats the city has, Miller said. When they get 10 or more boats, they plan for an auction. The city has been holding the auctions consistently for the last four years.

“We’ve been averaging between 50 to 75 people at the auctions,” Miller said.

Miller, Monroe and Slikker stress that potential buyers have a permanent place to dock their boats before buying.