End appears in sight for Aquasino

LYNN – The Aquasino gambling boat has gone out of business and repossession is imminent, according to operator James Walsh.At least he thinks so.”We made an agreement through emails all winter to keep going,” Walsh said. “Then all of a sudden this other guy came along and wanted to lease the boat ? I got a call they were taking the boat back but I haven’t received anything official yet.”Run as a family enterprise along with wife, Lisa, and son Josh, the Aquasino sailed out from the pier off Marine Boulevard June 28, 2013. Walsh leased the boat from its Florida-based owner.In the fall, the family was dealt a bad hand when the casino boat collided with what was thought to be a sunken car, damaging one of the ship’s 225-foot-long gear shafts. A second shaft broke right after, putting the Walsh family in drydock for two months. It cost $150,000 each for the gear shafts, plus lost business, and Walsh said he is still waiting for reimbursement from the insurance company on the second shaft.Despite being behind on lease payments, Walsh said he was ready to set sail on the third week of April until he got the call from Florida telling him the deal was off. He said he also heard through friends in the area that the owner was seeking bids to have the boat towed back to Florida.”That’s how I heard about it, through the backdoor,” he said.Lynn Economic Development and Industrial Corporation Executive Director James Cowdell said the Walshes never recovered financially from the accident. Cowdell said he firmly believes Walsh would have made a go of the casino boat had it not been for the damage. During the months the boat was in operation it was doing well, he said.”This was his life dream,” Cowdell said. “This guy put everything he had into this business and had a real unfortunate mechanical failure and it cost him his dream.”It could potentially cost him his house as well. Walsh owes EDIC $184,000, the balance on the loan he secured by putting up his house as collateral.”We’re willing to work with him on the loan,” Cowdell said.Walsh is hoping he has not played his last hand in the casino boat business. He said the boat broker he has been working with has already given him a lead on another boat. When asked if he would take another chance with a new boat, Walsh said “absolutely.”In the meantime, Walsh spent Tuesday securing the boat with extra lines in case the predicted snowstorm headed toward Boston took a turn for the worse.”I’m not a savage person,” he said. “I’m not going to leave the boat unsecured.”The story of the Aquasino is a bit like that of its predecessor, Horizon’s Edge, a Las Vegas-style casino cruise ship that started out strong but faltered. However, while Horizon’s Edge owners sailed off the same pier beginning in 2000, they sailed off into the night four years later, owing the city upwards of $17,000 in rent. The issue was eventually settled in court when the owners reappeared.Walsh said he also still holds out hope that the deal with the new lessor will fall through.”I can’t really get an answer,” he said. “If it comes back to me I would have to renegotiate but ? absolutely I’d do it again.”