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Hindu mired in business dispute
Banner Daily Update Fri. Apr. 4
By Pru Sowers
Banner Staff
PROVINCETOWN – A dispute between the owners of the Hindu – a charter sailboat that has operated out of the harbor here for generations – is threatening to keep the schooner in Key West this summer instead of returning to its homeport.
Capt. Kevin Foley, who purchased the boat three years ago and refurbished it to its former glory, said he is in the middle of a dispute with Sime Dijan, who invested $650,000 in the restoration of the historic schooner, originally built in 1925. Foley wants to bring the boat back to Provincetown this summer and run day charters, as he did last year, but Dijan wants to keep the Hindu in Key West, continuing its winter charter operations.
Dijan said Thursday he can’t afford to take the boat out of commission for the six weeks it takes to sail from Florida to Provincetown Harbor. In addition, he said, the short summer season here makes it difficult to turn a profit on the charter business.
“It’s costing me too much money to go back there,” he said. “I love Provincetown. And everybody loves the boat there. But I just can’t see my way to bringing the boat back. The boat is a business.”
Foley said he has hired an attorney to challenge Dijan’s decision. However, he was unclear about who actually owns the Hindu; Foley, who purchased it from the widow of John Bennett, the previous owner who died in the Hindu’s hold after a heart attack; or Dijan, who came up with the money for the restoration.
“If we have to buy [Dijan] out, we will. I’m not going to give up this boat. I’ve got my life into this boat,” Foley said.
Making matters worse, according to Foley and Hindu First Mate Dylan Salzmann, was Dijan’s hiring about six weeks ago of a boat manager, Sonny Andracchio. Andracchio has repeatedly argued with the crew, firing two of them on Wednesday night, Salzmannn said, with the rest of the crew quitting in protest.
“This guy [Andracchio] is trying to steal the boat from Capt. Kevin. He is trying everything he can do to fire all the crew that knows anything about the boat. He wants it to fail,” Salzmann said, saying he was fired by Andracchio around 2 am Wednesday morning in a Key West bar.
Andracchio, reached via cell phone Thursday, wouldn’t comment on whether he had fired some Hindu crewmembers. However, he confirmed that the Hindu would remain in Florida this summer.
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Apr 3rd, 2008