H.M.S. Bounty put up for sale

For sale: H.M.S. Bounty, the only Long Island-based square-rigged tall ship, featured in the 1962 Marlon Brando version of "Mutiny on the Bounty" and two "Pirates of the Caribbean" sequels. Asking price: $4.9 million.

Robert Hansen, the East Setauket businessman who nine years ago bought and restored the replica of one of the most famous vessels in history, has reluctantly listed the 180-foot ship for sale.

"I really do not wish to get rid of her," Hansen said, "But now it's time to pass the torch," he said.

"It's extremely expensive to operate the ship," he said, adding that it costs roughly about $750,000 a year to maintain the ship and that he would prefer focusing on his air-conditioning business, Islandaire Inc., that is his livelihood.

Hansen, a longtime sailor who fell in love with the boat, said he spent less than the $1.5 million asking price when he bought the Bounty in 2001 but his investment grew to $7 million with operating and overhauling the ship that was originally built for the Brando classic and was then later featured in two of the latter Disney "Pirates" movies.

When the ship is not being used as a movie set, it sails around the country as an attraction for visitors, helping to earn its keep through sponsorship and ticket admission sales. Until it is sold, Hansen said the ship will maintain its "aggressive" public schedule.

"We've logged probably 50,000 miles," he said of the ship's voyages. It has been to Europe twice, British Columbia, Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands and has spent a lot of time navigating the Great Lakes and wintering in Florida.

Hansen estimates that over the nine years he has only spent about three weeks aboard, including the trip to the Galápagos. "We had a lot of fun and my kids grew up on it, but it cost me a marriage," he said.

A planned trip to Tahiti and Pitcairn Island to re-create the final voyage of the original Bounty - the ship that immortalized the story of Fletcher Christian and Captain William Bligh - never came off because of lack of sponsorship.

The Bounty replica has spent little time in the homeport of Greenport that Hansen chose for her because he said it lacked the potential to generate large crowds of visitors.

Since the vessel was listed for sale, Hansen said, "there are a few people who have expressed interest but nobody has ponied up anything yet. It's got to be the right deal. I don't want to sell it to someone who's going to convert her into a restaurant or something like that. She's got to continue sailing."

Hansen said he's open to teaming up with someone to keep the Bounty going. "I'm looking to either partner up with somebody or find a home for her that can continue the tradition of keeping her alive and sailing."

Bert Rogers, executive director of the American Sail Training Association, a clearinghouse for tall ship activities, said selling the Bounty won't be easy.

"The tall ship business is a niche that is not for everybody," he said. "It's capital-intensive with, in most cases, a fairly low return on investment so it's a labor of love. So the market is inherently limited. You add the fact that, in this particular economy, people's wealth is down and people aren't taking risks, so that compounds an already challenging thing."

But he added that the Bounty has a lot going for it. "She has great name recognition and a great history. She is a celebrity through the movies."