A Nova Scotia pub owner, tired of all the headaches that come with running a business, wants to trade his pub for a boat and sail down south in the winter.
Kevin Emery, the owner of Ye Olde Towne Pub in the historic town of Annapolis Royal, N.S., told CTV Atlantic that his frustrations began when his business partner dropped out this spring and intensified around the province’s Natal Day civic holiday earlier this month.
“I had a wave of untimely employees quitting and leaving before Natal Day, a big day for us,” he said. “I thought ‘to hell with it.’ If no one wants a job, I don’t want a pub.”
Shortly thereafter, a large banner featuring a pirate ship on one side and a Viking boat on the other appeared outside the pub, which is housed in an old building from 1844 that used to be the town bank.
“PUB for SALE or TRADE. I want a BOAT!” it says.
“The next thing you know, there’s a giant banner across our deck and I have five people a day offering me kayaks and sailboats to buy the pub,” Neil Harding, the pub manager, said.
Emery said he is not picky about the type of boat involved in the swap.
“I figured it someone wanted to trade me a Viking boat full of Vikings or a pirate ship full of cannons, then I could go ahead and get the money I deserve for this place,” he said, adding that his business generates roughly $750,000 a year so he would take cash, too.
Emery told CTV Atlantic he has received offers from across Canada and the U.S., including from one person offering a radio-controlled pirate ship and a lifetime supply of RC Cola to go along with it.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Heidi Petracek
