Hawaii Superferry’s nearly $90 million high-speed ship Alakai roared into Maui’s central harbor amid a cacophony of protest almost two years ago. It departed in March, perhaps for good, after the state Supreme Court ruled that state leaders failed to properly conduct environmental reviews before the service was launched.

Although Hawaii Superferry put 50 items up for sale Saturday – the most expensive being a backhoe that went for $18,400 – the company’s president said that doesn’t mean that the only car-and-passenger ferry service in Hawaii won’t be back. Still, it looked doubtful to bidders.

“It’s a shame to see it come to this point,” said Norman Vares of Kihei, who was bidding on some portable toilets for a piece of rural land he owns. “From here, it doesn’t look like they’re coming back.”

Auctioneer Joe Teipel and Pacific Bid Hawaii sold everything from dozens of concrete and plastic jersey barriers to a couple crumpled boxes of Superferry clothing and even an office coffee maker. There wasn’t a lot to choose from compared to most auctions, event veterans said, but the final purchase prices were often just pennies on the dollar.

Most of the serious bidders represented construction companies, churches and entertainment venues – parties that could put to use yield signs and flashing traffic lights.

About 200 people showed up at the auction, which took less than two hours. All who were interviewed said they were Superferry proponents. Although excited by an auction atmosphere, most still called it a glum day. Many people, though, expected Superferry to return in a couple years after the legal wrangling has run its course.

“It’s a sad, very sad day,” said Stephen Swift, who owns a recycling company and bid on some floodlights and an office trailer. “We’d like to see the ferry still running.”

A few bidders said losing the ferry was a bust for local small businesses and farmers and a boon to Superferry’s competitors, namely the airlines and two remaining shipping companies.

“It’s the end for now, but I don’t think it’s done,” said Karl Calleon, who unsuccessfully bid on the backhoe.

However, Superferry opponents have said that the ferry endangered the island’s rural lifestyle as well as its natural environment and the safety of whales.

Last week, the state’s high court rejected a request by Gov. Linda Lingle and the attorney general’s office to reconsider its decision, which had invalidated the special session law that allowed Superferry to operate while the state Department of Transportation put together an environmental impact statement for ferry-related harbor improvements.

Sanitation company owner Bert Ito of Honolulu blamed both the Democratically controlled Legislature and Lingle for the Superferry debacle.

In an e-mail Saturday, Hawaii Superferry President and Chief Executive Officer Tom Fargo said: “We continue to believe there is a clear need for a high-speed interisland ferry system.”

The state is responsible for the environmental impact statement, and Transportation Department spokeswoman Tammy Mori on Saturday said the full environmental impact statement will be done by the end of this year. It was supposed to be completed this month, but it was sidetracked by the court rulings, and transportation officials decided to review the private contractors’ work done to date.

An environmental impact statement is required by law since the state invested $40 million in changes to Kahului Harbor in order to accommodate the Alakai and its sister ship, the Huakai, which was supposed to be finished this spring.

Both ships are docked in Austal USA’s Mobile, Ala., shipyard. It’s unclear what the state’s plans are for its equipment, such as the floating loading ramp that was battered several times by high winds and waves in Kahului Harbor.

A second, much-larger auction of Superferry equipment will be held Saturday at Honolulu Harbor.

Wailuku businessman Vernon Lindsey was Saturday’s big buyer. He said he spent $30,000 on seven items, including the 56-by-100-foot tent with a 22-foot-high roof. Lindsey said he bought it in the heat of the moment for more than $12,000 and may donate it to a church – or maybe sell the tent back to Superferry when it returns.

Superferry had used the tent as a passenger terminal at Kahului Harbor.