Poole Harbour tour company has boat stolen and 'ransacked'

Adventure Pirate, an outdoor activity provider, had their boat, Fantasy Island, stolen from Rockley Park on Saturday.

Manager James Short located the vessel on Sunday, only to find the engine, chart plotter and “everything that’s worth anything” had been taken.

Mr Short said: “We moved the boat after Thursday from Cobbs Quay to Rockley Park and it was seen by security on Friday.

“Over Saturday night it was taken. I went down on Sunday, I was going to take my family out for a Mother’s Day trip and a practice run and realised it was gone.

“We rang police, asked security, there’s no CCTV down there, we went out on our other boat patrolling all over the place.”

Mr Short said he found the boat discarded on the mud banks along Wareham Channel.

He had to wait for high tide before he could get to it when he found everything from it had been taken.

He continued: “It was definitely our boat and we realised it had been ransacked. Engine taken, all the cables, SatNav.

“It looked like someone untied it, took it under the bridge in Lytchett Bay, ransacked it, pushed it out into the tide.

“We’ve recovered the actual boat but it’s a write-off because of everything that was taken.”

Mr Short said the cost of theft was between £20,000 and £25,000 and was of “huge detriment” to the business, especially as they were about to launch the tour service.

“I have taken it on with a friend who ran Poole Harbour Boat Tours, he has given it over to us and this was the first year it was going to be a joint venture,” he added.

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“I can’t see us running our business within three to four months at least. It’s really disheartening, we’ve put so much time and effort into the business, it’s very upsetting.

“We could take three boat tours a day at £300 a time, it’s a big amount we are missing out on and we have to refund our bookings.

“The local support has been phenomenal so thank you to them. Keep looking out for the stuff up for sale, any help we can get we really appreciate.”

A spokesperson for Dorset Police said: “We were called at 1.25pm on Sunday March 27 to reports that a blue and white pontoon boat named Fantasy Island had been stolen sometime between midday on Friday March 25 and 1.25pm on Sunday March 27 from Rockley Park Holiday Park in Poole.

“The boat was later recovered from Poole Harbour close to the Holton Heath industrial estates. It is reported the engine had been stolen and the pipes had been cut.  

“An investigation is underway. No arrests have been made.”