Flat-bottomed boat theft leaves Kelowna business with $45K loss

A Kelowna business is short of about $45,000 of merchandise following a late-night theft.

“Tuesday morning we came in and one of my staff members alerted me that some of the boats were missing from the top of the sea can,” said Scott Harvey, owner of Kelowna Yamaha and Marine on McCurdy Road.

“It was quite obvious right away but we did an inventory count and found 14 were missing.”

Depending on the size, the flat-bottomed aluminum boats are valued at $2,500, to $3,500 apiece

Based on camera footage,  Harvey said it was early Tuesday morning when someone jumped up on a sea can where the Marlon Jon boats were perched, threw them down toward the rail trail where a truck was waiting, then took off.

While criminal activity is not unusual along that stretch of the path, Harvey doesn’t think that it was a spur-of-the-moment effort.

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“I think that somebody has been watching because they’ve been on the top of the sea can for storage for a while,” he said, adding that the security rotation for the block of businesses was probably taken into account. ”

It was some good advertising from the highway but, obviously, that turned into a bad strategy … That’s part of being in the power sports industry. (It) is really a target for theft, unfortunately.”

It would be easier to guard his business against intruders if the city allowed for better reinforcements than a chain link fence, he said.

“That’s sort of graffiti reasons, but it would be nice if we could, based on the nature of a lot of these businesses, do something that is more theft-proof or theft-resistant,” he said.

Kelowna RCMP  said there were seven 10-foot boats, six 12-footers, and one 14-foot boat that went missing in the heist along Highway 97.

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“This theft is a significant loss to this business, especially coming out of a pandemic and going into what should be the height of their busy season,” Const. Mike Della-Paolera said.

Police are asking anyone who was in the area between June 20 and June 27, and may have witnessed any suspicious activity, including a truck possibly carrying multiple matching boats, to please contact the Kelowna RCMP at 250-762-3300 and reference file number 2023-36184.

“This area of town is extremely busy with vehicle and pedestrian traffic, so if anyone has dash camera recordings, or information on who might be responsible, please contact the Kelowna RCMP,”  Della-Paolera said.

Those wishing to remain anonymous are asked to contact Central Okanagan Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or leave a tip online at www.crimestoppers.net.