Pirates again steal Gig Harbor paddling club’s boat

For the second time in a little over two weeks, someone has stolen a coach’s boat belonging to the Gig Harbor Canoe and Kayak Racing Team.

The boat was moored in the same spot it always is, at a dock outside Anthony’s at Gig Harbor, and it was last seen there 9:30 p.m. Monday, board member Kirsten Gregory said.

By 9 a.m. Tuesday, Gregory said, the 16-foot-long boat was gone.

Gregory and her husband drove to where the boat turned up last time, along the Tacoma Tideflats, but it wasn’t there. Other team members scoured Pierce County’s coastlines, unsuccessfully.

“We’ve already done this story once,” Gregory said. “It’s pretty much a redo, unfortunately.”

The $10,500 WinTech catamaran has a double-hulled design that keeps it from churning up wakes that would affect kayaks and canoes.

It was first stolen sometime between July 8 and 10, and a family saw it July 11 in the sand along Marine View Drive and contacted police.

The boat was missing a battery and three of the four bolts in the engine mount, but the thieves left behind their tool kit.

The team is traveling to the national championships in Florida next week, which means crews are at the peak of their training regimens. And the boat also serves as one of the safety vessels during the team’s summer programs for new paddlers.

Gregory says it’s likely the same people who stole the boat the first time came back to finish the job.

“To have it happen twice is shocking,” she said.

This story was originally published July 25, 2017 at 7:11 PM with the headline "Pirates again steal Gig Harbor paddling club’s boat."