Stolen motor returned
The stolen motor has been returned! http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/10448619/Coastguards-boat-motor-stolen
Unbelievably, a man walked into Advance Marine in Seaview, Lower Hutt, yesterday (yes, one day after it went missing) and asked for the control box for an outboard that he'd just been sold. David from Advance Marine had only just been forwarded information about a stolen outboard from our Colleagues at Coastguard Wellington and his quick thinking meant that he was able to tell the man that he had been sold a motor that had been stolen from a Coastguard vessel.
The man was not impressed and agreed to leave his contact details with David who forwarded them on to Coastguard Mana. The man then contacted Coastguard Mana himself and offered to drop the motor off to us immediately, although Wellington Maritime Police ended up recovering it on our behalf with a few questions to be asked.
While this is a fantastic outcome and we are all very excited and thankful, unfortunately it is still going to take at least a couple of weeks and the value of the insurance excess of $3000 to repair the damage that was done when they cut the fuel line and all the control cables (throttle, power, guages, transducer, etc). The money that you have all donated to our Givealittle cause will still be necessary even with the motor returned and I can assure you that these funds will go directly to the cost of repairs.
We would like to thank all those involved in the search and recovery of this invaluable piece of Search and Rescue equipment as well as all those that have helped share the information around and donated. Your help is very much appreciated.
Now we can get back to saving lives at sea!
