Re: [Paddlewise] Stolen kayaks found

On Wed, 26 Mar 2003 20:27:25 -0800, "Matt Broze" <mkayaks_at_oz.net> said:

Matt you deserve a huge public thank you from the paddling community.

We all greatly appreciate the effort you put into keeping the stolen 
boat registry along with being responsible for catching this thief.

Kirk

> I wrote:
> <SNIP>>>>Two Skin-on-frame Aluetian baidarka style kayaks were stolen
> last Thursday
> night or Friday morning in Anacortes WA. They may have been spotted later
> that morning on a car at a shipping company that barges freight to AK, so it
> is suspected they may be going to somewhere in AK.<<<<<SNIP>
> 
> The person who spotted the kayaks was Paddlewise member Tom Cromwell
> (tomcat?). 

<snip> Frustrated I told the officer
> I'd do it myself. Next I left a messages to call me on the answering
> machines of several freight companies (closed for the weekend) in the
> area
> where Tom had spotted the two skin kayaks. Returning my call, Alaska
> Marine
> Lines woke be up Monday morning at 8AM. They checked their records for me
> and reported they hadn't gotten any kayaks in on Friday. Since I was now
> awake, and reminded of my planned Monday's mission, I called the other
> freight companies in that area (that I had found in the phone book). One
> company, where Tom had last seen the kayaks, told me that they only took
> full containers but they shared their parking lot with another freight
> company (that I wasn't yet aware of). That office also told me they only
> handled full containers but directed me to where they would send someone
> who
> had less than a container load of freight to ship. Bingo! That freight
> consolidator said they had taken in two kayaks Friday morning.  They
> unstacked a few containers so they could open one to check if those
> kayaks
> fit the description that was already on the stolen kayak database on our
> website. I had told them about the website to lend credibility to my
> request
> they check the kayaks. When they read the distinguishing features they
> could
> tell there would be enough detail to identify the kayaks so they agreed
> to
> unstuck the containers and take a look.. Before too long they e-mailed me
> digital pictures of the kayaks. The kayaks fit the description very well.
> I
> called Corey and he called the sheriff's office. I forwarded the pictures
> to
> Corey by e-mail and after some transmission problems he got them and
> confirmed the kayaks were his. He got back to the sheriff to let them
> know
> that those kayaks in Seattle were indeed his kayaks. The suspect was
> reportedly arrested Monday evening as he was about to board a flight to
> Ketchikan.
> 
> Matt Broze
> http://www.marinerkayaks.com
-- 
  Kirk Olsen
  kork4_at_cluemail.com
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