In 2005, after completing renovations on our home, Don treated himself to a new boat. Four weeks later, Katrina flooded our home and he had to rebuild our home from the floors up. His new boat was moved to our nephew's house where it sat covered for over a year. Once he finished the house (again), he brought the boat home and enjoyed using it for about 6 months before he became ill. Since his diagnosis in June 2008, he has been able to take the boat out a few times with family or friends along to help. He loves to take the boat to Alabama and Florida and just ride out in the open. He enjoys every minute he spends on that boat whether or not he's catching fish.
Imagine our surprise when a Wildlife and Fisheries agent came to our new home and asked if we knew where the boat was located. Don told him it was at the storage facility and we were then informed it was on the side of the road with no motor about 30 miles from our house!! The agent told Don just where it was and said the Sheriff's Office was with the boat and we could go pick it up. He showed us a picture to confirm it was Don's boat, and thankfully, it was in perfect condtion and was only missing the motor.
Don and our yougest son left immediately to go get the boat. They arrived at the location to find the boat was no longer there. We called the sheriff's office to see if they had towed the boat, but they had not. We were told because they could not contact us, they could not confirm the boat was stolen and could not tow it. The boat had been stolen again!!! I must admit I was furious that they left the boat out on the road to be stolen again and did not take the little effort it required to protect our property. All the sheriff's office had to do was call and have the boat towed. We would have happily paid the towing fees.
Well, Thursday morning, the sheriff's office called and said they found the boat and the tow truck was bringing it to our house. I called Don and told him his boat was on its way home and he was thrilled to hear that news...until the boat showed up. It has been stripped of every possible item of use. They even took the seats and the windshield!! It is simply a shell of what it had been. Ughhh.
To add insult to injury, he read the fishing report and there are fish everywhere!! Surprisingly, he is handling this all very well...just another bump in the road. If you're looking for us, we'll be at the fish market!!
