Studland water sports company has kayaks stolen on a beach

Dan Scott, from the Studland-based company, said he had described it as really frustrating and didn’t want to think about the financial implications.

He said: “I was doing our routine checks, I went to the beach and noticed that it didn’t look quite right.

“Two boats were missing, I took a closer look and saw the way they had been stolen, they had burned the handles. The ships are probably going to sink.

“My day went from bad to worse, I spoke to the kayak manufacturers, and they told me they couldn’t order because they had already sold them for next season.

“We have two kayaks broken down and we can’t replace them like the same, that’s the most frustrating thing.”

Speaking of the financial loss the business would suffer, Mr Scott said “I wouldn’t even want to calculate the amount.”

“The boats would carry four people, three trips a day, 12 people. That’s 12 people on our operation, I don’t want to think about it, ”he added.

“This is the first time that we are victims. Obviously, with Covid, it has been a difficult few years for everyone and small businesses like us, facing all kinds of additional challenges. ”

Mr Scott called the way the boats were stolen “pretty stupid” and said he alerted the coast guard in case they ran into the kayaks.

He continued, “They melted the handles. It is an integral part of kayaking.

“Unless they managed to weld the plastic together, they have two kayaks with two holes.

“The Coast Guard entered it in the lost property, if they show up they will contact me, they were also very friendly.”

A spokesperson for Dorset Police said: ‘We have received a report that between 7 p.m. on Saturday 4 December and 11 a.m. on Monday 6 December two kayaks and four files were stolen from a kayak carrier in Middle Beach at Studland.

“Investigations into the incident are ongoing. No arrests have been made. ”