Boat sails away

By Kath Gannaway
THE owner of a boat and trailer stolen from Maroondah Highway in Healesville in June is calling on the public to help find it.
Leonard Kusnezow said he believed that whoever took it might have assumed it had been abandoned.
“Someone must know where it is, or may have seen whoever towed it away,” he said.
The 4.5metre cream and mustard dinghy named Misty, valued at $3500, was parked on the highway between St Leonards Road and Evelyn Grove for several weeks with a For Sale sign on it.
Mr Kusnezow said the Shire of Yarra Ranges had told him to remove the boat by Friday 26 June, but when he went down on the Friday morning it was gone.
“Whoever saw the shire sticker on it may have assumed it was abandoned and thought if the shire was going to take it the next day, they may as well have it,” Mr Kusnezow said.
“It really annoys me, that someone has just assumed it’s OK to take something. “It had my phone number on it, they could have called me,” he said.
After checking with the shire that its staff had not removed the boat, Mr Kusnezow reported the theft to Healesville Police.
Shire of Yarra Ranges communications manager James Martin confirmed that the shire had not impounded the boat, but said it was worth people remembering that it was an offence to put vehicles – including boats – in a public place or on the side of a road for sale.
Sergeant Tony Van Gorp of Healesville police said anyone with information should contact them on 5962 4422.