Canadian runabout beached at Cape San Juan; sheriff says it may have been used to smuggle marijuana to the island

Published 2:27 pm Friday, October 15, 2010

The San Juan County Sheriff’s Department on Friday impounded a Canadian runabout that was beached at Cape San Juan on Oct. 7.

Sheriff Bill Cumming said the boat is presumed stolen and may have been used to smuggle marijuana onto the island. Using the boat’s serial number, located on the transom, Canadian authorities have not been able to identify an owner but as of Friday the boat had not been reported stolen, Cumming said.

The boat is a Hourston Glascraft 14-foot runabout built in North Vancouver. Cumming said that, according to a witness statement, two people carrying backpacks got off the boat and told a carpenter working on a house on Driftwood Lane that they had had a problem with the boat and that it belonged to a friend in Friday Harbor. They asked for a ride into town and were dropped off near Hartman Field, Cumming said.

Cumming said the boat is being treated as abandoned property.

The boat has a Yamaha 70 outboard. “With a 70, she should go 38 mph if running well,” said Bill Hourston of Hourston Glascraft. Based on the logo on the boat’s hull, he said the boat was built in or after 1976.