Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
When Randy Sibbeston returned to Yellowknife from his home in Fort Simpson to check on the houseboat he recently placed in Yellowknife Bay, he found it had become the victim of what he calls a senseless crime.

Randy sibbeston: Is offering a $1,000 reward for information on who cut his houseboat's mooring line.

A three-quarter inch braided yacht mooring line was cut and cast far to the shore near Willow Flats, near where the houseboat is located.

Sibbeston was worried the cut mooring line could have left the $120,000 houseboat loose and free to be pushed around by the waves of Yellowknife Bay. Luckily he had the boat secured by multiple lines he said.

The houseboat, given the chance to drift freely in the bay, could have caused a good deal of damage, Sibbeston told Yellowknifer on Monday.

"If my boat did come loose there was an 80 per cent chance that it would have drifted away and collided with other boats," said Sibbeston.

"There were very strong winds and if it had started travelling, it could have reached five or six knots and torn other boats from their moorings."

Since the incident Sibbeston has contacted police, but he is also doing what he can to advance the investigation by offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the individual or individuals responsible.

Sibbeston said he did research on the offence and found in the Marine Act of Canada that the culprit could be subject to a penalty up to life in prison upon conviction for causing a potential risk not just to property in the Yellowknife Bay but to other houseboaters and watergoers in general.

As for the culprit, Sibbeston said he doesn't have a particular person in mind, but had heard of certain homeowners in the community on the shore adjacent to his houseboat that are not happy with the houseboat community that is growing there.

"People get emotional about things and it clouds their judgment, that happens to everybody," he said. "But when they cross the line to endanger other people's lives and property, that's no excuse."

He said the entire situation has left a bad taste in his mouth and, even if the RCMP investigation comes up dry, he wants to warn other houseboaters and people in the community.

For now, he's installed a security camera on his houseboat which he hopes will deter the offence from being repeated.

RCMP Cpl. Barry Ledoux said police are investigating the matter.

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.