All hands were on deck to catch this little boat on its river escape in Kamloops | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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All hands were on deck to catch this little boat on its river escape in Kamloops

A pedal boat on the loose heading toward Halston Bridge in Kamloops on June 25.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Facebook

An empty pedal boat could be seen floating down the North Thompson River this past weekend all the way from the Dunes area in Westsyde to the sandbar near McArthur Island Park. 

The little boat got loose from its tether on a riverfront property on Saturday evening, June 25, and was caught by a kind stranger the following day.

“My boyfriend and I live right on the river and the boat was tied to a fence,” said resident Jen Spitman. “We still don’t know how it got loose but the river is so high and dangerous right now no one could go in after it.”

Spitman wasted no time publishing a post about the predicament to social media, and while the boat floated for hours covering several kilometres, helpful passersby took photos of it and posted them, along with the boat’s changing locations to two different Facebook groups, until the boat was finally retrieved and returned to its owners.

READ MORE: Thompson River floods Kamloops park, Shuswap on flood watch

“Right away people started posting pictures of sightings of it floating,” she said. “It was hilarious. Because of this, more people were sharing it and that’s how it came back to us. I knew we were in for a funny journey.”

A pedal boat on the loose floating past Westmount Elementary in Kamloops on June 25.
A pedal boat on the loose floating past Westmount Elementary in Kamloops on June 25.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Facebook

She said all the photos of the boat showed it in the middle of the river so she knew it was going to end up in Kamloops Lake if someone didn’t catch it.

“There was still only a small possibility of someone catching it, seeing these posts, and being kind enough to let me know,” Spitman said. “My friends tagged some guys that have boats. They were on the water and grabbed the boat and tied it up at the sandbar dock.”

Spitman said people messaged her and put her in contact with the guys who tied up the boat. She was heading out of town so she passed the information to her boyfriend’s dad.

READ MORE: Thompson Rivers high waters could remain well into July

“He was so nice and he towed the boat over to the McArthur Island boat launch to meet him at the boat launch to grab it cause you can’t get down to the dock by road. I bought the guy beer for doing that.”

The pedal boat, which sits four people and has a blue canopy, is a recent purchase.

Kamloops resident Jen Spitman's new pedal boat that got loose and went for a long float down the river on June 25.
Kamloops resident Jen Spitman's new pedal boat that got loose and went for a long float down the river on June 25.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Jen Spitman

“I’m very grateful for kind people and people with a sense of humour.”


To contact a reporter for this story, email Shannon Ainslie or call 250-819-6089 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

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