Marina del Rey Sea Scouts' boat stolen, replaced with ship in worse condition

A 30-foot boat was allegedly stolen from the Marina del Rey Sea Scouts and replaced with a boat in much worse condition late last week. 

A spokesperson for the Sea Scouts, which is a part of Scouting America, said that the 1979 Islander boat named Island Hopper was taken on March 20 from its dock at Marina del Rey. They believe that the vessel was moved to another Southern California marina or possibly to Catalina Island. The Island Hopper's hull number is ILY300540379-B.

They said that the alleged thief removed the Island Hopper's CF numbers, which are vessel registration numbers used in California, and swapped them onto a "junker boat," which was left in the stolen boat's place. 

"I was so surprised, I mean, it was just such a shock to the system that somebody would do this," said Julian Grosky. "We're not just a regular group too, in scouting we really rely on community help, donations and support. We don't have a lot of money to fund things like this, and it's just very frustrating that somebody would take away a key part of our program and we really just can't afford to bring that back."

Sea Scout officials say that they've been targeted in several recent incidents, including last year when an outboard motor was stolen. Six weeks ago, they said that a radar display and a marine radio were also stolen. 

"Just a couple weeks ago, somebody came onto one of our cabin cruisers, wearing a mask and everything and to steal everything, but they did fortunately notice one of our security cameras and then took off," said Sea Scout Volunteer Bond Halbert. 

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Marina Station has been assisting with the search and ongoing investigation. If anyone has any information on the thefts, deputies asked to be contacted at (310) 483-6000.