Thieves ‘hotwire’ electric boat but dump it when batteries run out

A BOAT that was built for theatre impresario Cameron Mackintosh was stolen from its moorings in Henley but recovered a few days later.

The 31ft electric vessel, called Salad Days, was among a row of boats moored on the River Thames along Thames Side when it was taken sometime between Wednesday and Friday last week.

The boat’s owner was away on holiday at the time but contacted Gillian Nahum, of Henley Sales and Charter, who had sold it to them about a year ago, to see if she could help.

Mrs Nahum, of St Andrew’s Road, Henley, said: “The owner texted me to say that Salad Days had gone and did I know anything about it.

“The river is a small place so I sent out messages to the lock-keepers and people I knew to see whether anyone had seen anything. A message was also posted on Facebook saying that the boat had not been seen since Wednesday and to be aware that the name may have been changed.

“But then on Sunday a river user found it in Pangbourne up against the meadows. The batteries were dead.

“It must have been joyriders but we don’t know how they managed to get it started so they must have hotwired it. I don’t think it would have had full battery power and it is quite a day’s journey to get to Pangbourne.”

Ivan Gardiner, of G Mech Marine, which is based at the Hobbs of Henley boatyard in Wargrave Road, collected the boat.

Mrs Nahum said it had suffered some damage as a door to the on-board oven had been torn off. A pair of shoes had been left behind.

She believes that the thieves could have been after the batteries because of the lead in them.

Last month, her boatyard in Lower Basildon was broken into.

Mrs Nahum said: “We have these big bins for batteries that go for recycling and these two men, whom we caught on CCTV, came in and took as many as they could and put them in their pick-up.

“They actually left new batteries because I think they would have weighed down their truck too much. They are six-volt heavy duty lead acid batteries.”

Salad Days was commissioned by Mr Mackintosh in 1991 at the London Boat Show and is a Frolic 31 model.

The boat’s hull is topped by a varnished mahogany cabin with a convertible saloon interior which can sleep two.

Mrs Nahum said it was a “contemporary classic” and a modern take on an Edwardian original.

She added: “The current owner has had it just short of a year. I sold it in Norfolk and the previous owners had had it for quite a long time.

“A boat of this calibre today would cost in excess of £150,000 to build. It is a great boat for entertaining and it was at this year’s Henley Festival.”