“I’m devastated,” Laird said. “Like, I get up in the morning at three and I think about what the implications of this are for me.”
This is what local fisherman Scott Laird told the Campbell River Mirror after his boat was stolen.
Scott is almost completely blind. With no vision in one eye and only about 20% in the other, fishing was no easy task.
But his passion and experience helped him to adapt.
Laird was a fishing guide for 40 years and has owned the classic Tyee-style rowboat for 33 years.
After losing his sight, he was able to continue his favourite pastime because he was so familiar with his boat and the area where it was docked. He even caught a Tyee back in 2019.
At the time, Don Daniels wrote in the Campbell River Mirror that Baird “still has the touch to bring in the big one fishing the old-fashioned way.”
“The government dock is where I do all my fishing. Because nobody else fishes there…I have done it so much that I can be effective,” he said.
Without his boat, he fears he won’t be able to get back on the water.
Laird is asking everyone to help him retrieve his boat.
Without his sight, he can’t go out looking for it—but you can.
This is reportedly security footage of one of the three suspects in the boat theft. The RCMP has this footage.
Laird is sure the boat could still be in the area.
If we all keep an eye out, we could help reunite Laird with his treasured boat and get him back on the water catching the 20 and 30-pound salmon he loves.
“I don’t want to give it up. I won’t be buying another boat, you know. I’m 75, I can barely manage this one,” Laird said.
The boat is a 1989, 14-foot fibreglass hull Tyee rowboat made by Whitehall Boats in Victoria. It has a classic 7.5 h.p. Evinrude outboard on its transom.
The boat is called “Strikes 90.”
If you see the boat, contact Campbell River Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). The file number is 2022-10262.
