Search continues for steering wheel stolen from Adventuress
Oct 17, 2012, 11:43 AM | Updated: 4:09 pm
The search continues for the Adventuress' historic steering wheel. (Image courtesy Sound Experience)
(Image courtesy Sound Experience)
The search continues for the historic steering wheel that was stolen off the Adventuress the night after a public tour aboard the ship last week.
After a tip to police, dive crews used a submersible, remote-controlled camera and several divers, to search the waters of Percival Landing near Olympia on Tuesday. They located an outboard motor, a bicycle, and a flat-screen monitor, but no steering wheel.
“It’s disappointing,” said Catherine Collins, Executive Director of the nonprofit Sound Experience, which owns the Adventuress, “But it also means our wheel is still out there somewhere.”
After the theft in the middle of the night Oct. 7, the Adventuress was able to maneuver using a steering wheel donated from an antiques dealer.
Collins says the public has also come forward offering up old ship wheels they have hanging on walls or they’re using as decorative pieces in their homes.
The wheel lost is believed to be the ship’s original steering gear from 1913.
Sound Experience is offering a reward for information that leads to recovery of the wheel.
“The historic wheel belongs on Adventuress and belongs to the thousands of kids who sail on her each year,” said Collins. “We just want it back.”
