'Bandit' boat for sale, bullet holes included

You have until 8:42 p.m. Wednesday to bid on eBay for the boat stolen by Colton Harris-Moore in the Bahamas on his last day of freedom.

Starting bid is $80,000, the "Buy It Now" price is $110,000, for a 32-foot Intrepid-make powerboat, complete with bullet-riddled engines and bullet holes in parts of the rest of the boat from the shotgun spray by Bahamian cops.

As of Tuesday, there were no bids, but owner William Sport said he is hopeful as there are 250 people "watching" its bidding history on eBay, plus he's had 10 serious inquiries.

In a telephone interview from the Romora Bay Resort and Marina in Harbour Island in the Bahamas, Sport says he placed the boat on eBay not to cash in, but because the boat now gives him "a bad taste."

In fact, he says, he expects to lose $30,000 to $50,000 even if he manages to get $80,000 for it.

"It's just something I don't want anymore," says Sport, 65, who is a former pilot for the now-defunct Eastern Airlines and who now owns a Miami real-estate holding company.

Harris-Moore, dubbed the "Barefoot Bandit" because he allegedly committed some of his crimes without shoes on, was caught about 2 a.m. on July 11, after a brief boat chase by police, who caught up with the 19-year-old when the Intrepid got stuck in the sand.

At 3 in the morning, Sport was awakened at his larger, 80-foot yacht to which the Intrepid had been tendered.

He had bought the Intrepid a little less than a year ago for $125,000. It was not insured for theft and the kind of damage caused by cops shooting some 50 rounds.

"It's my fault," says Sport. "I didn't think it'd be stolen. I kept a pretty close eye on it. I didn't think the police would shoot out the engines in it."

He says the two Mercury 275 outboard engines were worth at least $20,000 each.

With damage to the boat that also included bullet holes in the fiberglass structure, the windshield and the boat's aluminum tower, Sport says he was given estimates of $30,000 to $50,000 for repairs.

On eBay, Sport advertised the boat as "a collector's item and could be sold to, or used in the movie that is surely coming."

Sport says that even with the market for boats declining because of the economy, before it was shot up, he could have sold it for $110,000.

Now, out the money for any repairs so he can sell it if there are no eBay bids, he says, "I can afford the loss and go on with my life."

The boat was stolen at the beginning of a monthlong vacation for Sport and his wife.

They had cruised from Key Largo, Fla., to the Bahamas.

They tied up at the Romora Bay Resort, Sport says, and although he usually takes the keys to the Intrepid with him, that night he left them hidden in the boat.

At about midnight, he and his wife, taking a stroll, actually saw Harris-Moore running past them — knapsack on his back — but didn't think anything of it, says Sport. They didn't notice he was holding a handgun.

Harris-Moore allegedly found the key and took off, ending up stuck in the sand not far away.

He was trying to skip the boat along the sand when the cops shot at the engines.

Sport is not happy about that decision.

He says that although Harris-Moore had a gun, which has been seen on video surveillance tape, "The police could have taken a warning shot. He's a little punk."

Sport says he's hired a lawyer to sue the 19-year-old in Florida civil court in case he profits from a movie or book about his alleged crime spree.

Still, it grates.

"It's like a big joke, with no purpose behind it. It was a lark," Sport says about Harris-Moore's alleged string of car, boat and airplane thefts. "Maybe he was trying to get attention from mom. I don't know."

He says he'd like to have had the "Barefoot Bandit" spend time in the Bahamas' notorious Fox Hill Prison in Nassau, the condition of which Amnesty International has described as "cruel, inhuman and degrading."

Says Sport: "I have no sympathy for him. He's a thief."

Erik Lacitis: 206-464-2237 or elacitis@seattletimes.com