Abandoned Port Stanley sailboat mystery: Former owner in Ohio shocked

An American who formerly owned a sailboat found abandoned in Port Stanley says the buyers to whom he sold it match the description of the men police are seeking for questioning.

Ben Martin, of Castalia, Ohio – a village about 12 kilometers southwest of Sandusky – said he was shocked to see his former sailboat, The Antelope, ditched in the Lake Erie port town months after it was sold to two men in their mid-to late 50s who said they were from Canada.

“The border patrol agent called me and referred me to your article, and I saw my old boat in the picture, and I was like ‘Oh my God,’” Martin said Thursday.

“I figured they (the buyers) would get the registration transferred, and everything like that. I’m a little disturbed.”

Ontario Provincial Police announced last week they are searching for the owner of the sailboat and two men seen unloading boxes from it and leaving in a rental van.

Elgin County OPP said the boat was reported to them on Aug. 30 after it first docked in the Port Stanley harbor on Aug. 25 at about 1:15 pm The boat was tied to the dock in the harbor south of the lift bridge with the keys still in it.

Two men in their mid 50s were spotted unloading items off the boat and into a Home Depot-branded rental van before leaving the area, police said.

Investigators made an appeal to the public, asking for help finding the boat’s owner and identifying the two men so they could speak to them.

Canada Border Service agents, along with provincial police, were seen inspecting the abandoned boat on Sept. 1. The sailboat, which had a Canadian flag but was registered in Ohio, had apparent damage to its sails and tiller.

The Canada Border Service Agency refused to comment on the case Thursday.

Martin said he had the boat for about three years, before he sold it for about $1,700 in the afternoon on July 15.

The man with whom Martin primarily was correspondingly was not able to make it down that day, so the buyer sent his brother, he said. The buyers – both online and in person – did not raise any alarm bells at the time, Martin said.

“I always check the profiles of people before I sell things to them, to make sure it wasn’t created the day before or something,” he said. “One of the profiles was like from 2010 and they’d been a member of a sailing association since 2016. They seemed above board.”

Though unsure of from where in Canada the buyers came, Martin said they told him it would take five hours for them to reach Sandusky by car.

Martin met with one man, completed the sale of the boat and considered the matter over, until he got a call from US border officials on Wednesday.

Martin said he handed over the names, Facebook profiles, messages and a telephone number of one of the boat’s buyers to US border authorities to connect with Canadian officials.

Anyone with information about abandoned boat is asked to contact the OPP at 1-888-310-1122 or call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at www.stthomas-elgincrimestoppers.ca

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