Five year labour of love destroyed in alleged arson attack
‘When someone just jumps on your boat and (allegedly) destroys it for no reason’
Rockhampton
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The boat Old Dun was Mark Prosser's pride and joy for the past five years.
He bought it when it was in a dilapidated state and rebuilding it from the water line up had been a weekend project - one he was a week off completing.
When Mr Prosser wasn't working on the boat, he was out on the Fitzroy River with his grandkids, fishing and crabbing.
That was until Friday evening, April 9, when he got a devastating phone call from the police who informed him his boat was on fire.
Upon arrival, Mr Prosser witnessed his boat "well ablaze" out in the middle of the Fitzroy River, directly across from a new fishing platform, after an alleged arson attack.
Mr Prosser said he felt absolutely gutted at the loss of his boat.
Sadly, it wasn't insured due to the cost of insurance for old timber boats.
All of the timber had been reworked and all of the wiring had been replaced.
Mr Prosser estimated the boat to be worth around $40,000, all of which is now gone as the boat was burnt to nothing.
"When someone just jumps on your boat and (allegedly) destroys it for no reason..." he said.
"If it had been a wiring fault or something... but it wasn't my fault."
The most frustrating part for Mr Prosser is that it was an alleged random attack.
Police claim the alleged offender swam out into the middle of the Fitzroy River to set it alight.
"I can't work it out (why he allegedly did it)," Mr Prosser said.
Still sitting with the shock of the news, Mr Prosser doesn't know if he will buy another boat.
He is a few years off retirement and Old Dun was meant to be his weekend boat and holiday home.
"Do I want to go through it again, it took so long," he said.
"You've got to work to survive."
Originally published as Five year labour of love destroyed in alleged arson attack
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