Photo: RCMP

The owner of a runaway sailboat has recovered the vessel after it was found stuck under a dock in the north end of Kelowna last week.

On Friday, Kelowna RCMP reached out to the public after the 21-foot boat was found wedged under the dock of a home on the 800 block of Manhattan Drive on Tuesday.

Police and fire crews were able to get the boat unstuck, something the owner, Jeff Bryde, says he wasn't able to do on his own.

“I took my shoes off and pulled up my pants and went in the water, and I was trying like heck,” said Bryde, after he found the boat Tuesday.

“I was in the water for about half an hour, and I would have stayed in longer, but I thought, 'Oh god, I don't want to get frostbitten.' By the time I came out of the water my feet were just numb.”

The boat, which Bryde has owned since 1987, had been tied to a buoy off Manhattan Point, but it came loose sometime between Sunday and Tuesday.

Bryde has since notified the RCMP that the boat belongs to him.

He says there doesn't appear to be too much damage, save for a hole in the mast that he hopes he can fix.

“Now that I'm retired I want to be able to enjoy the lake and stuff like that, because that's something I enjoy doing – sailing, fishing or just relaxing,” Bryde said.