Sarah Colless with Lincoln, 7, and Heidi, 4, in the boat they were planning to sell. Picture: KEN ROBERTSON
Kanahooka couple Sarah and Scott Colless wanted one more summer with their beloved family ski boat before selling it to save for a house deposit.
But those dreams were blown to smithereens last Saturday night when vandals launched a pipe bomb into their boat while it was sitting on their front lawn, leaving it irreparably damaged.
"We were in the house - I think it was about 10.30pm and the kids were asleep - when we heard a horrendous bang, so we ran out to the front yard," Ms Colless said.
"We saw the strips on the side of the boat had come off and at first it looked like maybe someone had just ripped them off, but then we realised that the whole thing had actually imploded."
She said neighbours from two streets away came running to help when they heard the explosion, and the couple later found boat parts strewn across the road.
"We called the police ... and we were really scared because we didn't know if something was going to blow up again or if they were going to throw something through the window," she said.
"The police told us it was a pipe bomb and then we found these bits of pipe in the bottom of the boat among all the kids' toys."
She said the "shocking" incident had put an end to her family's upcoming holiday plans as well as put a huge dent in their savings for a house deposit.
"We were going to try to sell it, but the kids got right into wakeboarding and ski-tubing last year so we thought we'd keep it for another few months and then sell it," she said.
"We had been waiting for the warm weather to come and it was finally here and then this happened.
"We can't afford to get it fixed, so there goes our family times that we love together and there's definitely no deposit."
Ms Colless said the boat's value was estimated at $12,000.