For a moment it seemed that William Lynch's summer plans were over before they started.

Lynch had signed up for an adaptive water-ski program at Lake Owasso in Roseville with the Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute, but the class was abruptly canceled after a trailer carrying $30,000 worth of equipment was stolen sometime over the weekend.

Lynch, 36, of Minneapolis, was looking forward to the first class of the season.

"I was angry, you know, frustrated," Lynch said Wednesday.

Eric Larson, manager of the sports and recreation department at Courage Kenny, said the trailer was parked outside a staffer's home near the lake and sometime between Saturday and Tuesday evening it went missing. Inside were life jackets, devices and about 15 adaptive water-skis designed for those who need extra stability or to sit down due to injuries or disabilities.

"It's our whole program," Larson said. "Essentially every piece of equipment was gone, and it brought our program to a screeching halt."

But hours before class was set to start Wednesday, authorities found the abandoned trailer 3 miles away with most of the equipment still inside. Classes will resume after the holiday on July 10.

Larson suspected that the people who took the trailer were surprised by what they found.

"I bet the people that took it thought they were getting a bunch of tools or something and then realized, 'Boy, what are these things? We can't get much out of these things,' " Larson said.

Lynch and his two older siblings started the program about 10 years ago. This season he wants to be better at standing up straight while skiing.

"It's part of our summer," said Nancy Lynch, William's mother. "We're glad everything was found."

Karen Zamora • 612-673-4647

Twitter: @KarenAnelZamora