HILO, Hawai'i — A 33-foot sailboat that was abandoned in Costa Rica seven months ago and apparently drifted nearly 5,000 miles before being discovered off Hawai'i earlier this month will cost about $30,000 to restore, according to its owners.

Walter and Cristina Teper are determined to rehabilitate the Chaton De Foi, which had been their home for six years.

Thieves stripped the vessel of its electronic components, stereo and refrigerator.

"They ravaged it inside and out," Cristina Teper told the Hawaii Tribune-Herald. "We felt God gave it back to us, but not on a silver platter — we'll have to work for it."

The floating Chaton De Foi was spotted June 5 by fishermen about three miles off Miloli'i Bay on the Big Island. It was brought to shore and was reunited with Teper's husband, Walter.

"It's like the agony and the ecstasy, that's the only way I can describe it," he said. "(Cristina) was heartbroken and when she saw the pictures, she cried like I did."

Walter Teper abandoned the sloop Dec. 2 after experiencing engine trouble and severe weather off Costa Rica. The mainsail broke and the engine and generator had failed.

"I tried for a couple of days to keep the boat and get it back in, all to no avail," said the former New York City police officer and actor, who has appeared in small roles on "ER" and "Matlock."

A passing container ship, the Northern Divinity, picked up Teper and took him all the way to South Korea.

The once-immaculate boat is now scarred with salt spray, bird droppings and the other ravages sustained during its unmanned voyage to Hawai'i.

"It's all we have," Teper said.

He said the boat is insured, but the policy applies only while the boat is within 100 miles of U.S. territory. Whether the insurer will cover the vandalism and theft remains to be seen.

After Teper returned from Korea, the couple eventually moved in with relatives in Jacksonville, Fla. But they continued to hold out hope for their floating home, which was lost at sea.

There was a reported sighting of it in February about 1,000 miles off the coast of Mexico and then nothing — until it was spotted off Hawai'i.

Even without a lot of cash, the Tepers are hoping to make the vessel seaworthy again.

"We're faithful people; we believe in God and we hold on and that's it," Walter Teper said. "Material things are material."