Boatowners as thieves

[samwise]

We all know how vulnerable our boats are to petty theft. There have been various initiatives to make owners more security aware and the chandleries are awash with patent alarms and locks.

But what can you do when the villains are your own kind? We came back from a two week cruise in Belgium and Holland yesterday. While we were away, the berth was let to visiting yachtsmen. I have no problem with that. What I did have a problem with concerned by discovery that one of these "visitors" had removed about 10 metres of brand new three strand warp that I had used to extend one of the three permanent warps shackled to the berth to use as a spring. I say removed, the rope was stolen , thieved, nicked or any other word you would like to use.
It is of course impossible to track down the culprit, but I just felt extremely sad that there are people around who would do that sort of thing. Maybe I'm expecting too much, but I have generally found that sailors will always help each other out --often to an amazingly generous degree. I sincerely hope that this was a one off. Maybe next time we are away for a while, I'll take all my warps with me!

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[aod]

Sad indictment isn't it. I remember Cowes week a couple of years ago. Left a pile of food and drinks on the pontoon for about five minutes. Came back and it had been nicked.

I think that most yotties are honest and considerate people but just like society as a whole there are those who drop litter where they see fit, spit in the street and take anything that isn't bolted down.

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[Col]

Very sad! Surely the tealeaf (as a fellow boater) must understand the problems that could cause (i.e.) not being able to tie boat up when you returned, maybe chandelers shut, so big headache.
As you say hopefully a one off.


<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.arweb.co.uk/argallery/colspics> Cols Picture Album</A>

 

[andy_wilson]

I always envy boat owners who's home berth was made up ready to go.

Pull in, drop the loops over the cleats (anti-chafe tubing at every turn), tweak the fenders and off to the bar / showers / car.

Your mistake was tieing on a nice 10m length to mak up a spring.

Keep 'em 'bespoke', just long enough (2/3/4m - whatever is required) with spliced loops at the boat end and a splice over metal thimble at the dock end, shackled on a peined over.

Who's going to nick that, chances are it won't fit when they get home, even if they can get them of the dock cleats.

Finally, why impossible to track. tell the marina office what has happened and ask for assistance in contacting the visitors (for whom they will have details) to see if one of them accidentally used it as a slip and only discovered that the crew had dropped it in the locker when tying up at home?

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[LORDNELSON]

What I find discouraging about the replies to date is the lack of suprise about the thieving that goes on. On the other hand over the past month I have been sailing my boat around the Solent with inexperienced crews (my wife being away) and as a result we sometimes needed help very quickly from other crews as we came in to berth. Every time this occurred help was given, without being asked, and people went out of their way to help - so its not all bad news. PS. how do you know it was the boat occupying your berth that stole your warp?

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[MainlySteam]

I think for some people, including some other yachtmen, anything at all not bolted down is ripe for the taking regardless of value. We had to leave our boat in a NZ marina in the visitor berths once without us being able to get back to it for 6 months (the boat was visited at least twice weekly by a friend though). We were not going to leave our good fenders over the side under those circumstances so made up 6 using tyres in sacks and cheap black rope to protect the boat from "visitors" beside and in case someone released the line holding the boat off the dock. At the end of 6 months 5 of these rubbishy makeshift fenders had been stolen!

John

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[Romeo]

Jumping to conclusions

Might have been taken by mistake. Could be crewmember who stowed it thinking it was the skippers own. Just a thought.

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[kingfisher]

Had the same happen to me: I have a full set of mooring lines spliced to measure at my pontoon. When I leave for just an overnight, I leave the warps, so much easier upon returning.

Left once for a weekend, came back and all the warps were missing. Through the harbour master, I managed to find the culprit, a charterboat. The crew (probably had a good night out) forgot that the warps were not from the boat, but rather from the pontoon, so took them with them in honest mistake. The charter company duelly returned them.

So I wouldn't go as far as calling my fellow boaters thieves. Idiots, maybe, or confused, but not thieves.

<hr width=100% size=1>Group of people on the pontoon: skipper is the one with the toolbox.
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[steve_cronin]

I would go with that....

.. If this rope looked like an "extra" to the obvious docklines then a crewmember after bring told to "take everything off except the docklines" might well have inadvertently removed the line in question. I know, it has happened to me twice. Myself and a crew of friends, some first-timers arrived back at Hamble with a strange gold octoplait that obvoiusly belonged to the owner of the berth in Cherbourg that we had "borrowed". I intended to take it back but the weather was bad for the rest of the season and then I sold the boat and moved my sailing to Greece. Second time was at easter in Aigina when we "borrowed" a line that was just lying around on a quay to hold a neighbour's sternline off our stern. It was put back under the same seat a week later.

Steve Cronin

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[Trevethan]

I lost 60 feet of 14 mm jib sheet in a similar manner -- lent to someone who needed a long line over night to keep them off a quay wall. Next morning boat and sheet had gone.

Now I carry a roll of cheap blue polyprop, just in case.

However in your case, while it looks pretty damning, bear in mind the person casting off might not know the boat/warps and purely by accident pulled your rope in with theirs.


Anyway no matter what, it's still annoying.

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[DanTribe]

Re: Confession time

I once made off with another's fender.
Mitigation.:~
We were last boat of a group through the bridges leaving Goes. I saw a boat ahead attempt, but fail to retreive a floating tatty fender.We picked it up at first attempt and, feeling smug, followed the fleet to Sas van Goes. Later in the lock I went to return it to the boat who I thought dropped it, to be told " Oh no, it's not ours. It belongs to the boat yard we were passing"
I'll take it back next year.

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[tome]

Re: Confession time

I have to confess to borrowing a coupe of fenders one night many years ago in Cowes. It was blowing a full gale and we were on the outside pontoon which was bucking like a wild horse and I realised we needed extra fenders. I found a boat lying peacefully on the inside with a dozen fenders and liberated two of the lazy ones for the night. I sheepishly replaced them the following morning.

I felt bad about this, and my conscience is reminded to this day by a cartoon on my wall which my then girlfiend commissioned with the caption 'Late night fender shopping'.

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[samwise]

An interesting crop of replies to my original post made, I admit, while I was still steaming angry and possibly with my judgment a tad clouded.

Having read the posts and had the benefit of a good night's sleep after a 20 hour crossing from Roompot, I guess it is possible that the warp was taken by mistake and that the situation was no more sinister than that. If I get a big parcel from an anonymous sender in the next few days, I'll feel really bad.



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[Birdseye]

dont see why you're surprised. there's no reason for thinking boat owners are any more or less honest than the rest of our (increasingly dishonest) population. and we help the process along by being only too keen the buy cheap second hand goods, provenance unknown, at boat jumbles.

and for all but a few, its a question of degree anyway. look around the boat. any pens/pencils from work? the odd pad of paper ? and the last time you tied up in a marina and found that the regular occupant had left the electricity on did you get it switced off or put on your battery charger? or (as I will admit to ) having sneeked in and out of dartmouth without paying harbour dues. no? well, you're the exception.

not trying to be personal and certainly not saying that you're not one of the few that are 100% honest in everything - just surprise that you're surprised at the routine petty thievery around us.

p.s. we had a raid on our club compound this spring, when individual items like stanchions were stolen, clearly for a boat jumble since they chose a wide selection rather than what might be required for a fit out!

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[Avocet]

Not long after buying our second boat, we got the perfect day for our first attempt to use the spinnaker. We launched at the club slipway (it was a trailer-sailer), motored down the river and out into the open sea.

"Right," I announced, "time to hoist the spinnaker!" The "crew" (wife and mate) lugged the bag on to the foredeck, furtled round inside it until they'd found the three ends and then stood staring up the mast for what seemed like quite a long time...

Yes, you've guessed, some tea-leaving scumbag had nicked the spinnaker halyard while the boat had been sat on its trailer in the club car park!

On the "plus" side, I have to say that this is the only thing I've ever had nicked from a boat and we did see the funny side but it was irritating nontheless!

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