Bungled Boat Theft

raven

raven

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I am incandescent with rage having just spent an hour on the phone to a friend of mine who lives in N. Wales and keeps his catamaran on a mooring in a local harbour over there.

A few nights ago a couple of youths stole an inflatable dinghy and rowed out to his boat on it's mooring. They managed to start the engines and slip the mooring. However they had overlooked the niceties of opening seacocks etc and within a very short space of time they managed to completely screw-up two brand new engines with the result that the boat was taking on seawater through it's burnt out exhausts.

Our two heros managed to drift the boat onto an island that lies in the channel approach to the harbour and, with the boat taking on water fast, they decamped onto the island taking with them the £900 life-raft which they tried to use as a tent -unable to get it to "open" they set about it with a sharp knife because it was getting cold and they needed shelter.

The alarm was raised early the following morning by a local boatowner who saw the half sunken cat lying precariously against rocks on the Island shore and the owner was called to attend. Whilst he was driving to the harbour, the two tw*ts were seen on the island wearing the owners waterproofs and life jacket and the Police were called.

They were duly apprehended and after at first trying to deny the whole thing they confessed to having taken the boat "for a bit of a laugh."

My friend, who is a pensioner, is now counting the cost of their "bit of a laugh." With two completely screwed engines and considerable damage to the contents and fabric of the boat, conservative estimates range between £20 - 30k

I'm no legal expert but on the balance of probability, I'm prepared to bet that the two culprits are unemployed and will end up getting fines of....(say) £150 each, plus a bit of community service if the authorities are really in the mood to clamp down hard.

Meanwhile the guy who put his heart and soul into his boat is wondering where he is going to find £20k.
 
Don't make it easy for them. My own boat was stolen under the previous ownership. Spare set of boat / engine keys left in unlocked cockpit locker. If they can start the engines - they will have it away.

Take battery fuses out or whatever to ensure engine / engines cannot be started.
 
Problem there is what happens if there's a fire on an adjacent boat ,, if the people in the marina can't move an unoccupied boat , it goes up too . So how do you secure a boat without putting it at risk ? , not an easy one
 
Yes he was - third party.

He worked on the basis that if anyone hit him he could claim off them - if he hit anyone else they could claim off him.

His insurers wanted £500 for fully comp providing he furnished them with a £500 survey each year.

On limited income it was a huge outlay - he gambled and lost.

BUT.... why should the automatic reaction be that "Insurance will pay?"

It completely ignores the fact that two [--word removed--] can (and increasingly will) go out and run up a bill of £20k whilst the Great British public will revert to default and say.....dum di dum di dum.... "Insurance"
 
which is why I was initially going to say it didn't sound like he was insured ,, the spitting the olive bit confused me , not hard , but yes I do agree that basically the culprits should have their balls slowly roasted in an oven , or better still , a toastie maker , but that just aint PC I'm afraid . The looser as always will be the law abiding owner of the boat . Makes no sense to me , but that's what this country wants isn't it ?
 
Isn't there any remedy in the civil courts ?

When someone kicked in my front door a few years ago, I was advised to make a civil claim, and got all the £15/12s/6d that it cost to repair .

The perp took a year to pay up.

Perhaps the scrotes have nothing of overt value, but they may have other assets which can be frozen ?
 
There are many areas where third party insurance will not be sufficient cover including theft, of course, but also storm damage/loss, accidental loss not involving third party and fire risk. Insurance companies expect claims or they would not exist. It is the sensible way for society to be organised.
 
[ QUOTE ]
they may have other assets which can be frozen ?

[/ QUOTE ]
their assets should certainly be frozen - or perhaps roasted - or simply chopped off.
 
Or an interesting proposal for justice reform in this country:- Foreign travel is supposed to be very educative and good for the soul, so how about sending them to do a few months community service in one of the less salubrious sectors of Baghdad? Should only be necessary to give them one way tickets, so quite economical too.
 
[ QUOTE ]
There are many areas where third party insurance will not be sufficient cover including theft, of course, but also storm damage/loss, accidental loss not involving third party and fire risk. Insurance companies expect claims or they would not exist. It is the sensible way for society to be organised.

[/ QUOTE ]

Insurance companies exist for one purpose only , so please don't get me started on the blood suckers of this world ,, by the sound of it the man has lost his pride and joy thanks to some socially challenged individuals that will get more help from the state than the poor , selfish pensioner , that just happened to own a boat but couldn't afford full insurance ,,,,,,,,,,,,,, oh bugger ,,,,,,,,,, I started
 
[ QUOTE ]
so how about sending them to do a few months community service in one of the less salubrious sectors of Baghdad? Should only be necessary to give them one way tickets, so quite economical too.

[/ QUOTE ]

If we have difficulty sending a convicted terrorist back to his own country to serve his sentence, we havent a hope in hell of doing anything like this to a couple of scrotes who've "been for an innocent jolly on a boat which went wrong".

As has been said.. their upbringing and lack of opportunity will be blamed, and they will be mollycoddled such that they never have to work a day in their lives. They will also be free to ***k up loads more peoples lives whilst their at it!!

Our justice system beggars belief!!!
(ditto health and education, education, education)
 
Well said Richard , maybe it's time we got away from politically correct and started saying what we think , fat chance , I fully expect that I'll wake up in the morning to a thorough flaming for saying so , but this entire country seems to have lost all of its moral values in favour of looking after the so called down trodden few
 
Grrrrrr. Common scum. Breeding shouldn't be allowed across the board. It should be earned.
If I thought those two losers had anything of value, I'd go and destroy it. I might even put a lit newspaper through their letterbox. Evil roar. [As long as they didn't have a pet dog or cat]
 
In Finnish Lapland are very few thiefs; when one get's cought they sharpen his heels and sink him into the marsh ! An alternative is when it's moskito time that they are taken somewhere 20 km from the nearest house and left there nude as a jailbird. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
 
On the other hand it sounds like rather good seamanship to get a sinking catamaran without engines, to a beach, on an island, in the dark, without going on the rocks!
 
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