robbery on anchor at galatas (poros), greece

[dolphin]

please have in mind the below information, in case you are anchoring at galatas

the anchorage at galatas is our lovely spot and we have used it many, many times during the last years!
on 11th of september 2018, as usual, we drop the anchor at galatas for the evening stop and around 1900 hrs left the boat, leaving a dingy ashore, continue for a walk and a dinner on poros with friends.
after the lovely evening, we return on the boat around 2300 hrs, just to discover that one of the deck hatch was destroyed and the boat was robed! once the hatch was opened, the intruders entered the boat and stole many valuable items as money, laptop, tablet, gps, internet connection device, car key, all documents of the boat - registry, insurance, dekpa, etc and of course, our passports, driving license, etc ........

very unpleasant experience but this is the fact - the galatas is not anymore the 100% safe stop!

after a very long night, we have reported the incident to the poros port police and the case was filed accordingly

now, remaining the recovery of the loses and re-issuing of all the stolen documents

if anyone, found a computer's bag/s, somewhere around in galatas, please have in mind, that these can be ours and maybe inside you can find the boat's documents or a small light brown hand bag, where can be our personal documents !

what to say, the hope die last !

with best regards

 

[Mr Cassandra]

Very sorry to hear this my boat is moored very close to you .
I have been there for 20 years without a problem.
Hope you find your papers.

 

[OldBawley]

Sympathy to you.
Our boat was robbed in Rhodes some years ago, so I know how it feels.
In our case the robbers contacted me later, ware proud of their job. Offered me to buy back my laptop. Police was no help, they knew the gang, ware afraid of them. The “ Gang” consisted of a population group known for centuries for stealing. ( Yes even chickens and baby´s. )

Poros and Galatas ( was there this morning ) is normally safe. Somebody must have observed you when leaving the boat, must have known you ware away for longer. Fellow yachtsman ?

 

[sailaboutvic]

Again so sorry to hear of your problem , we were around there for about a week only left two days ago , as a rule Greece is pretty safe , but it a sign of the times , we must start locking our stuff away .
If we going to be away for any length of time , I normally ask a near by boat to keep an eye on the boat .
Hope you sort it out soon

 

[rib]

Sailaboutvic,where do you over winter ?

 

[sailaboutvic]

Sailaboutvic,where do you over winter ?

This year we will spend month to six weeks in Malta , then go to Tunisia for about the same time at which point we be ready to start. A new season .
We enjoy Malta but it's not cheap compaired to Sicily . But as we don't spend six month as others do plus flights back are a lot cheaper and getting to and from the airport is just a 1.5€ bus ride , taken that all into consideration, it's not too bad .
We have had wintered in Greece three times and it's been very wet after Dec ,
Sicily a good spot we winter in both Licata and Ragusa in the past both good but we prefer Ragusa we also have wintered in Spain ,
And two part winters in Tunisia . Great valve
Where are you thinking .
Tho of Crete a few times but you have to book in advance and we never know where we going to end up .
We know many who's wintered there , they all say it's nice but there a lot of marina politic that goes on .
Are you looking for suggestion .?

 

[moomba]

Sad to here, this it only takes one bad apple to spoil a reputation of a place , but this is a hard life lesson , we on boats tend to think we are safe from the unscrupulous , but were not , and a little hatch bolt or a small padlock does not deter a thief
, I do not wish to plummet more woes onto you but lessons are learned sometimes in the harshest times , a safe would have been a good idea and keeping valuables and all documents well hidden in false books etc would have limited this effect on you , hindsight being a wonderful thing in life , but if you always prepare for the worst case scenario you will find that your luck jar is a little fuller when you need it .

 

[Sooty Dog]

I have just fitted a wireless alarm with a PIR and built in loud (very) siren. It will also send me a text and call my mobile if it gets triggered. Cost less than £150 . It's expandable to include more wireless devices if you need to and it will take in either a normally open or normally closed analog signal. So I'm going to link it to a float switch in the bilges ..... just in case!

 

[RichardS]

Sad to here, this it only takes one bad apple to spoil a reputation of a place , but this is a hard life lesson , we on boats tend to think we are safe from the unscrupulous , but were not , and a little hatch bolt or a small padlock does not deter a thief
, I do not wish to plummet more woes onto you but lessons are learned sometimes in the harshest times , a safe would have been a good idea and keeping valuables and all documents well hidden in false books etc would have limited this effect on you , hindsight being a wonderful thing in life , but if you always prepare for the worst case scenario you will find that your luck jar is a little fuller when you need it .

I can't see where you could bolt a safe inside a wooden or GRP boat where it couldn't just be jemmied off?

Richard

 

[sailaboutvic]

I can't see where you could bolt a safe inside a wooden or GRP boat where it couldn't just be jemmied off?

Richard

End up with more damage , don't know what the answer is , as we all know if some one want to get in they will . As sooty said a Alarm would help , no good for us as we have Eddie on board and he just keep setting it off .

 

[moomba]

I can't see where you could bolt a safe inside a wooden or GRP boat where it couldn't just be jemmied off?

Richard

Most thief's are grab and run simply brackets and no more nails and super glue all come into to play, very rare indeed a thief who has swam to a boat or even dinghy over carries a large crow bar , the point is the longer it takes them the more chance they will be caught or run off or be put off by the safe , I have a safe on my boat and its GRP no issues I also had a safe in my camper van no issues , but there are still great products out there like false books and tubes and pictures that can readily hide passports and the like , I afraid you have to think like a thief to beat a thief .
I personally don't think these guys are hardened criminals more like desperate people trying to sell what they can quickly
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hardcover-Book-Diversion-Safe-Valuables/dp/B001PAS9UM
A simple but effective way to hid money and passports ,

 

[Mistroma]

Sorry to hear about the robbery and many thanks for letting everyone know. We were planning to be at that spot again in a couple of weeks. I assume it's just off the small pier at the old camping site.

I imagine that evenings are the high risk time as it is dark fairly early and people tend to be away for a few hours. I think that we will probably avoid having meals out in evening. Not a great hardship as we'll do lunches instead. I'll also warn nearby boats and we can keep an eye on each other during the day. Greece is normally pretty safe but I guess you only need one opportunist who spots an out of the way area that's easy to reach.

I hope your insurance is adequate and doesn't take too long to sort things out.

 

[Pavalijo]

I have just fitted a wireless alarm with a PIR and built in loud (very) siren. It will also send me a text and call my mobile if it gets triggered. Cost less than £150 . It's expandable to include more wireless devices if you need to and it will take in either a normally open or normally closed analog signal. So I'm going to link it to a float switch in the bilges ..... just in case!

Please can you provide the name of the product (and if possible a link)? I would like to fit one.

We do keep an old mobile plus wallet with expired bank card and a small amount of cash on the chart table. Sometimes we hide stuff and sometimes we don’t - but I think we need to get better protected!

Thanks
Paul

 

[dslittle]

I can't see where you could bolt a safe inside a wooden or GRP boat where it couldn't just be jemmied off?

Richard

We have a safe bolted into one of our lockers. It was quite a job to bolt it in and I wouldn't want to remove it myself even with the luxury of time. Once removed, it is very heavy and would be difficult to take into a dinghy. I doubt very much that opportunist thieves would bother/have the time to remove it.
That being said, we don't always put all of our valuable stuff into it!!!
Additionally I have fitted two VERY bright PIR solar LED lights to the stern arch which activate when anyone comes near the boat. Not only are they useful as a perceived deterrent, but they are great for getting back to the boat in the dark and having plenty of light to board.

 

[rib]

Pm sent ........i hope

 

[rib]

To sailabout vic pm sent i hope

 

[One A.]

As much as it's a pain in the arse it's the feeling that someone has violted your space, we've had 2 break ins when we lived in London but never on the boat, you have our sympathy.

We had a few of these on the boat and they are surprisingly realistic.

http://www.sterlinglocks.com/sterlingsafecandictionary.html

 

[sailaboutvic]

To sailabout vic pm sent i hope

Ok I take a look later and answer

 

[macd]

Dolphin: sympathies for a horrible experience. But if you'll forgive a small correction, there was, thank god, no robbery. There was a burglary (or, perhaps, as One A put it, a break-in). An understandable mistake for someone who has English as a second language.

Robbery is theft by force, or the threat of it. The last thing we (or Greece) needs is for word of that to get around when it hasn't happened.

 

[Seadeuced]

Sorry to hear your story, a real shame.
I would be interested in finding out about the alarm thats been fitted. Maybe you have a link to the website so I can look it up.
Thanks