Stolen from my boat in Southampton.

[sailingcatlady]

I had a Baja fuel filter stolen (had cost me $100) and a plastic flares tub full of pepper/mace sprays, purchased in and brought back from the US over the years. I am sure it was an opportunist theft: someone had come to my boat to speak to the engineer whom he thought was working there, but found he had gone back to his workshop leaving my boat wide open. Moral: try to make sure your boat is always locked. Sad, isn't it, that it should be necessary? The filter I can replace, but the "defensive weapons" no: we can't buy them here. As a single-hander, and no longer young, and a woman, I was feeling very happy that I had them, in case I should ever need them in some far away place. Now I feel much less confident about going to "exotic" places. Perhaps I should just settle for sitting in the cockpit and guarding my boat in Sunny Soton and forget about Venezuela or wherever!

 

[sarabande]

Sorry to here of your loss, bit of a dilemma here ? You can't really trot along to the nearest nick (precinct police station) and say "Someone has nicked (stolen) my illegal self-defence weapons".

What about any CCTV in the area ?

 

[Katomi]

Well nothing excotic here;;
I have have two oars and the plastic cruches (rollicks) taken from the fore shore at fareham.. Kids I think be warned thou
Stephen

 

[billskip]

hi
I am sorry to read about the theft from your boat.It realy makes me sick when anybody steals from another

However please dont let it put you off visiting vevezuela , yes it can be dangerous but so can walking through the streets of many countries including England .

If you do come down to venezuela let me know and maybe I can show you around.
I live on Isla de Margarita and yes there are tales of woe and piracy and shootings etc but when I go on line and read the Uk and Irish newspapers I somehow feel safer here than back in the Uk

Can you keep on board a flair gun ?

 

[Mister_Smee]

Which marina are you in?

I am in Shamrock Quay, we did have the steering wheel emblem taken from our last boat, about a year ago.
Have you had a look around the local area sometimes these things are just dumped when the thief discovers that can't use them?

 

[sailingcatlady]

I don't know where I can obtain a flare gun from. Wish I did. Does anybody know where?

 

[DRANNIE]

Yikes, assuming your not presently at her majesty's pleasure posession of a pepper or mace spray is an offence under the firearms act and will be treated the same as posession of a firearm. I think the maximum sentence is 7 years for each offence! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[sailingcatlady]

7 years! It would be a bit churlish of me to imagine the thief of my pepper spray falling foul of the police! (Quite a nice thought, though) Maybe he did me a service by stealing my stuff, though not by stealing my Baja filter.....