Just found out that my dinghy was nicked off its mooring last night. Very cross. Need to vent my anger. Who can I shout at? Must be ok to blame the french at the moment...
How about posting your details on your profile (it's empty at the moment), the type & any markings on the dinghy, where it was nicked from and anything else which might aid recovery.
If you're anywhere in the Solent area, it's probably destined for the Beaulieu Boat Jumble. The TBs work their way round in the couple of weeks before and stock up.
It disappeared from the Yealm, but nonetheless may well end up in Beaulieu. The rope was still tied to the chains on the mooring - it had been cut. Bloody swine. Who'd nick a half built dinghy? The place is crammed full of better ones.
Thats always strange how sometimes the crapiest item gets nicked, I left my bike locked up at my sailing club. It had no pedals, rusting like a mary rose canon, gears didnt work, brakes didnt work etc etc....some halfwit nicked it.
They did me a favour of sorts though as the bike was only really good for the scrap heap and the insurance company replaced it with a £350 bike!! )
At first I was quite sympathetic to the idea of blaming the French.
But since you have revealed that it was stolen from the Yealm it is probably a bit rich to suggest they made a special raid to steal your dinghy.
Statistically the culprits were probably British.
( PS sorry to be facetious. The reality must be bloody annoying)
Hmmm. Whilst I agree that it was unlikely to have been a raid planned by M Chirac himself (bit aggressive for him), it had occurred to me that there were a couple of French boats in the river on Friday. But you're quite right, more than likely it was some nasty little scrote from Plymouth.
Try and put a full description on this forum. Colour, how much completed, materials used (wood or glass fibre), etc. You never know, someone might spot it and could contact you through your e-mail address or PM you.
Do you have a photo of it including any identifiable marks e.t.c. It may be prudent for others to photograph all their gear, just in case it goes for a walk, that way you have a record of exactly what it was, serial numbers and any ID marks. It is amazing how you take things for granted e.g. your home drill, could you ID it amongst ten others, I couldn't, but with a photo you would be able to see any marks e.t.c. May sound daft to some but I have done the same with a digital camera around my house, if I was burgled I would know what was gone, otherwise it may take weeks or longer until you need something and realise it has been nicked.
Sorry to hear about the theft.
Cheers,
<hr width=100% size=1><font color=purple> "You only see what you recognise, and you only recognise what you know" <font color=purple>
Doesn't really help you now, but I had a stainless strop made, about 4 meters long with eyes at both ends so that I can padlock my dinghy to my mooring, along with the outboard and fuel can when left on a visitors pontoon. Would need a very determined thief to cut thick stainless!
Last summer an associate had his inflatable & outboard nicked from his transom whilst they were aboard, in the Yealm. They complained to the Hrabourmaster whose retort, " oh yes, we've had a real problem this year, sometimes several go in a night, it's a gang from Plymouth". Thanks for the warning HM.
You would think that someone would devise an alarm system, if there isn't one already, that has a cable connection to the dinghy so if the connection is broken a bloody loud alarm goes off!!
Simple but may work or at least be a detterent.
<hr width=100% size=1><font color=purple> "You only see what you recognise, and you only recognise what you know" <font color=purple>
veuillez nous excuser , on a paniqué a cause d'une bande de rosbeef voulant nous faire boire ce qu'on appelle de l'ale chez vous , tandis que pour nous la description sertait plutot du piss. on était tellement horrifié que la seule alternative était une rentrée immédiate.
on a donc pris le premier dinghy en vue et on s'est sauvé en direction de la patrie , apres une nuit bien mouvementée on est rentré sauf et sain ! on se demande néanmoins s'il est normal en Angleterre qu'il y a des petits trous dans le fond du dinghy...ca n'a pas facilité les choses , savez-vous ?
Le dinghy sera donné au musée national de l'histoire maritime qui se trouve a Paris tout près de la tour Eiffel. Il sera exposé et l'inscription sera : fuite héroique de beefistan (AD 2003)
cordialement , en vous salutant et en espérant une bonne entendue entre les peuples du monde
"Would need a very determined thief to cut thick stainless! "
Or one with a pair or cable/bolt cutters!
Sorry, it's a nice try and more than most, but it's not really going to stop a thief...it will just take them longer....If they want something, they'll find away of getting it.
One of the staff here had their winches stolen...if the thief has got enough time to un-bolt two self tailing winches from a yacht on the Hamble, cutting through a s/s cable would be no problem
It always makes me smile when I see a £400 outboard locked up with a 50p padlock...(if at all)
So wot would you recommend?? Surely most of the thefts we're talking about here are opportunistic? Yes a determined thief will be able to steal almost anything, the main object is to deter them trying in the first place.
I agreee if their are a lot of dinghies around and yours is locked then the odds are it will be safe. Also A lock is better than no lock.
But if you've got a shiny new outboard on the back they'll probably go for that as opposed to an easily accessable knackered looking one
Depending on yer dinghy etc....I'd go for a nice strong motor cycle lock and chain through a hole in the transom of the dinghy attached to the visitors pontoon etc...around £30 They have the advantage of being tough as well as being well padded, the last thing a motorbike owner wants is scratches on their pride and joy
Outboards should have a outboard motor lock £30 upwards Remember most toggles are plastic and could be sawn off with a junior hacksaw, a blunt one at that
If you put the chain through the outboard motor lock/carring handle, fuel tank and pontoon it would make it so much harder than stanless cable.
One thing that could be quite fun, would be if you could somehow lock the direction of the outboard :-D
Reverse and/or full lock would be my favourites....hehehe