First Thief Experience

[danielamartindm]

Jacksonville has earned a bad rep in general. Most of the people I know would not even travel there by car. It's a shame. Glad no one was hurt, and they didn't get your tender.

[Tetepare]

Is theft a southern thing? Our marina is wide open. No dinghies are locked, some boats aren’t either. Grills, tools, etc all left out. Good local kids come to fish, bad local kids know if something goes missing they’re going to have a conversation before cops are called. Suspicious people seen in town are made aware they need to go elsewhere. Maybe it’s an urban thing?

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Tetepare

Is theft a southern thing? Our marina is wide open. No dinghies are locked, some boats aren’t either. Grills, tools, etc all left out. Good local kids come to fish, bad local kids know if something goes missing they’re going to have a conversation before cops are called. Suspicious people seen in town are made aware they need to go elsewhere. Maybe it’s an urban thing?

A Southern thing? Dat funny boy...where you been north of the Mason-Dixon line?

[Hoppy2]

Paint ball can be an effective non lethal defense. They sell specific munitions for this purpose.
Solid rubber, glass, pepper filled or teargas filled balls are all easily purchased online (Amazon)
It is my opinion most thieves will flee if confronted rather than fight. Exception would be if they get cornered, offer an easy escape route and leave a mark. Let the police do the apprehension.
In the event someone comes aboard armed with intent to harm I would rather have a paintball gun than an air horn.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by Hoppy2

Paint ball can be an effective non lethal defense. They sell specific munitions for this purpose.
Solid rubber, glass, pepper filled or teargas filled balls are all easily purchased online (Amazon)
It is my opinion most thieves will flee if confronted rather than fight. Exception would be if they get cornered, offer an easy escape route and leave a mark. Let the police do the apprehension.
In the event someone comes aboard armed with intent to harm I would rather have a paintball gun than an air horn.

Everyone has their opinion about protecting their property and person. To add to your scenario one that could match closer to the OPs situation, someone comes onboard to steal your dinghy and sees you pull pistol on them, aka a paintball gun. They have a gun on them and decide to fire first.
I'll protect myself and family. I'm not taking unnecessary risks for replacable property. Convincing a potential boarder that other targets are better choices is the way I go about protecting property.
But I appreciate others have different approaches to property, especially in Florida - where I grew up.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by Hoppy2

Paint ball can be an effective non lethal defense. They sell specific munitions for this purpose.
Solid rubber, glass, pepper filled or teargas filled balls are all easily purchased online (Amazon)
It is my opinion most thieves will flee if confronted rather than fight. Exception would be if they get cornered, offer an easy escape route and leave a mark. Let the police do the apprehension.
In the event someone comes aboard armed with intent to harm I would rather have a paintball gun than an air horn.

If you are going to pull a gun, you shoot to kill. They will feel cornered with a gun drawn on them in the dark and they won't know if it's real gun, paint balls or pepper spray..
- A wounded guy can still shoot back.
- A dead guy can't tell a different story.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Tetepare

Is theft a southern thing? Our marina is wide open. No dinghies are locked, some boats aren’t either. Grills, tools, etc all left out. Good local kids come to fish, bad local kids know if something goes missing they’re going to have a conversation before cops are called. Suspicious people seen in town are made aware they need to go elsewhere. Maybe it’s an urban thing?

I think it’s more of an Urban thing, for some reason crime is less in small towns.
I believe it’s to some extent as simple as everyone knows everyone else in a small town.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I think it’s more of an Urban thing, for some reason crime is less in small towns.
I believe it’s to some extent as simple as everyone knows everyone else in a small town.

Yes, I think its more of an urban thing. More population density typically = more problems. Larger population creates more anonymity...thieves prefer to be unknown.

There are exceptions of course. Not all small towns/villages are populated by good people, but I think most are....except maybe in Yankee cultures. [emoji6]

[a64pilot]

I lived for a year in Ozark Alabama, a tiny town. I honestly didn’t even have keys for the house, and people not only didn’t lock their vehicles, they left the keys in them. Crazy things were common, it was raining so you come home and the UPS man has opened your front door and put the packages in the hall, neighbor comes by to welcome you and you aren’t home so they put the pie in the fridge with a note.
Unbelievable town, like Mayberry on Andy Griffith.
But 25 miles away, you had better lock up

[sailorboy1]

Far as Brunswick and theft goes:

When I was there a little ago over a year someone had their wheelchair stolen righ off the dock. You don’t get much lower than that. There were lots issues there in spite of there security guy there all night.

There are known high theft against boater areas in Florida. They are popular places like St Augustine, Green Cove Springs, Marathon. We like to think otherwise, but boating has its share of lowlife scum.

[Chotu]

It's a southern thing. The hotter it gets the more theft you find.

The biggest city in the United States is New York. Boat type theft is unheard of. Yet in a rinky dink city like Jacksonville, it's rampant.

It's a southern thing.

[sailorboy1]

Rampant??

I like when people make up “facts”. Talking with the people here in the marina this is the first issue here.

[a64pilot]

Bad thing on the Wheelchair incident was that it’s almost certain that it was another cruiser, one that had anchored there for a day or so.
It was a high end Titanium chair, guy who owned it was I believe ex Special Forces.
How low life do you have to be to steal a wheelchair?

[Tetepare]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Bad thing on the Wheelchair incident was that it’s almost certain that it was another cruiser, one that had anchored there for a day or so.
It was a high end Titanium chair, guy who owned it was I believe ex Special Forces.
How low life do you have to be to steal a wheelchair?

Not to say you're wrong- but when stuff goes MIA here (chairs, umbrellas, flags, etc.) they usually wind up in the water. Sometimes we find them, sometimes we don't.


Back on the topic of crime and region/ environment: on Lake Ontario very few marina docks (none I can think of) are gated. In Hawai'i virtually all are gated. Along the lakeshore no homes/ cottages have bars on windows, which is more common down south, and very common in Central America.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Rampant??

I like when people make up “facts”. Talking with the people here in the marina this is the first issue here.

Rampant. I lost a kayak, a RIB, an outboard, a 65 lb anchor taken from my bow and a bicycle taken ftom my stern.

The entire St John's River is an unsafe place to keep boats. Just ask around the cruising community. Everyone knows this. So many people's boats are stripped of valuables there, it's ridiculous. Winches torn from decks, electronics pulled out, etc.