St Maarten Yacht Burglary

[bahamasyacht]

just recent, armed perp broke into yacht whilst crew sleeping, see video with knife etc.
said to be one of recent armed events numbering 10 plus.

Be careful out there. perp appears to be after electronics etc.

very bold in my view.

Marianne

(apologise if this is old news.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kolTj...layer_embedded

[speciald@ocens.]

Americans equip to cruise, French cruise to equip.

[Otia]

It got really bad in sxm since the crisis. I got robbed there. A friend of mine got shot. I got the feeling the police did not care. Sxm, get your act together...

[Zanshin]

I'm in St. Martin right now and despite being part of the daily cruiser's VHF network and talking to people I know ashore, this is the first I've heard of this event - how recent is it? Was this video taken inside or outside the lagoon and on the French or Dutch side? A quick google search didn't turn anything up, but I'd be interested in further information.

[boatman61]

Never had a problem.. either side... I've roamed Phillipsburg in the early hours... likewise Marigot and areas in between....
But I do like to get to know the locals and with my hat I'm easily recognised and labeled as 'Croc Dundee' or 'Indy'.... even the 'bad guys' talk to me and share a laugh... and they keep my back covered when I'm cruising the island... and I make damn sure they know which is MY BOAT................
Only thing that is unavoidable is the "CRAZY"..... but thats everywhere....
Funny story in Antigua... used to walk through St Johns to catch the local buses and the cab drivers would always hassle me for a fare... always say no... anyway one day a lady friend and myself were sitting at the bus stop at the turn of to Jolly Harbour waiting for the bus to St Johns when this cab passed us... got 200yds down the road and screeched to a halt... reversed up, wound down the window and asked if we were going into St Johns... when I said we were he told us to jump in as thats where he was headed... I said no thanks we'd wait for the bus...
He replied... "Mon... ah aint gonna chage ya... ah jes wanna see dem bloodclats faces when ah drive in with 'Croc Dundee' in mah cab... Mon... we bin takin bets who'd get yah fust..."

[bahamasyacht]

this is recent happened last Wednesday. We know the boat. if you email me privately I will tell you who it is.

UPDATE:

An owner of another burglarized vessel issued this statement:

“[It] occurred Wednesday, January 12, 2011 at 4 a.m. at Marina Portofino. The security guard was mysteriously missing at the same time. The crew were on board asleep and awoke to noise, hearing robbers departing. [The robber] gained access to yacht from exterior locker with hidden key. The Yacht had been watched by professionals, we suspect a set up. This is a WARNING to yacht crews across the Caribbean.”

The captain who first reported the robbery on his vessel said that he now knows of 12 other vessels that have been burglarized.
Posted by: Janine at 20/01/2011 15:12

[atoll]

if this is happening inside guarded marinas seems like you are paying too much,for security and should may be move out to the anchorage where the cruisers keep an eye on each other....................

[Tellie]

Are they sure it's a knife and not a pry bar?

[osirissail]

I would go with the "pry bar" also. A large knife is of no use to an electronic equipment thief. Also it is obviously an expensive power yacht of significant size and had to be docked stern to the marina wall which is logical as how is the thief going to get electronics off an anchored boat without drowning the stuff in the water.
- - But for the last 6 years I have been transiting St Martin/Sint Maarten thievery has been frequent and common. Usually in sporadic bursts of activity with little or no activity for periods in between. I call that the "hungry lion" effect. Once the thief has made a haul, he is "fat" and doesn't need to steal anymore for a period of time. If you transit during the "in between" times you wonder what everybody is talking about as you heard nothing new.
- - Collusion by security guards is well-known throughout the Caribbean as the wages they are paid are really low and if they share in the "booty" they may make a month or two's money from one night's activity. Just conjecture. Job turn over is rather high in any case.

[CSY Man]

What are the rules for carrying guns on yachts in SXM?

A thief would probably thread carefully and perhaps take up another proffesion if the odds of being shot in the line of duty was above 50% ?

Any intruder on my boat would be most un-welcome and in danger of being wounded and ready for the sharks..

(I know, tough talk is easy on the internet but the above is my gut feeling especially after watching the video)

[Otia]

I go to sxm on a regular basis, not for sailing but to see friends there. Lately, in the past 2 years but in particular this past year, there has been many unfortunate incidents such as thievery, rape and murder. I subscribe to sxminfo to get all the news and I've never seen it so bad as this year.

[ozskipper]

Hopefully they have put his photo up on every pole in the main street

Cheers
DP

[Palarran]

Originally Posted by speciald@ocens.

Americans equip to cruise, French cruise to equip.

Sorry, I don't understand the meaning.

In any case, St Maarten and St Martin are bad news in my opinion. There are safer areas like Anse Marcel and Oyster Pond but on a whole, there's a lot of crime. I have a personal experience with thieves trying to board Palarran while we where at dinner in Orient Bay. I'm going back down in three days with my parents and we are going to Anguilla and St. Barts with no overnights in St. Martin except at our marina (which I feel is fairly safe).

I'm surprised that the video was just a week ago. I was down in late November and my dock neighbor mentioned an exact same situation so its actually happened twice. In that instance the boat was docked at Simpson Bay Marina.

[osirissail]

Originally Posted by CSY Man

What are the rules for carrying guns on yachts in SXM?
A thief would probably thread carefully and perhaps take up another proffesion if the odds of being shot in the line of duty was above 50% ?
Any intruder on my boat would be most un-welcome and in danger of being wounded and ready for the sharks..
(I know, tough talk is easy on the internet but the above is my gut feeling especially after watching the video)

You are dangerously close to starting another "gun thread" which is an endless debate. But to keep it brief - outside the USA the possession of firearms on board a cruising boat introduces a range of complexities from having to report them, get them locked in a secure cabinet or removed from the boat for storage by the local police all the way to primae facia evidence of a crime as they are banned on the island. Generally, and I say generally, use of a firearm by a "foreigner" against a "local" is a nightmare of bureaucratic corruption and the "foreigner" is automatically the guilty party. Basically, the rules outside the USA are significantly different.
- - I know many cruisers who do carry firearms the first year out but somewhere along the line they throw them in the ocean. Avoiding dangerous areas is the best policy along with "staying in the herd" when anchored/moored in a location. So whether you do or don't is similar to where inside the USA where some folks go to the trouble of getting the permits, etc. and carrying a firearm and most others who do not. It is all a personal decision. But finally, what you can do inside the USA is, in most cases, totally different from what you can do outside the USA.

[smallyachts]

It looks more like a piece of pipe that he tied a lanyard too and secured around his chest. It also looks like his clothing is wet, except for the top of his head.

The decks and steps do not look as thought it is raining, so why are his clothes wet, if he climbed on from a dock?

Did he gain entrance into the guarded marina from the water?

How did he make his escape?