Don't Steal a Red Dinghy

[TaoJones]

You might think that the three crew aboard a distinctly yellow French ketch would be aware that for the almost infinite number of gray inflatables, there is probably only one red one. Still, that didn't stop them from helping themselves to the larger-than-most red inflatable from Donald Tofias' W-76 Wild Horses recently in St. Barth.

Their next stop was Simpson Bay Lagoon in St. Martin, but the word had already gone out on the Coconut Telegraph that they were the likeliest suspects, and sure enough . . .

* * *

"Two Wrongs Finally Make a Right

"March 9, 2009 – St. Martin, Dutch Antilles

"The dinghy thieves may have had balls, but not much in the way of brains. Not only did they steal the only red dinghy in the land of a million grey ones, they then anchored in the middle of the busy anchorage in Simpson Bay Lagoon.
© 2009 Heather Corsaro

"Is there anything more evil than stealing somebody's dinghy when it's their only way to get between the boat and shore? We don't think so, which is why the gods reserve a particularly hot place in hell for people who do things like that.

"The day before we left St. Barth for the Bay Area, via St. Martin, last week, we were told that the dinghy for Donald Tofias' W-76 Wild Horses had disappeared from the dinghy dock at Charles de Gaulle Quai."

For the rest of the story, check out today's 'Lectronic Latitude:

Latitude 38 - The West's Premier Sailing & Marine Magazine

The really funny part, I think, is that their yellow ketch (and lack of a dinghy) is equally unique. I wonder how they'll be received as they continue their cruise through the Caribbean?

TaoJones

[slomotion]

In places where boat boys prevail, you almost have to hire one to prevent theft of your dinghy - it’s just kind of understood. In other places, unless you go to extraordinary and inconvenient lengths, there’s not much you can do to prevent theft of a dinghy from a dock. One of the reasons I advocate dinghy davits when anchored at night is that they sort of prevent theft of our dinghy while it’s attached to your boat. They don’t really, but it makes them easy to haul and secure and therefore, a much less attractive target compared to those that are just attached by painters. OTOH, a red dinghy might be a cheaper way to go. Can you paint a dinghy? - Lime Green, Plum Crazy Purple, Banana Yellow (oops not a good choice if the French boat is around), etc.

[bene505]

Must be a night vision thing, where red looks like gray. Did the theft happen at night?

[Pblais]

Did the theft happen at night?

Never assume a conspiracy when stupidity will do.

[Minggat]

Don't you just love it when people live up to their reputations?

[michaelmrc]

i understand fully this past november some little thieves came and stole our nice little red bombard dinghy right off the boat. local police did practically nothing and we had to purchase a new setup out of pocket.

[Kamaloha]

When I bought my boat it came with an absolutely hideous dinghy and motor. Ugliest thing I'd ever seen, worse than pangas. The surveyor took one look at it and suggested I start dumpster hunting. After buying the boat I went digging through the manuals and discovered they were nearly new! They had been intentionally "uglified" by the PO (I'm talking multicolor spray painted graffiti here!) I could barely show my face using it, but I never much worried about it being stolen, which was the point, I guess...

[44'cruisingcat]

"Don't steal a red dinghy" is excellent advice. Everybody should live by it.

BTW here's our dinghy:

[David M]

I may put some tiger stripes on mine when I get one.

[Evan]

Mine is bright yellow. I do have to uglify the motor; thanks for the reminder.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nqJ71MFvkN...h/CIMG7344.JPG

[Celestialsailor]

I use to have a 10 ft. portabot. The banana looking thing. I use to claim that it was so ugly, no one would steal it!

[sushirama]

There used to be a company that sold gps tags that were about the size of a AA battery. A friend of mine had a landscaping business and every piece of equipment had a tag on it. He could find any thing anytime and pull up a history even to the level where he could see the track a mower had made on a clients lawn or even the swing of an excavators arm during a day. This also allowed him to track stolen hardware also. He had a trailer stolen from in front of a house while his guy was in the back. Normally it would have been a write off but the tags allowed him to recover it in about 1/2 hour.

The tags were around 100 bucks each and like 7 dollars a month for service. He also had his truck equipped with a tracking and monitoring system . He could monitor all engine activities as well. Keep in mind this was million plus dollar a year operation.

He saved about 50 percent overall for his insurance.

Im sure there has to be an equivalent for marine use. If not how many think it would be viable to have this on your boat hardware. IF you could get an ROI by savings in insurance and piece of mind of knowing where your stuff is?

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by sushirama

There used to be a company that sold gps tags that were about the size of a AA battery.

The tags were around 100 bucks each and like 7 dollars a month for service.

Asset tracking tags:
Product - Asset Tracking Tags

[Minggat]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

I use to have a 10 ft. portabot. The banana looking thing. I use to claim that it was so ugly, no one would steal it!

I considered a Porta-Boat. Great in principle and you have to be right about nobody wanting to steal them. In the end, I decided against it because it was just too funny looking for me. And your "used to have" scenario seems to be common. There is one for sale here because the current owner finds it.... just too funny looking.

Without doing any research, I understand part of the logic to hard dinks is that they don't get stolen (as often).

As I said earlier, I have both a Walker Bay and an inflatable. Different purpose boats. But I have seen Walker Bays in different corners of the world. It always warms my heart.

This last Saturday I took a friend out in the inflatable to see the whale sharks. When we got back I launched the Walker Bay and taught her to sail it. Sailing around in the dink was more memorable and enjoyable than seeing the whale sharks. Just going slow in all that quiet after buzzing around in the "go fast" toy really topped off the day for me.

[markpj23]

And that made me sad..... dinghy theft by locals is one thing. Theft by fellow cruisers is another...