You are NOT going to believe this

I would report it to the police first! Stolen and then returned boat?
You need a police report, so when you do catch him/her..the parents or police can help to recover the lost fuel funds and teach a valuable lesson to the punk...
(I can't wait to see the end of this one).
Mark.
 
TimC said:
Sounds great do you have a link for the products website or a retailer who sells it?
Click to expand...

This one is really great but probably about $800.00+ if you need real time lat/lon http://www.gpsanywhere.com/gps_marine_tracking/index.html

Another
EbayItem number: 270256483326

I dont think you really need long and lat of your boat only that it has been stolen. When it hits land you will know where it is. So you really can use any type of GPS tracking device. What is important is that you know when it moves and stops and that is what most of them do.
 
Drama Queen said:
our cabin door was locked when we left last weekend, I made sure of it about 5 different times.
Click to expand...

You don't want to know just how useless that lock on the cabin door really is. Don't rely on it for anything more than symbolic security. I'm willing to demonstrate to anyone local who is interested.

Best regards,
Frank C
 
I also bet it is someone you know. Most of the time it is. Robbery and such. I will also bet he, she, they, are also reading all of this so if you are going to try and catch them you may want to consider that. Just my 2 cents.
 
I know of 2 similar instances, both in locked marinas.

Yrs ago at our marina with key locks, a ski boat owner reported fuel being stolen. Marina security reviewed days of VHS tapes, found suspcious activity & asked the owner to identify the guilty persons. To his surprise, it was his son & high school buddies skipping class & taking Dad's boat out.

2nd incident friends with cruiser at another marina with code locks went out midweek to prep boat for an afternoon cruise with clients. They found the cabin door unlock & a high school couple coupling. When told to leave the boy asked for a few minutes privacy for the girl. My friends reluctanly agreed & when in search of the marina manager.

Our marina has discussed going to swipe cards.

We do leave our keys aboard. I'll contact SR & ask if their mechanics need the keys for service & if not, remove or hide them.
 
1. Sorry to hear about your troubles.
I hope they are over.

2. Leaving the keys on the boat?
The reason for this is...........?

3. A couple replys about the cops "setting up a sting".
Yeah, right. Waaaaaay too much TV people.

4. Blood clean-up?
Use the 9mm (not a freakin shotgun) or a bare handed kill.

5. Prevention...
I like the fuel shut off valve & a locked cabin.

6. Imediate action......
My first action would be with the dock master.

As far as "who done it" It is surely someone who works at or frequents the marina. As far as prosicution... for what? "Tommy said it was ok to come down anytime. The keys are in the drawer next to the sink".
 
This happened to my brother on his old 24' Chaparral cuddy, at his old marina.

Except he didn't find out someone was taking it out, until said someone tried to take it under a low bridge with the camper top up, and destroyed the top.

Turned out one of the marina workers became homeless and started living on the boats, occasionally taking some out for a joyride apparently.

Hope you can catch the person/people responsible! And I agree with the others, contact the police and get it on record
 
BON DIA said:
I'll contact SR & ask if their mechanics need the keys for service & if not, remove or hide them.
Click to expand...
I was told by MM that that they have master keys to all engines and did not require them for service. Kind of creepy I thought but it is a convience I suppose? This kind of criminal activity is unfortunately becoming all to often occurrence at Table Rock Lake. With the economy getting worse I suspect it will continue. I just never understood theft, burglery and no respect for another mans property. What is wrong with those people?
 
Could you possibly use one of those trail cameras hidden somewhere on your boat? Their quiet, and can take multiple photos in seconds.
 
Omigosh!!! I can say, against my opposite train of thought, that letting the authorities handle it is probably the politically correct thing to do. My other train of thought is shoot him, but if you do, you have to shoot to kill. Becomes a scenario of your word against his, hmmm, he can't talk anymore, looks like you win!!!!!

Seriously, in a case like this, notify the police and marina staff and let them deal with it. Several years ago when our dock box was broken into, we lost everything in it, except our canvas. Our dock neighbors said "we saw your box open, but we just thought you were cleaning it out." I had choice words for them. Never did find out who did it.

Now, if I just happened to be on my boat mid-week and someone uninvited entered the cabin, he/she would be wearing added jewelry that looked very similar to .38+ caliber rounds!!!!!! Seriously!!!!!
 
I don't put a lot of confidence the the locks on the cabin doors. Just out of curiosity, I have tried my key is several other Sea Ray's.....and it worked.....so it could even be someone who has another Sea Ray...and their key just happens to fit your cabin door.
 
270SLX said:
PS: Taking out the bastard on his third invasion of your castle doesn't make it "premeditated murder" in my book. Just because you know your rights to defend your castle doesn't mean you lose them.
Click to expand...

You're book would earn you a one way ticket to Azkaban :)
 
Bottom Line said:
I don't put a lot of confidence the the locks on the cabin doors. Just out of curiosity, I have tried my key is several other Sea Ray's.....and it worked.....so it could even be someone who has another Sea Ray...and their key just happens to fit your cabin door.
Click to expand...

I recently got into my cabin using a steak knife in the lock....amazing what you'll do when your child is locked inside!

As far as leaving keys on the boat - I guarantee I can walk down any dock and find spare keys hidden in the cockpit of most boats and you will find them in mine. I could see if it was a trailerable boat.
 
These are boats we are talking about keep in mind. My recommendation... not that I have thought about this before:)

1. Buy heavy chain and concrete. Always have this available... it may be too late now:)
2. Buy yourself a nice dingy.
3. Bring it all down to the boat one late night.
4. Wait for the prick thats taking your boat.
5. Catch him in the act and take him out. I'm sure you can think of a surefire way.
6. Take your boat for a spin out to the continental shelf.
7. Wrap him in chain and concrete...
8. Dump him out... drive your boat a few miles away, strip down and sink the boat.
9. Call coast guard for a ride home:)
10. Problem solved...

And you get a nice new shiny baot out of the deal. So any damage he caused that has gone un-noticed thus far is no longer a concern...

I hate thieves!!!! Can you tell?
 
Well I guess I'll hide my keys if the cabin door is that bad. I want them on the boat so that my brother-in-law can move the boat in a dock emergency.
 
Exactly my point! Most everybody I know keeps their spare cabin keys in the closest cabinet to the door. If somebody wants to get in, they will find a way with or without the keys...
 
In the summer I use my Blazer as a tow vehicle only, Thats where I usually have a set of keys and spare equipment.
Im running a smaller boat then some of you are at 20 feet, but unless I have a good reason to keep it in the water ill pull her out when were finished for the wek ( I work weekends)
 
I got educated REAL quick in how easy it is to break into my boat when I left the cabin key at home one day.

After being told how to get in, I was inside the cabin without using any keys, tools or doing any damage to the boat whatsoever in under 20 seconds

Saved me a 40 min round trip & taught me never to leave keys anywhere on the boat again.
 
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we know lots of people at the marina who have their ignition keys in their boats. But I am with you we won't be leaving them again. As for chained to the dock, we used this cable thing that we usually lock the sea doo trailer with and chained the cleat to the dock, it is clearly visable and I guess if the dock burns down then so does our boat. We also chained the cabin door closed with the same kind of cable, we chained it to the metal handle that is in front of the helm seating.

As for it being someone we know, I have gone through every person I know and I can not think of who it might be. My son and his friends were accounted for on Wednesday night so I know it wasn't him. But I am not saying it couldn't be one of his friends, who ever it is they know how to opperate our boat pretty well, they haven't dinged it up putting it back in the slip.

I think with these messures we have probably gotten rid of the uninvited guest. We will probably never know who it is, because we did all the chaining before thinking about cameras. I just didn't want them on my boat again....EVER.:smt013 Not even to catch them.

I still feel pretty stupid about leaving the ignition keys in the cabin, but hey I have learned to never do it again.:smt009
 
Be sure you spread the word to your dockmates so the Marina owner is bombarded with concerns from everyone. Once the word spreads on what happened, I think the Marina owner will be forced to do something such as adding survelience cameras. In the meantime, I think what you have done is exactly what I would have done. I would go one step further though and set up my own personnal surveilence using a simple system like Frank Webster suggested. Even if it only recorded people walking by your dock you could look at the faces afterwards to see exactly who is roaming the docks.


Dave S.
 
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