Burgled while asleep in Marina de las Palmas, Gran Canaria

[George Ray]

Boat wide open while we slept in "Marina de las Palmas" with lock on the gate at the head of pontoon number 17.

Burgled at night while we slept. LOST... Captains computer on the chart table, captains girlfriend backpack with wallet and credit cards, I lost a canvas tote with my collection of dream gizmos. Stabil/binocs , ITT nite scope , GPSmap76cs and acc , celestial calculator , noise canceling headphones. Valise with clothes had been shuffled though.

Pontoon 17 is sort of on the fringes and not a lot of activity. The head of the pontoon has a locked gate. We were asleep and boat was wide open. The marina staff were very cooperative and a report was filed with the local police. Marina reaction was that this was a rare event.

I leave it the the reader to figure out what precautions should, could be taken. "Be careful out there!"

In the end, many many more nice people than not and it has been well worth it to have the experiences and the nautical education.

[Hwyl]

Those gates seemed like overkill to me, you need a key to get in or out.

Sorry for your loss, Any ideas?

[Vince Brennan]

Sorry for your loss, George. Even sorrier that the experience was ruined by some low-lives.
Any recommendations for precautions other than watch on, watch off?

[ssor]

Good reason to keep a dog. Either a big one that can bite with authority or a yappy little one that runs for cover.

[The Bigfella]

Sorry to hear it George. Karma will catch up with them eventually.

[Gary Bergman]

Bummer...hope they choke on some bad fish.

[Lew Barrett]

Or worse...

Sorry George. Not much one can do against determined thieves. However, we tend to put our valuable stuff away and out of sight, which at least makes them have to hunt for it. I never leave our nav computer out in sight, stow it and the binocs as soon as we get to port in places that we have set aside for such things. Same with money and credit cards. Still, all you can do is curse the bastards; you're in your home and somebody has the stones to board while you're there. Insurance?

[pcford]

Boat wide open while we slept in "Marina de las Palmas" with lock on the gate at the head of pontoon number 17.



Sucks dude. I know it won't make you feel much better but I was ripped off on a subway in Madrid...They created a disturbance then pickpocketed me. All my money and credit cards.

Hope you are able to get underway again. Did you lose passport and credit cards? We were able to get a new passport in a few hours. Very efficient. Got a new credit card (Amex) quickly as well. Don't know if you can do this in the Canaries.

All the best; I know how you feel!

[PatCassidy]

Our boat was burglarized in Gran Canaria in November 2003. The thieves took camera equipment. I think the police were in on it.

We had run from Gibraltar and were just doing an overnight (after a fuel top-off) on our way to Florida. They came through an unlocked door to the wheel house and stole the engineers expensive camera gear that he had left by the door.

He did not realize what happened until we were about five miles out to sea the next morining. We turned around and the captain went to file a police report. There were three other yacht captains there filing similar reports.

The next year we were back in the same port. Prospective agents came by to give us their business cards. I pressed them about boat burglaries. They reluctantly said it happened frequently.

Our agent had never said anything about theft beforehand. I don't trust anyone at the port.

[From Mystic]

Hmmm

Seems to be a Spanish thing. I had my wallet stolen out of my shorts which were in the main salon while I slept in the cabin. Two days later they stole my shoes off the marina wall. This was in Palma Majorca. I also spent a month in Barcalona were purse snatching was an every night occurance. Lock your self in your boat I guess.... FM

[paladin]

I always kept a cheap camera, cheap binoculars, some small cash etc.....and a cheap watch....when in port the night vision/rolex/steiners and nikons went below the cushions on the settees and the junk was put in the appropriate spots and small change and small bills were stuck in pants pockets....lost stuff in the canaries and in the azores, philippines and a couple other places. Never lost a thing in the former Soviet bloc countries.

[SaltyD from BC]

I'm sorry to hear about this George. I'm glad you can keep positive about it all..

Chuck's ideas of leaving crap around for bait got me thinking. Last time we were in Costa Rica I heard about a funny story of the like. A Canadian dude was traveling down there and had done some thinking along these lines...

It appears he was held up in the city and the thief demanded all his cash. He reached deep into his front pocket and produced a small roll of bills. The thief grabbed the money and ran into the shadows. Dude calmly walked away and reported the matter to the police.

Apparantly it took a bit of explaining of what the thief had gotten away with. The police had never heard of "Canadian Tire money" which comes to you as a token from this big chain store up here every time you buy something. The bills are mostly 10 cent tokens up to a buck I think, and only redeamable at Canadian tire. :D The stuff is a standing joke up here - I usually chuck mine in the trash....

[PatCassidy]

About four years ago - A friend of mine was on the west coast of Mexico - somewhere around Maxatlan. Their inflatible dinghy was stolen. It later showed up at the local chandlery for sale. End result - it cost $300 to buy back his own boat.