A scam in Dominica

[Bill O]

[QUOTE=Palarran;3074143]Kind of an apples and oranges comparison with the car. Boats really are pretty hard to steal successfully. /QUOTE]

The comparison is valid. Do you leave your fuel on? Maybe they'd just take it for drunken joy ride then leave your boat adrift or take it somewhere and strip it down. Since I'm not a thief, don't really know what they want to do w/things, just try to make it more difficult for someone w/o a plan coming aboard the boat. I'm sure a professional could take a boat even w/o keys in the ignition.

[Bill O]

Originally Posted by hpeer

A few years ago we were in Green Turtle Key. A charter cat broke the mooring and drifted off. A few dinks went to the rescue but were unable to control it. I jumped aboard, fired up an engine, and brought the boat back to a new mooring.

The family were ashore having diner and had no idea of what transpired until I told them.

Yes, this has happened to friends while in Cabo, they came back to find their boat at the dock and fellow cruisers saved it after breaking loose. They manually lifted the anchor and could control it w/dinks to tow it to the fuel dock. They were having issues w/their windlass and probably didn't put out enough scope for the conditions.

Guess this brings up another point/observation. While locals can be fairly nice, most of the time boats that break loose are saved by fellow cruisers, not locals. The OP said they had been anchored for ~20 hrs and wouldn't be too much time to get to know the locals well enough.

Never read in the description that they lost their anchor. If this were the case, could see the shackle theory (falling off) as real possibility. We seize our shackle w/SS wire and always check to make certain its still in place (before we drop and after retrieval).

[skipgundlach]

Originally Posted by Bill O

Nope, don't leave the windlass powered up all the time, nor do we leave the keys in the ignition. Do other things to "disable" the boat from being motored off if we are not on the boat and try not to make it too easy to steal the boat.
Guess you could also leave the keys in your car, just in case someone needs to use it.

That's why we leave the keys in ours (not in the ignition, but anyone who knows us knows where to find them!)

[Bill O]

Originally Posted by skipgundlach

That's why we leave the keys in ours (not in the ignition, but anyone who knows us knows where to find them!)

So you leave your boat open so anyone can find your keys at the water intake? We lock our boat and the water intake is shut off, so even if the keys were in the ignition, wouldn't want anyone running the motor for too long.

[Stewie12]

Many years ago we were anchored in that area and a sail boat anchored along side us and the crew went ashore for dinner. When they came back the yacht was gone. We put them up for the night and located their yacht by radar the next morning about 12 miles offshore sailing backwards to Venezuela. We took them back to their yacht. That area has a shelf close to the shore to anchor on, but it quickly falls off and goes very deep. Their anchor had simply dragged them into deep water.

[Jackz]

similar thing happened to me in Dominica several years ago, but it was my dinghy that went on walkabout, even though it was pulled completely dry on the beach. I told them I wouldn't pay for it but would pay them to get me ice and take my garbage, which they agreed to and all was well

[contrail]

It's a conundrum! I, personally, saved a cat that was seconds from going on a reef, by speeding over with my dinghy, jumping aboard, and turning on the engines, which had keyless ignitions. I motored away from the reef, and the charterers, who were having dinner ashore, came and put it back on a different mooring from the one they came loose from.


And I have also had a neighboring boat, whose windlass breaker was left on, suddenly have something malfunction that caused the windlass to raise the anchor, on its own. The boat drifted off, only to be snagged by some other friends. When the anchor was jammed, all the way up, I assume the breaker eventually worked, or there might have been a fire. Again, the owners were ashore having a drink.



So that's one boat which was saved by having the engines easily started, and another that was almost lost because the windlass breaker was on. Nothing is easy!

[Bill O]

Originally Posted by Stewie12

Many years ago we were anchored in that area and a sail boat anchored along side us and the crew went ashore for dinner. When they came back the yacht was gone. We put them up for the night and located their yacht by radar the next morning about 12 miles offshore sailing backwards to Venezuela. We took them back to their yacht. That area has a shelf close to the shore to anchor on, but it quickly falls off and goes very deep. Their anchor had simply dragged them into deep water.

Agree there is a steep drop off and it could happen. Obviously one had to have been there to have all the pieces of this story to put it together properly.

[hpeer]

Originally Posted by Bill O

Agree there is a steep drop off and it could happen. Obviously one had to have been there to have all the pieces of this story to put it together properly.

Yup, and I love a good mystery.

[Bill O]

Originally Posted by hpeer

Yup, and I love a good mystery.

My money is on the butler....

[mikedefieslife]

Originally Posted by contrail

It's a conundrum! I, personally, saved a cat that was seconds from going on a reef, by speeding over with my dinghy, jumping aboard, and turning on the engines, which had keyless ignitions. I motored away from the reef, and the charterers, who were having dinner ashore, came and put it back on a different mooring from the one they came loose from.


And I have also had a neighboring boat, whose windlass breaker was left on, suddenly have something malfunction that caused the windlass to raise the anchor, on its own. The boat drifted off, only to be snagged by some other friends. When the anchor was jammed, all the way up, I assume the breaker eventually worked, or there might have been a fire. Again, the owners were ashore having a drink.



So that's one boat which was saved by having the engines easily started, and another that was almost lost because the windlass breaker was on. Nothing is easy!

Don't most boats have the chain attached to a strong point, in addition to having a snubber or bridle? In such an instance it would be impossible for the windlass to pull up the anchor. It would just be pulling the chain between it and the strong point. This would then trip the breaker.

On my boat, I use a bridle on the front cleats, the chain is also wrapped around a Sampson post in case the bridle comes loose, chafes, or otherwise fails.

[hpeer]

My chain goes through a stopper. The chain can be pulled in, but not let out, unless the stopper lever is lifted. That’s our “hard point” behind the snubbed.

[DoratheExplora]

I have a lot of trust in the boat guys in north and south anchorages of Dominica. I was there January 25, 26 and 27th. It is very Deep 25 feet from shore, 100 plus feet where I take a 20 EC mooring. There are a few spots that are in about 60 feet of water, often back-winded by shore breeze.
If you moved a boat would you call the Coast Guard to tell on your self?
Dominica has tried very hard to repair a bad reputation from long ago.

[Paul L]

Twice this last season I heard of boats that drifted off from an anchorage. This is an area that had narrow shelves to anchor on that then go into deep water. In both cases the owners publicly said another cruiser must have tried to anchor too close and tripped their anchor. In one of the cases I know this was not true and I suspect it wasn't true in the other one. The story did make the owners feel better about their seamanship and luck.

[hpeer]

One of the many reasons I use an oversized anchor. But even that is not cool proof.

I drug my 125lb Mantus earlier this year. When I raised the anchor it was fouled in the chain, I had set it at 2,200rpm. Dehaies. My only explanation is that after we set, the wind went light and then reversed, a full 180°. I suspect that in swinging around it managed to encircle the shank with the chain.