Sailboat in the surf near San Francisco

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by Deepdraft

The news showed the owner driving up and getting out of a Prius when the boat was still on the beach, so you never know!

Owner is John Fruth. Pretty sure he can afford any car he wants:

John Fruth: Executive Profile & Biography - Businessweek.

[nimblemotors]

First when I saw that one of the three was a woman, it got me thinking this might not just be homeless people being stupid, but someone lying to impress and it got out of hand. And being so easy to steal, this guy might have worked on this boat or known others who have, or in some way was familiar with it, hence helping his lying about owning it, maybe pictures of him aboard, etc. So what seemed like drunken idiots has a more complicated plot, he might have even thought he could bring it back without being caught the next day, and heck maybe could have if more careful.

JackB

Originally Posted by Bash

Actually, there was a good lesson there that has been noted throughout the marina. There was a key hidden in the bimini that these folks used to gain access. Most of the boats in our marina had such hidden keys, and most of the boat workers knew where they are. Not too hard to find, really.

Most of those keys have vanished in the past week, including mine. I was just talking to the person who did my interior varnish last month, and it's making life difficult for those who maintain boats. But, when an Oyster 82 is that easy to steal, we should all take note.

Please note that yours truly has never attended a Grateful Dead concert, has never owned a porche, and doesn't leave the key in the ignition.

[The Garbone]

Originally Posted by highseas

Does an anchor alarm track boats position?I don't use an Iphone.

I have "boat mon" app for my iPhone and it will text you if your boat moves over X feet. You set X according to your scope etc. I have it on my iPod and it will send me a text via the marina wifi if the boat moves 20feet. Not that a Catalina 27 is high on the stealing list, but then again a Honda Accord is.....

[Exile]

Originally Posted by The Garbone

I have "boat mon" app for my iPhone and it will text you if your boat moves over X feet. You set X according to your scope etc. I have it on my iPod and it will send me a text via the marina wifi if the boat moves 20feet. Not that a Catalina 27 is high on the stealing list, but then again a Honda Accord is.....

This looks like it has good potential. Only found one review from 2011 that's completely negative, however. Does the remote monitoring really work? Do you need to keep a computer/iPad/iPhone onboard & actively connected to the internet the entire time?

[The Garbone]

To be honest it worked when I set it up and tested about a month ago, have not tested it since. I bought an Iphone 3 from a coworker for $50 just to leave on the boat run the app. Turned of cellular and use it as an Ipod touch. It is in a waterproof Magellan GPS case for better resolution and battery life but keep it plugged into the boat so it never runs down.

I will try to test it this weekend and see if it is still on the marina WIFI as they change the password from time to time. If I was not so cheap I would have a hot spot or buy one an Ipad with G3 just for the boat.

I also have it on my Iphone 4 and that does work the app well, I just do not want to leave it on the boat.

[highseas]

Originally Posted by The Garbone

I have "boat mon" app for my iPhone and it will text you if your boat moves over X feet. You set X according to your scope etc. I have it on my iPod and it will send me a text via the marina wifi if the boat moves 20feet. Not that a Catalina 27 is high on the stealing list, but then again a Honda Accord is.....

So it tells you it moved ,but does it tell you where it is?

[s/v Jedi]

Guys, enable iCloud and check the Where's My iPhone app which comes standard with iOS. It tells you where it is, you can have it make sound, you can even zap it clean in case it was stolen.

cheers,
Nick.

[Cpt Pat]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

Guys, enable iCloud and check the Where's My iPhone app which comes standard with iOS. It tells you where it is, you can have it make sound, you can even zap it clean in case it was stolen.

cheers,
Nick.

Do you leave your iPhone on the boat just so you can track the boat? Not very practical unless you're a Liveaboard. And the SPOT automatically stops beaconing after 24 hours.

What happens when you iPhone goes out of range of cell towers?

The cost of AIS Class B transponders is falling, and either AIS or APRS (if you're a Ham) seems to be the best way to determine "where's my boat". Plus, both AIS tracking and APRS tracking services are free. The data is received by volunteers (I'm one that covers traffic around Half Moon Bay) and then uploaded via the Internet to services like marinetraffic.com. If your boat is within receiving distance of a volunteer station, it'll appear on the service -- and the CG will see your boat's AIS data regardless utilizing their own systems. You might have a hard time getting the CG to look at the data if it's anything but AIS. I don't like thinking how the CG would respond to your call if you said you were tracking your stolen boat with your iPhone. They'd probably tell you to come to their office to show them. If it's sending AIS data, on the other hand, all you'd have to tell them is the MMSI number, and they'll have it on their screen in seconds. The CG has extensive infrastructure for tracking AIS.

As long as the culprits don't take your boat far offshore, you can track it with either service (or get a few APRS position reports from offshore each day via the APRS repeater on the International Space Station that will then get posted to aprs.fi).

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by Cpt Pat

Do you leave your iPhone on the boat? Not very practical unless you're a Liveaboard. And the SPOT automatically stops beaconing after 24 hours.

The cost of AIS Class B transponders is falling, and either AIS or APRS (if you're a Ham) seems to be the best way to determine "where's my boat". Plus, both AIS tracking and APRS tracking services are free. The data is received by volunteers (I'm one that covers traffic around Half Moon Bay) and then uploaded via the Internet to services like marinetraffic.com. If your boat is within receiving distance of a volunteer station, it'll appear on the service -- and the CG will see it regardless utilizing their own systems. You might have a hard time getting the CG to look at the data if it's anything but AIS.

As long as the culprits don't take your boat far offshore, you can track it with either service (or get a few APRS position reports from offshore each day via the APRS repeater on the International Space Station that will get posted to aprs.fi).

Yes, I'm on AIS and on APRS. We need a volunteer for marinetraffic.com here in Panama...

[ArtM]

Originally Posted by highseas

So it tells you it moved ,but does it tell you where it is?

It tells you that it's still within range of the WiFi point. He turned off the cellular, so it's only useful within that marina

[tbodine88]

Saw this on Facebook, posted by Cruising world

Alleged sailboat thief faces mental competency examination | www.ktvu.com

[SaltyMonkey]

@tbodine88 thanks for the post

[sparau]

Originally Posted by tbodine88

sailboat thief faces mental competency examination

ha ha, so you've gotten control of a $3m oyster, provision it with 2 pizzas some beer and then run it aground... what could go wrong with that plan ?

there's a mushy line between competent malicious idiot and mentally retarded, personally if you're saying you are competent enough to live in the world free then cop consequences.

[ArtM]

Originally Posted by Cpt Pat

As long as the culprits don't take your boat far offshore, you can track it with either service (or get a few APRS position reports from offshore each day via the APRS repeater on the International Space Station that will then get posted to aprs.fi).

That would have been perfect in this case. The boat wasn't far offshore at all.