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Boat Burgled T&M Br 55


Craig Shelley

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On Monday morning (4th Nov), my father was approaching bridge 55 on the Trent and Mersey, and was told by walkers on the tow path to be careful as another narrowboat had come adrift near the bridge.

CRT staff boarded the boat as he was passing it, and were securing it to the bank.

Unusually, the front doors on the boat were open and there was no front mooring line.

 

Today while we were out walking (different location) my father recognised the same boat and ended up chatting to the owner. It turns out it had been broken into, and ransacked. Among other things, domestic & starter batteries, tiller, windlasses, and mooring lines had been stolen. The owner had left boat quite substantially and visibly secured, and would have required a determined effort to break in.

 

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3 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

You are presuming the perpetrators came by road...

Well if the bandits made their escape along the towpath with a load of lead acid batteries I reckon they deserve to get away with it... 

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6 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

or just load them into their boat.

Amazing that some folks just cannot 'read between the lines';

 

14 hours ago, Craig Shelley said:

Among other things, domestic & starter batteries, tiller, windlasses, and mooring lines had been stolen

 

It would not be an unreasonable bet that a boater was somewhere in the 'loop'.

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In all large groups there are certain to be dishonest people.

Sounds like the thieves knew what they wanted and in the process of a refurbishment of their own boat which they have possibly not long since ‘acquired (or stolen) .

Next they may  be wanting some diesel ?

Unless that was also taken  from the burgled boat

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1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Amazing that some folks just cannot 'read between the lines';

 

 

It would not be an unreasonable bet that a boater was somewhere in the 'loop'.

 

Yes because a narrowboat is just the vehicle for a quick getaway isn't it.

 

I suspect the pilfered items are a very long way from the burgled boat by now.

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1 minute ago, Neil2 said:

 

Yes because a narrowboat is just the vehicle for a quick getaway isn't it.

 

I suspect the pilfered items are a very long way from the burgled boat by now.

It’s called “hiding in plain sight”! Moor you boat next to the target, wait a couple of days to see the boater’s behaviour. When the coast is clear/dead of night ransack the boat and transfer everything to your boat, untie and pull boat 100yds down cut just so as it’s not too obvious. Next morning, set off at 8am just like everyone else does (those that can’t sleep, I mean!) and disappear into a morass of other boats. The fuzz are unlikely to search every boat within 100 miles. In fact they are unlikely to turn up at all, which the crims well know.

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3 minutes ago, doratheexplorer said:

my money would be on another boater.  Perfect way to scope out a job.  I doubt used leisure batteries and windlasses are high on the list of most thieves.

Same, someone nicked leisure batteries off a boat near me last year, it's likely a boater and in fact the local jungle drums are fairly confident about who it is

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2 minutes ago, tree monkey said:

Same, someone nicked leisure batteries off a boat near me last year, it's likely a boater and in fact the local jungle drums are fairly confident about who it is

There is a new prison sentence for stealing Lithium iron batteries.....LiFe.

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3 hours ago, tree monkey said:

Same, someone nicked leisure batteries off a boat near me last year, it's likely a boater and in fact the local jungle drums are fairly confident about who it is

I had mine nicked two years ago in Open country miles from a road and fairly sure they took them by boat too. 

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3 hours ago, Arthur Marshall said:

There was a local guy near one of my old moorings known to rob boats, lived on a cruiser. Shortly after all our gennies got nicked someone set fire to his boat one night while he was asleep. He got out but the boat, luckily, was a write-off. 

pity that he never went up with it

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20 hours ago, Craig Shelley said:

Among other things, domestic & starter batteries, tiller, windlasses, and mooring lines had been stolen.

Surprised the gas cylinders weren’t taken too.  A few years ago, when involved with Scouting, we were forced (rightly) to store all of our LPG bottles outside of the wooden Scout hut.  So we fabricated a cage as out of sight of passers by as we could.  Over the next year, we lost all of them, about 20 bottles of various sizes, three times.  At which point the insurers, yep the same ones that forced us to take them outside, refused to cover the loss anymore.

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The area by this bridge is very popular with continuous cruisers of the variety who stay in the area by 'bridge hopping' every 14 days. I haven't got a problem with them being mainly old and tatty boats because they add to the eclectic mix of craft we have on the system, but the amount litter and boat related junk they leave on the towpath and in the adjacent ditch is massive, as well as in the lane. Kings Bromley Marina moorers have 'adopted' this stretch and regularly do clean ups there but in no time it gets as bad as ever.

 

Now I'm not saying it is one of these who have burgled that boat, and I'm loathe to generalise or be stereotypical, but it could well have been one of them.

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