Thieves Amogst Us?

[caspar]

I disturbed a couple of young local scrotes at 12.30am one night when moored close to Fazeley Junction, apparently they were in the process of setting me adrift. On closer inspection though it looked more like they were trying to pinch the rope as they had removed it entirely from the dolly, it was fairly new and of good quality As I started to re-moor the boat, out of the shadows walking along the towpath came the boater moored a few boat lengths behind me, who had given the appearance of being a bit of a fixture on the mooring...I just got the feeling the scrotes could have been stealing to oreder for this boater, on the other hand of course I may be doing this chap an enormous disservice and he was just out for a late night walk.

 

Has anyone had any problems with thieving fellow boaters?

[Night Hawk]

I disturbed a couple of young local scrotes at 12.30am one night when moored close to Fazeley Junction, apparently they were in the process of setting me adrift. On closer inspection though it looked more like they were trying to pinch the rope as they had removed it entirely from the dolly, it was fairly new and of good quality As I started to re-moor the boat, out of the shadows walking along the towpath came the boater moored a few boat lengths behind me, who had given the appearance of being a bit of a fixture on the mooring...I just got the feeling the scrotes could have been stealing to oreder for this boater, on the other hand of course I may be doing this chap an enormous disservice and he was just out for a late night walk.

 

Has anyone had any problems with thieving fellow boaters?

 

 

Yup...my mum has a 30 footer on the L&L moored by the Slipway around Burscough...I bought here 4 fabulously purple fenders with mathing purple lanyards to hang off her purple gunwhales...Not long after this birthday present was installed, they vanished...only to be discovered tied to a visiting boat a little further down the cut...There are other purple fenders out there...but not many with a birthday greeting written on each one in Tipex! Police weren't interested....Fenders had dissapeared by the time I'd got wind of the theft!

 

People in boats can be scrotes as well!

[n.b.Goldie]

Yes, some 'boaters' are thieves. I will not mention names but when a certain boat arrives in our area 'stuff goes missing', ropes, fenders, mushrooms, poles and planks, anything not nailed or welded down!

[Biggles]

Yes, some 'boaters' are thieves. I will not mention names but when a certain boat arrives in our area 'stuff goes missing', ropes, fenders, mushrooms, poles and planks, anything not nailed or welded down!

 

 

So if you know who's doing what why the hell are you letting them get away with it?

 

Biggles

[MarkAdrian]

Fazeley? Wonder if it was the same lot that broke in to the Rugeley boats?

[daz1400]

hi i was up on the high peak last year and had to leave the boat for a couple of weeks [amongst other boats]got back andthe boat totally cleared out from stove too shower,pumps cooker most no good unless your afloat . people thought it was something to do with me clearing the boat out now i keep my mouth shut about

[cotswoldsman]

I did mention on here earlier in the year that I had about 150 liters of diesel stolen from my boat and as I normally only moor in the middle of nowhere it could only have been stolen by another boater, as someone taking the trouble to walk miles down the towpath with a load of jerry cans seems unlikely......

[Dovetail]

hi i was up on the high peak last year and had to leave the boat for a couple of weeks [amongst other boats]got back andthe boat totally cleared out from stove too shower,pumps cooker most no good unless your afloat . people thought it was something to do with me clearing the boat out now i keep my mouth shut about

 

O my god what a nightmar. I have had a bit of theft but that is bad news and expensive no doubt.

[Evo]

There are thieves everywhere..all around you.

 

Talking to Dreadlocks (the fuel/coal guy - Ghosty hill) he was saying he'd had about £1000 worth of stock stolen from his boat over rhe last few years, most of it from the canalside, not the towpath side, so it had to be someone on a boat.

A mate of mine had 3 fishing rods nicked off his roof in a Llangollen marina last year.

 

In most cases its not kids, its the guy walking his dog early in the morming, or the innocent boater you just waved at.

[Daftmare]

Bang goes my notion of a better community spirit on the waterways.

 

C'est la Vie!

 

Jo.

[gaggle]

Bang goes my notion of a better community spirit on the waterways.

 

C'est la Vie!

 

Jo.

On different occasions fishing rods and assorted other stuff taken while i was aboard during the night ,another time me not present bag of coal went , but i left the stuff out and put the temptation there no cant complain really.

[magpie patrick]

Someone with a suitable car and trailer could pinch my entire boat! (Juno, the new one). A sobering thought that means my ideas like keeping her on the Grand Western Canal will be revisited...

[Athy]

Is Gosty Hill still trading? We noticed her tied up and apparently unattended at a place called Active Wharf on the Oxford as we went northwards, and she was still there when we came back nearly a week later.

[carlt]

Bang goes my notion of a better community spirit on the waterways.

I don't think it's fair to condemn victims of crime, for their unwillingness to share.

[blackrose]

Bang goes my notion of a better community spirit on the waterways.

 

C'est la Vie!

 

Jo.

 

Is anyone honestly surprised that some boaters steal from others? If so, then I can't help feeling they're a bit naïve.

 

There are parasites in all walks of life and boating is no exception.

 

When I lived in Japan an American friend of mine said to me "British people steal don't they?" and I of course asked "Don't some Americans steal too?" He replied "Yes, but British people think it's ok to steal."

 

I couldn't help thinking that his comment had at least a grain of truth in it. When I returned from Japan in 1998 I remember watching a late night chat show on TV in which one of the guests was a middle-aged woman who had been banned from M&S for life as she'd been caught on many occasions stealing from various branches. The audience gave her a big round of applause and she was hailed as some sort of rebel hero! I was quite shocked.

Edited September 1, 2010 by blackrose

[Leonie]

Yes, some boaters are theives. I'm not sure why this should shock people though as there are good and bad in all walks of life. I've personally had several bags of coal go missing and I'm pretty sure I know the direction they went in. I've also been moored near some lovely folk who had their ropes pinched (obviously by another boater who promptly disappeared from the area).

 

Keep your eyes and ears open and your belongings protected as best you can without becoming too paranoid.

 

Regarding the original post. It could have been that the boater you suspect of having requseted the Faganesque gang to steal your rope for him was maybe coming to check on the disturbance of the youths at your boat and possibly doing you a favour.

[Nightwatch]

Hi Athy (Mike)

 

Gosty Hill is trading still. He does seen to moor up for a few weeks now and again. We had some fuel off him in July,I think, and nice chap and lassie they are.

 

We have yet to meet properly.

 

Martyn

[NB Alnwick]

I am a bit peeved - I had been sitting on the bank (at Beale Park) splicing my new ropes - took the ropes aboard and came back to find that someone had walked off with my Pliers, Fid and role of tape! Fortunately they didn't take my chair . . .

 

Nice boaters at the IWA Festival!!!

[luctor et emergo]

I don't really know why some seem to have the notion that boaters are exempt from thieving. Whilst the vast majority of boaters are friendly and no doubt honest, as in all walks, there will be a percentage who are not. Leaving anything open on display will inevitably tempt somebody to help themselves. I often wondered why people leave easy to take valuables, like coal, on the roof.

 

For me, I will keep the old, manky ropes (appearance wise that is, they are in sound working order) that I have now, rather than spending a lot of money on new, fancy ropes. Likewise the fenders, which are cheap off-cuts of industrial hose, with a bit of manky rope through them. Woven rope fenders may look good, but they are expensive.. I don't leave things like the boat pole, or water cans outside when I'm not on the boat.

[magpie patrick]

I don't really know why some seem to have the notion that boaters are exempt from thieving. Whilst the vast majority of boaters are friendly and no doubt honest, as in all walks, there will be a percentage who are not. Leaving anything open on display will inevitably tempt somebody to help themselves. I often wondered why people leave easy to take valuables, like coal, on the roof.

 

For me, I will keep the old, manky ropes (appearance wise that is, they are in sound working order) that I have now, rather than spending a lot of money on new, fancy ropes. Likewise the fenders, which are cheap off-cuts of industrial hose, with a bit of manky rope through them. Woven rope fenders may look good, but they are expensive.. I don't leave things like the boat pole, or water cans outside when I'm not on the boat.

 

you mean that "thing" I kept restraining your boat with was a rope?

[n.b.Goldie]

So if you know who's doing what why the hell are you letting them get away with it?

 

Biggles

 

 

Knowing and proving are two very different things and I am not about to take the law into my own hands.

[Farey]

I noticed that my license had disappeared from one side of my boat yesterday. At first I was confused as to how it could have happened, but then realized that if you left the top vent of the window open, it was possible to slide up the glass sufficiently to get a hand in and remove the license from its plastic holder. I presume it was so someone could put in on an unlicensed boat, so that without close inspection they would appear to have a valid license. Not sure where it happened - possibly Braunston.

[luctor et emergo]

you mean that "thing" I kept restraining your boat with was a rope?

 

Now Patrick, there is no need for that...

 

 

 

**goes off to ready his yoghert pot insults**

 

[matty40s]

I noticed that my license had disappeared from one side of my boat yesterday. At first I was confused as to how it could have happened, but then realized that if you left the top vent of the window open, it was possible to slide up the glass sufficiently to get a hand in and remove the license from its plastic holder. I presume it was so someone could put in on an unlicensed boat, so that without close inspection they would appear to have a valid license. Not sure where it happened - possibly Braunston.

 

 

I only ever have one of my licences displayed for this reason, I had both nicked once, and no-one would believe that I was licenced. So every time I moor up, I make sure it's towpath side, and the spare stays somewhere else.

[Athy]

Stick 'em inside your portholes - no such problem!