* FOUND * Stolen Boat - from Mercia Marina

[Rob-M]

Thank you for your very kind and supportive comments. If any of you are passing a poster or see one, and it is convenient, would you mind removing it, or ask the boatyard, or marina etc.to. We have, with Robert from Mercia, sent the flier to so many that I for one have lost count of who has one and who not, many thanks. Happy cruising everyone! And

We thought about removing the one posted at Fradley Junction today but didn't like to just in case.

 

Glad you have your boat back and will be able to enjoy it again.

Edited August 7, 2016 by Rob-M

[RLWP]

We thought about removing the one posted at Fradley Junction today but didn't like to just in case.

 

Glad you have your boat back and will be able to enjoy it again.

I'm glad you have your boat back and really hope you can enjoy it again

 

Richard

[Bee]

Only if they are half a bee

Oi, steady on.

[mayalld]

Well whats the chances of that happening.!!!

 

We finally get a photo of the missing boat on the cut, and the occupants are actually the owners.

 

And I bet that if you had told Nick and Anne that fact, we would all have said "yeah right, call the police"

 

Glad you have been reunited with your boat, and hope its been looked after to some degree..

 

Whilst I am sure that Chris and Graham are ITCHING to tell the whole story, and probably enormously frustrated not to be able to do so, it would of course be entirely appropriate for us now to engage in idle speculation, particularly as we know nothing!

 

It seems curious that having been missing for two weeks, and pursued for a further week, there were no confirmed sightings of the boat until Thursday.

 

There were many possibles, which given the timings and spread could not all have been the same boat, and a significant number of the sightings could be positively identified as another boat (particularly "The Dog and Duck").

 

We then get two sightings in rapid succession. The second sighting with the owners back on board. We also have a forensic dissection of the photos that satisfies everybody here that this IS the right boat, and all this before we know that it has been recovered.

 

That tells me one thing, namely that the boat simply wasn't out on view for anybody to have seen it until very shortly before the Thursday sighting.

 

Pound to a penny, we are looking at a DIY dry/wet dock along the way here, with the boat already in the dock being worked on when the alarm was raised, and it came off dock on Wednesday evening.

[MtB]

 

Pound to a penny, we are looking at a DIY dry/wet dock along the way here, with the boat already in the dock being worked on when the alarm was raised, and it came off dock on Wednesday evening.

 

 

My thoughts too.

 

Supported by the professional paint job and signwriting that would have been extremely difficult to so so well with the boat afloat and hidden up a back water somewhere. Painting both sides without being noticed is WAY easier in a dock.

[haggis]

 

 

My thoughts too.

 

Supported by the professional paint job and signwriting that would have been extremely difficult to so so well with the boat afloat and hidden up a back water somewhere. Painting both sides without being noticed is WAY easier in a dock.

Streethay (which is in that area) have various covered docks but I am fairly sure they all have to be booked a long time in advance.

 

Haggis

[RLWP]

Streethay (which is in that area) have various covered docks but I am fairly sure they all have to be booked a long time in advance.

 

Haggis

 

So this was planned well in advance, Watson

 

Richard

[steven wilkinson]

Fradley and Bromley Wharf do too - en route to Weston! Barton Turns? I think the cops will have this covered though!

[Guest]

Streethay (which is in that area) have various covered docks but I am fairly sure they all have to be booked a long time in advance.

 

Haggis

Which of course it could have been, in anticipation of the theft.

[haggis]

 

So this was planned well in advance, Watson

 

Richard

LOL, like several months? My dear Holmes.

 

From memory, when we had blacking done, the waiting time was 3 months and when we had substantial paint work done, the time was more like 6 months, I think.

 

haggis

Edited August 7, 2016 by haggis

[RLWP]

LOL, like several months? My dear Holmes.

 

haggis

 

You know my methods. If you'll excuse me, I'm off to play the violin

 

Richard

[Guest]

LOL, like several months? My dear Holmes.

 

From memory, when we had blacking done, the waiting time was 3 months and when we had substantial paint work done, the time was more like 6 months, I think.

 

haggis

I still think it's possible.

[NickAndAnne]

Well whats the chances of that happening.!!!

 

We finally get a photo of the missing boat on the cut, and the occupants are actually the owners.

 

And I bet that if you had told Nick and Anne that fact, we would all have said "yeah right, call the police"

 

Glad you have been reunited with your boat, and hope its been looked after to some degree..

 

Yes, it was a no-win situations!

 

Delighted that the boat is back with its rightful owners, and Junior, I owe you a pint for being the he cause of your late night vigil.

[Jrtm]

 

 

I'd like to mention BillybobBooth in dispatches too. He got up early on Saturday morning and set off in his car to find the boat but eventually turned back when Junior posted to say he'd already been out, if I understand the chronology of things correctly. No-one even said thank you to him, so I'm saying it now.

 

If junior hadent posted i would have carried on as was only 15-20 mins out but stopped at the last services just to check posts other wise would have carried on.

 

I think a big well done needs to go to anyone who got out the door and walked bikes ran ect any section of towpath and even people like me who were keeping a eye out when they were on there boat sat still or while on the move.

 

Its just odd how it was found less than a few days boating away. Means it was hidden or covered up to hide it seams to have only come out once the paint work was done. Had they given it the name of dog and duck to copie till the rest was done i dont think it would be found

[Jrtm]

How long before CRT insist on one of these to be fitted before they issue a CC licence?

Are they going to add a battery / charging system and fully intall it?

I know of several boats that are cc boats including most butties some dont all have motors as well with no electrics or gas.

Dad spent 30 years with no electric or gas.

I only have electric as its in but were removing most of it and the gas is going in a week or 2

[Arthur Brown]

With their available accuracy, I suspect that Trackers may become insurance preferred. It would be highly possible to conceal enough bits in wood or plastic housings (wireless transparent) to make a very good tracking system, AND this could both serve to locate a boat in the instance of a crime (theft etc) or in the event that CaRT want evidence of movement -navigation round the system would be proven by a GPS plot.

 

The only difficulty will be finding enough ways to conceal the electronics in ways that look natural. Here is the problem of hiding radios inside a steel tube.

[zenataomm]

With their available accuracy, I suspect that Trackers may become insurance preferred. It would be highly possible to conceal enough bits in wood or plastic housings (wireless transparent) to make a very good tracking system, AND this could both serve to locate a boat in the instance of a crime (theft etc) or in the event that CaRT want evidence of movement -navigation round the system would be proven by a GPS plot.

 

The only difficulty will be finding enough ways to conceal the electronics in ways that look natural. Here is the problem of hiding radios inside a steel tube.

 

Not to mention the fun you could have by sticking it to a lorry or even a train. CRT would be most impressed at not only the speed of your boat, but where you manage to take it.

[mayalld]

 

So this was planned well in advance, Watson

 

Richard

 

I would say that you are correct.

 

My initial reaction is that the plates were dumped heading north, and that the boat was found 2 days north of where it was stolen, so no subterfuge about the plates, and given the apparent way the boat was stolen using information gained, this could be a planned theft with a dry dock slot ready booked for it, just waiting to get the info on a suitable boat to steal.

 

The immediate thought would be "does Fradley do DIY bookings?". Could it really be that there were posters of the boat yards from where it was being repainted?

 

I would have suggested Fradley, because it is pretty much the only place en-route from Mercia to Weston where this could have been done, but it would have been high risk.

 

Then, as I was typing this, a FAR more likely candidate suddenly reared its head.

 

They didn't need a dry dock. A wet dock would do, or a dry dock that they didn't actually drain, and I know exactly where there is a disused dry dock that is fully enclosed that would serve VERY nicely for this purpose, and it is PERFECTLY placed.

 

Below Hoo Mill Lock, there is a mooring basin on the offside. Many of the pontoons are derelict now, and the basin holds half the boats it may once have held. However, on the towpath side, there was once a small boatyard. The remains of the diesel pumps, long covered by vegetation are evident, and there is what may have been a sani station at one time.

 

 

Crucially there is a dry dock with a roller shutter door and a metal swing bridge carrying the towpath over the entrance. Assuming that the roller shutter can still be operated, a boat could be secreted in there with little fuss late at night, and was probably taken out again on Wednesday evening.

 

 

So, is this where the boat has been?

[AMModels]

With their available accuracy, I suspect that Trackers may become insurance preferred. It would be highly possible to conceal enough bits in wood or plastic housings (wireless transparent) to make a very good tracking system, AND this could both serve to locate a boat in the instance of a crime (theft etc) or in the event that CaRT want evidence of movement -navigation round the system would be proven by a GPS plot.

 

The only difficulty will be finding enough ways to conceal the electronics in ways that look natural. Here is the problem of hiding radios inside a steel tube.

place an aerial on the outside and theres no problem. Easier to hide/disguise an aerial on its own.

[Señor Chris]

place an aerial on the outside and theres no problem. Easier to hide/disguise an aerial on its own.

 

The GPS aerial on my tracker is inside the boat stuck to the underside of the roof. Works perfectly.

[MtB]

 

The GPS aerial on my tracker is inside the boat stuck to the underside of the roof. Works perfectly.

 

 

You have windows as opposed to portholes presumably then?

[Señor Chris]

 

 

You have windows as opposed to portholes presumably then?

 

Portholes at the back where the tracker is but I don't see the significance - GPS signals come from above, not the side.

[MtB]

 

Portholes at the back where the tracker is but I don't see the significance - GPS signals come from above, not the side.

 

 

Are you imagining the GPS signal can pass through 3mm or 4mm thick steel?

 

I suspect not!

[Señor Chris]

 

 

Are you imagining the GPS signal can pass through 3mm or 4mm thick steel?

 

I suspect not!

 

I've no idea really but the antenna is magnetic so is obviously designed to be attached to something metallic.

[Theo]

 

I would say that you are correct.

 

My initial reaction is that the plates were dumped heading north, and that the boat was found 2 days north of where it was stolen, so no subterfuge about the plates, and given the apparent way the boat was stolen using information gained, this could be a planned theft with a dry dock slot ready booked for it, just waiting to get the info on a suitable boat to steal.

 

The immediate thought would be "does Fradley do DIY bookings?". Could it really be that there were posters of the boat yards from where it was being repainted?

 

I would have suggested Fradley, because it is pretty much the only place en-route from Mercia to Weston where this could have been done, but it would have been high risk.

 

Then, as I was typing this, a FAR more likely candidate suddenly reared its head.

 

They didn't need a dry dock. A wet dock would do, or a dry dock that they didn't actually drain, and I know exactly where there is a disused dry dock that is fully enclosed that would serve VERY nicely for this purpose, and it is PERFECTLY placed.

 

Below Hoo Mill Lock, there is a mooring basin on the offside. Many of the pontoons are derelict now, and the basin holds half the boats it may once have held. However, on the towpath side, there was once a small boatyard. The remains of the diesel pumps, long covered by vegetation are evident, and there is what may have been a sani station at one time.

 

 

Crucially there is a dry dock with a roller shutter door and a metal swing bridge carrying the towpath over the entrance. Assuming that the roller shutter can still be operated, a boat could be secreted in there with little fuss late at night, and was probably taken out again on Wednesday evening.

 

 

So, is this where the boat has been?

Would a close inspection show that the bridge had been recently moved or the roller shutter door raised?