Hi David,
Just wanted to email you guys to let you know that I
too was robbed while anchored in Utila in January. Word got
around pretty fast, that my boat, Andiamo, was
robbed, as I was probably the second boat of the 2006 season to have it happen.
I was robbed of 2 laptop computers, a camcorder, and
some small stuff like all my pocket knives, and interestingly, a hammer that I
had left in the cockpit after cleaning. I had used it while underneath my boat
to reinstall a zinc. Ironically, it appears that they
used the hammer to bash in my companionway hatch.
My boat was ransacked to the point of insanity. They
opened my fridge, and emptied every ziploc. They went
through my salon cabinets, and ripped open board games, books, magazines, and
other stuff. Barring a few Quetzales and lempiras on my nav station, I
didn't have any cash onboard, and while that's clearly what they weren't
looking for, there was none to take. And if I had any cash onboard, they didn't
even look where I usually stash it anyway.
The night it happened, I was ashore with some fellow
boaters, and a few local friends. We spent most of the evening at Tranquila, and my boat was right off the dock, so it was
easy for me to keep an eye on it. I would go and visually check the boat from
the dock every 20 or so minutes. I had all the lights off below, so it would
have been easy for me to see if anything was going on.
It wasn't until we all left Tranquila
and went up the hill to another place called "Bar in the Bush" that I
was actually robbed. This leads me to believe two things: 1. I was being
watched while I was at Tranquila by a tail. Only when
I left the visibility of the boat, were the thieves actually given the
"green light" by the lookout. 2. These guys had cased out my boat for
at least 1-2 days before I was robbed, and knew my "pattern" if there
was such a thing. They apparently have a system down pat, and it works for
them. The reason they are so brazen, is because they know that the chances are
very small that they will get caught.
I also heard from one my neighbors in the anchorage
that she saw a small skiff rowing conspicuously by my boat around dusk. But she
didn't think anything more about it, because they kept going even though they
were only about 3-4 meters from my boat as they rowed by it. It's clear to me
that these were the thieves, and they were more than likely plotting their
entry into the boat during that little drive-by.
After the robbery, I tried to get a police report made
up, because I was insured to some extent for personal property losses. I made
three trips up to the police station, and each time there was no officer there.
After the third try I just gave up and let my insurance company know that I
couldn't get an official police report. I went to the mayor's office, and they
said there was nothing they can do because the police were federal.
Since the incident, I've been to Utila
at least four times for multi-day stays. I'm not going to let a few boneheaded
thieves keep me from going to where I want to go. I do not lock my boat, and I
simply hide anything I want to keep (VERY well) before leaving the boat. I
figure that the chances of them finding my stuff is much lower. There are a
million places on a boat that you can stash valuables that these guys hadn't
thought of. Use them.
There is no point in locking your boat. If they want
in, they will bash in a hatch and get in, and then you have to contend with the
damage. Too me, it's not worth it. It took me three days' of work to get my companionway
hatch fixed to some functional extent. IMO, it's better to leave the boat open
and let the idiots ransack it for stuff that if you hide well enough they will
not find in their allotted time. I also leave out a couple of
"decoys", such as a small amount of cash, and an old camera or GPS,
so they take that and feel that the effort was worthwhile, and they at least
got away with something.
Just my thoughts on what happened to me, and hope some
other cruisers get something out of it. Personally, I think that the only way
to stop these thieves is with a clever sting operation that utilizes the
cooperation and coordination of all the cruisers in the anchorage. The
municipality and the police will not do anything to prevent these thefts, at
least not until it's too late.
All the best,
Tony Santos
SV Andiamo
50' Beneteau Oceanis
Currently sailing the
theandiamo.com
tony@theandiamo.com