La Conner Area Marina Theft Alert

[fractalphreak]

For those in the La Conner (or Anacortes area I would think):

Yesterday afternoon Shelter Bay Marina sent out the following notice to marina tenants:

"Shelter Bay Marina Tenants,
We are aware of the theft of two kicker motors off of the docks in the last three days. One was stolen off of C Dock between April 14th- April 25th and the other from H Dock at approximately 5:17am on April 26th. Evidence related to the crimes have been provided to the Swinomish Police and they are working with Shelter Bay to try to identify the perpetrators. All Marina tenants on these docks should check their boats to make sure that they are secure. Please contact the police if your property has been disturbed or you have any information related to these incident by calling 911.And if you see anything that doesn't seem right...it probably isn't. Call 911.We will update you with more information when available."

Knowing that exact time they probably have some video of vehicles and maybe people, so here's hoping Swinomish PD catches them!

I realize we are probably all aware of this type of theft and ways to prevent it, but wanted to share the alert with those in the nearby area who may not be aware of some recent activity.

Heading out to the boat today - I had brought the locking bracket for our dink outboard home to refinish, thus leaving my outboard unsecured. Fingers crossed!

[South of Heaven]

Ughh....That totally blows. Here is what is happening in my neck of the woods. The location is just north of Boston. Its nothing new around here, especially with the Massachusetts opioid crisis.

https://www.newburyportnews.com/news...yFu0gGr2iJSj2Q

[sean9c]

This was in the newspaper this week. I'm thinking it's all related. Boats in an ungated marina have to be a tempting target.
https://www.goskagit.com/anacortes/p...e62f5ef20.html

[palasz]

Those gates on the gangways to the boats are locked and for tenants only....I thought...

[BandB]

Unfortunately all too common and it's nothing new. It happened on the lake I grew up on when I was a child. When the marinas thought their gates would stop it, they found out it was happening by water. The other thing they sometimes discover is it's other tenants.

Marinas should have gates and they should have cameras but they really need an overnight security guard patrolling the docks and grounds. We do spend a lot of time at marinas and we have a lot of security cameras but some of the things we've observed have completely shocked dockmasters when we've shared. Everything from 3 year olds wandering around the docks alone with their parents not even knowing they'd left the boat to a prized dock hand coming by boat at night and boarding boats by their swim steps and stealing. When the police arrived we shined our spot light on him for them. It takes a human being, whether actively there or sitting somewhere watching many cameras.

[fractalphreak]

Originally Posted by palasz

Those gates on the gangways to the boats are locked and for tenants only....I thought...

At the Port marina. In shelter bay no gates, no locks, no cameras. It is a private community, and cameras at the single vehicle entrance, but anyone can conceivably drive in and down to the marina lot.

A calculated risk to put our boat there; PoS and Anacortes Marina both have access controlled docks, but both about $90-100 more per month for the size slip we need.

Still, especially this time of year with the weather better and more people getting boat projects done, some extra awareness and vigilance doesn't hurt. Many times the only crooks that get caught are the ones we see and call the cops about.

[Maerin]

East Coast, so pretty far away, but still applies. My boat was broken into, they came from the water, threw the dinghy (10'-6 Caribe with a 15 HP motor) off the boat deck and used it to cart away all the stuff they ripped out. Broke doors, broke an RL80-C and RN300 (both of little value even then in 2014!) out of the dash, lots of cosmetic damage, costly to repair. They neglected to put the plug in the dinghy, and it swamped with all the stuff in it about 200 yds away from the marina near shore. They had it chained and securely locked to a neighbor's dock intending to retrieve it later. Now these were some dumbass crooks. Boat neighbor was asleep through it all not 30 ft away. He's hearing impaired (really) never heard a thing. They came by water. Cops found the stuff during a domestic call a couple weeks later, I got it all back, but worthless. Ended up with a $27K claim because some druggies thought old Raymarine gear would be worth a lot of money. Crooks were caught, indicted, convicted. Claim was a fight every step. Break in was in March, claim paid in September, non-renew notice 2 weeks after the check was received. Nice. May be why Falvey is no longer in the marine business.


Thefts are really upsetting, lots of aggravation and a real pain to return whole. I agree, a live person with a bright light is probably the best deterrent. Like shining a flashlight on cockroaches, they scatter. Personally, I'd neuter.