My Boat Was Stolen Yesterday!! Caught On Tape

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diesel5599

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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UPDATE: 28 Sept 2010

I just wish to thank everyone on this forum for their support and I hope my experience will serve as a warning to all of you fellow boat owners to at least take some rudimentary precautions when securing your boat. I'll never know if a tongue lock or wheel lock would have made a difference.

I had BoatUS AV coverage for both the boat and trailer which they paid in full yesterday. Yes it did take quite awhile, and I did miss out on most of the boating season, but it is definitely better than the alternative. I have decided I will sit out the rest of this year, and look for a new boat sometime in March or April of next year, it does not make sense to get a new boat and have it sit all winter.

Besides a call to BoatUS management around the 47 day mark to find out what was taking so long, the process was relatively painless. I am just really glad I paid the few extra 100 dollars or so for Agreed Value coverage versus Residual Value coverage, or we might still be haggling over what my boat was worth.

During my wait I have been researching every boat security device imaginable, and I will probably somewhat overkill the security system on my next boat, but at the end of the day, nothing short of good insurance will truly ensure peace of mind.

Even after the settlement I did make a final call to the police to find out if they were making any headway and it sounds like they have pretty much written it off as a lost cause. I even had to call the DMV myself to tell them the tag for the trailer was stolen, that way if the plate got ran someone might get caught.

END UPDATE

My 2006 Century 2400 WA was stolen yesterday in broad daylight from my driveway. The one thing the thieves did not count on was my CCTV cameras that caught the whole thing from 3 different angles. Although the police are actively investigating the theft, and I know it is a really long shot, if anyone happens to see a yellow Century 2400 WA in the Tampa Florida area with a registration number ending in 85RY, I'd really appreciate it if you would contact the authorities immediately.

Below is a link to the video of the boat being stolen. The individuals were driving a Black/Dark colored Ford Excursion with a tan or gray lower fascia. The boat is sitting on a Shorelander trailer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0sungAwdoc

Oh and lessons learned:
Buy a hitch lock, buy a wheel lock, and use both of them at all times. The only good news here is the boat was fully insured and I'd recently removed all of my tackle to thoroughly detail the boat, so nothing irreplaceable was on board.

I also get to find out two things, how good the Tampa police are at recovering a stolen boat, and if its not recovered how good BoatUS insurance really is.
 
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Scottimus

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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May 3, 2010
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Re: My Boat Was Stolen Yesterday!! Caught On Tape

Wow, that really sucks, hope they find it and in good shape!
 

ziggy

Admiral
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Re: My Boat Was Stolen Yesterday!! Caught On Tape

what a bummer man. hope ya get yer boat back and catch the looser thieves...
wow, 3 min. 15sec and it was gone...

very sad...
 

BaylinerCapri1331

Seaman Apprentice
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Re: My Boat Was Stolen Yesterday!! Caught On Tape

If the Tampa police have a good team they should be able to get a licence plate number off that truck. Sucks to see that happen. I am just glad that you got it on camera. They looked like they new you would not be home any time soon. they were not hurrying or anything. just taking their time. I hope that you get it back and it isn't dmged at all. glad you had ins on it too. I am about to get ins on my boat today if I can make it to the Ins co in time. lol at least I keep my boat in the garage.

good luck getting it back.
 

TMoNeE

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Re: My Boat Was Stolen Yesterday!! Caught On Tape

Thats crazy man, that sucks. hope they catch those a-holes
 

Mr_Shamrock

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Re: My Boat Was Stolen Yesterday!! Caught On Tape

Wow, they definitely were not in a hurry, hooked up the lights, took the ladder off, etc with a few cars going by in broad daylight. Incredible!
 

Thad

Lieutenant Junior Grade
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Re: My Boat Was Stolen Yesterday!! Caught On Tape

:eek::eek::eek:

That takes some brass.

I feel bad for you. So bad in fact, I won't even try to cheer you up with a CL joke.:(
 

TMoNeE

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Re: My Boat Was Stolen Yesterday!! Caught On Tape

Wow, they definitely were not in a hurry, hooked up the lights, took the ladder off, etc with a few cars going by in broad daylight. Incredible!

it would look suspicious any other way, it looked like they were totally comfortable, like it was theirs

:mad:
 

Mr_Shamrock

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Re: My Boat Was Stolen Yesterday!! Caught On Tape

it would look suspicious any other way, it looked like they were totally comfortable, like it was theirs

:mad:

I had a similar thing happen with a car trailer at my dad's house (he lives directly across the street) 2 guys pull up in a little Nissan truck that I don't even think would have hauled this trailer. I just so happened to be looking out my office window at about 6:30 in the morning. I grabbed my .45 and ran over there, they just about had it hooked up. Needless to say when they saw me running over there with my gun they hauled butt. I got the tag number but it was a stolen tag. Man I felt myself putting a couple rounds in the tires, but I didn't. I don't think they will be back to this neighborhood. They looked the same way - like they were supposed to be picking it up. CREEPS!
 

BTMCB

Senior Chief Petty Officer
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Re: My Boat Was Stolen Yesterday!! Caught On Tape

Man, that is tough to watch. Really sorry for your loss but good for you with the camera. Hopefully the cops can zoom in somehow and get the vehicle license plate off the truck. Almost looks to me as it was a "planned" and / or "scoped" out job as they did not check for any locks, etc until after they hooked it up when he takes the ladder out. Again, sorry for your loss and good luck in catching those *****hole$. Keep us informed.
 

badbowtie

Chief Petty Officer
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Re: My Boat Was Stolen Yesterday!! Caught On Tape

Keep us updated and hope everything works out for you.
 

QC

Supreme Mariner
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Re: My Boat Was Stolen Yesterday!! Caught On Tape

Good luck with this. Hoping it all works out. IMHO the only thing you may have done wrong is that you should post that there are cameras. May have stopped them before they started.
 

diesel5599

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Re: My Boat Was Stolen Yesterday!! Caught On Tape

Thanks everyone, I am sure it was planned, they came less than 10 min after I left the house. Also I'd seen a vehicle that seemed suspicious watching me wash the boat the previous Thursday.

Boat recovery statistics are not in my favor when it comes to estimating if they will recover the boat, but I guess time will tell. I will definitely keep everyone updated. I even had a tongue lock in my garage but it did not fit the tongue for this trailer. I know what my next investments will be, wheel locks for both wheels and a tongue lock.

It was also obviously planned because they used an Excursion; not really a common vehicle, but definitely big enough to tow the boat. Also the hitch required an oversized ball due to the weight, so they even knew what size ball to bring.
 

diesel5599

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Re: My Boat Was Stolen Yesterday!! Caught On Tape

Good luck with this. Hoping it all works out. IMHO the only thing you may have done wrong is that you should post that there are cameras. May have stopped them before they started.

QC There are two schools of thought regarding cameras;

1) Tell potential thieves to hopefully scare them off
2) Do not tell potential thieves so they are less likely to be more creative; such as wear masks, come at night, not clearly expose themselves, come from a blind angle and cover the camera, etc. Camera's are pretty easily defeated.

I prefer to subscribe to the latter school of thought, and prefer to instead rely on the collected evidence which may prove to be more useful after the fact. Nothing will stop a determined thief, but what they don't know could catch them.

Like LoJack right now would be worth its weight in gold.
 

asm_

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Re: My Boat Was Stolen Yesterday!! Caught On Tape

2) Do not tell potential thieves so they are less likely to be more creative; such as wear masks, come at night, not clearly expose themselves, come from a blind angle and cover the camera, etc. Camera's are pretty easily defeated.

That's why in our installation we always have the highly visible cameras pair with hidden cameras aiming at spot that thieves are likely to hide in the process of trying evade the visible cameras.

Not trying to get political, but IMHO, crime like this should be punishable by death.

B
 

redone4x4

Lieutenant Commander
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Re: My Boat Was Stolen Yesterday!! Caught On Tape

wow. It almost looked like they actually went back to check to see if the lights were working! thats crazy. they must have known your schedule for sure. good luck with the recovery man.
 

Stachi

Lieutenant Commander
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Re: My Boat Was Stolen Yesterday!! Caught On Tape

That really sucks bro... two things I noticed in the video.... one , park the boat closer to the camera next time ,easier to get faces and plate #'s ...two... do you trailer the boat with the engines down?, I hope so . If not your lower units and transom may have taken a beating...
Good luck getting it returned to you...and if you do , make sure you look at your skegs and the transom to see if any damage was done...Thank God it is insured....
 

GeoHawk

Seaman
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Oct 1, 2009
Messages
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Re: My Boat Was Stolen Yesterday!! Caught On Tape

Holy crap, that sucks. That hurt to watch, and it's not even my boat. :mad: Hope you get it back in one piece.
 

soaringhiggy

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jul 1, 2009
Messages
167
Re: My Boat Was Stolen Yesterday!! Caught On Tape

If I was going to steal a boat, which I am not, I would check the lights and take the ladder off as well. The last thing that you want is to draw attention to yourself when pulling a stolen boat.:eek:

Hope you get it back as well!
 
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