Week 26: Dinghy's Day Out !

Have you seen this dinghy ?

Saturday September 27th 2014

I did wonder when I heard Mark running around on deck at 3:00 am, talking to himself on Monday morning, what’s he up to ?? When. I pulled myself out of bed, stepped on to the deck and saw him scanning the dark waters with our spotlight. I could already guess what had happened. 

“Is the dinghy gone?" I asked with a knot in my throat. Yup !

On the ONE night when we did not lock it, and the ONE night when Mark was not sleeping in the cockpit, someone had taken Recess !!!  

Mark explained that he had heard something and looking out the window he could not see the dinghy, he had gone on deck and pulled on the thick yellow painter* (the rope that attaches the dinghy to the boat) he ended up with a blunt end of the rope where it has been cut, probably just minutes before !!!

Mark explained that he had heard something and looking out the window he could not see the dinghy, he had gone on deck and pulled on the thick yellow painter* (the rope that attaches the dinghy to the boat) he ended up with a blunt end of the rope where it has been cut, probably just minutes before !!!

Mark holding the painter where it was cut by the thief

So there we were, sitting on deck in the dark moonless night with our heads in our hands,  thinking “What now !?”  We kept scanning the ink black horizon but nothing was moving. We put a call on the radio to warn our cruising neighbours to lock their dinghies, in case the thieves were after more than one prize that night. Next, we called the Coast Guard/Police and when the second question they asked Mark was: “How old are you?” ( What’s your name?” being the first.) I  started to have doubts about whether these guys, were really going to  be much help to us.

After pondering our new situation, we went back to bed, trying no to worry too much.

The next morning, when  the “daily cruisers’ net” came over the radio, Ch 66, we announced our loss. We also posted a photo of Recess on the Grenada Cruisers FB Page, knowing full well that the most likely scenario was that Recess was already on its way to neighbouring islands such as Trinidad, St Vincent or Carriacou (because that is what everybody told us), they said: “Forget about it, you won't find it, it is long gone” and having heard this before,we believed them. The cruising community gave us great support, offering us rides or their extra dinghy, extra outboard engine and lots of moral support. Luckily, Mark had bought a spare dinghy a month before, so we were not stuck on board without a way to shore !

After school we asked our favourite taxi driver (Phillip aka “Bionic Man” on account of his reconstructed knee), to take us to the police station to file a report. Then we stopped to get a few groceries and took a tour around St Georges Carenage and Fisherman’s wharf to see if we could not spot Recess, just in case. Our dinghy is very bright yellow (not very common as most are grey), and easy to spot at a distance, we had always though this might be a deterrent to thieves.

Louise and Denis, two Canadians with huge hearts

As we were driving back from town, a message came over FB, that the dinghy had been found, without its engine, and that it had been returned to AmelieIV !  WHAT ?!?!  We could hardly believe it !

When we got back to the bay, we found out that it was a couple from Montreal, whom we had never met, that had taken it upon themselves to go look for Recess in the bay where they were anchored ( the bay next to ours). As they scanned the bays’ quiet areas, they spotted something yellow in the mangroves. Upon closer examination, they discovered Recess, upside down in the bushes about 50 feet from the water. They solicited the help of some other fellow cruisers (friends of ours) to retrieve it. Once they got it flipped over, they found that the engine was gone, but the gas tank,one oar, and other belongings were still in it!  (It was thought that the thieves took the outboard off for quick sale and were maybe thinking of coming back later to get the rest!) These wonderful people then towed our dinghy back to us, and waited onboard Amelie for our return !

We were so delighted to have our dinghy back, even without her outboard, it would reduce the replacement cost considerably !  We were so grateful to our new friends Denis and Louise and thanked them as best we could ! There is truly an incredible community of cruisers here in Grenada, all looking after one another ! I told Denis that if ever he should be looking for work, he might want to apply as the Chief of Police in Grenada !!! Needless to say, we have now re-secured our outboard-less Recess with it's heavy chain and lock again, and Mark went back to sleeping in the cockpit, spotlight at the ready! 

That very night, our radio (which we leave on in case of emergency) sprung to life at around 12:30 am, we could hear people talking, calling in a flurry of activity, which, eventually, pulled me from my slumber.  I got up to find out what was going on. Mark, who had been listening from the start, filled me in:  A boat in the next bay had been boarded by an individual!  Unbeknownst to him,  the lady of the boat was in the cockpit reading. She surprised the intruder who then swiftly jumped into the water. Her husband got the spotlight while she hailed everyone over the radio trying to wake as many cruisers as possible. People started to come out to help in their dinghies, by then the individual had swam to a nearby boat where his “partner in crime” had been gesticulating feverishly for him to hurry up!!!  They were held in the spot light and surrounded by the other dinghies until the Coast Guard showed up (in about 10 minutes). The two would-be thieves were taken away in hand cuffs, telling everyone that they had done nothing wrong, that they had  simply been fishing!  The outboard on the intruders boat was a 15HP Yamaha Enduro, like the one we had lost the previous night, but it turns out that it was not ours, but we have been assured that the individuals will be investigated to see if they were connected to our incident. 

It has been 6 days since all this has happened and we are no closer at finding our missing outboard. We hold very little hope to get it back and will be preparing an insurance claim in the next week. It sounds like the process will be a frustrating one, as these things are: Just getting a copy of the police statement (needed for the claim) is going to take 3-6 weeks ! 

I would like to end by saying that despite everything you have read in this blog, we still believe that Grenada is a very safe place to be, the occurrence of boarding and theft are relatively rare. People in Grenada are just as upset as we are to hear that these events are happening on their island by a very small minority of misguided individuals. The boat which was boarded has been vigilant in insuring that due process will be followed for the criminals involved in their case (and perhaps ours), but it has not been easy for them, as there seem to be a few differences between our Canadian criminal investigation and legal system  and the one here In Grenada. We hope that everything gets sorted out for them soon !

We feel that ours is a good story with a happy ending. We will be able to replace the outboard engine, without too much hassle, and we have learned an important lesson about “opportunistic crime”. To never let our guard down, to never leave our dinghy or other valuables unlocked, no matter how safe and “at home” we feel ! 

What else have we been doing this week ?

Last Saturday morning, Meg and MC happily joined a group of cruisers who volunteer  at “Mt Airy  Young Readers Program”. A program which promotes reading skills in Grenadian elementary students. At a friend of mine’s suggestions, I brought Chloe (the puppet) along with me, for the kids enjoyment. As always she was a real kid-magnet ( I wish I knew her secret!), and a big hit with adults and students alike ! Chloe’s Big debut led to us being invited to perform our play “Oh ! Canada!”, for the young cruisers book club which happens every Friday. It was also Meg’s debut of the play in front of a live audience and she did exceptionally well, and was duly praised by the audience after the performance !  We will be moving to our new location to start the deck work early next week. (St George in the lagoon). It is going to be an intensive three weeks, but we will seek to make the best of it....there are still many stimulating things to learn about here in Grenada, and the capital  is a great place to start the discovery process from.

We will let you know what we discover.

Our puppet presentation at the Mt Airy Young Readers Program

Our puppets were very well received 

Meg did a great job playing Chloe the puppet

P.S. THANK YOU for all the words of encouragement that you sent us after last week's post. It helped us more than you can imagine ! You really are a great bunch !