Caribbean Safety and Security Net
Know Before You Go
Part of the Leeward Islands
DATE: 2016-01-17 16:30
Country Name: St. Martin (French)
Location Detail: Marigot Bay
EVENT: Theft
Stolen Items: 11.6 inflatable AB dinghy with 15hp outboard
SECURED: Locked
DETAILS: A locked/chained (3/16 SS) 11.6 AB dinghy stolen from the Marigot SXM(FR) town dock between the hours of 4pm and 6pm , broad daylight, Sunday afternoon. Reported to the Police.
DATE: 2106-01-18 15:30
Country Name: St. Martin (French)
Location Detail: Marigot Bay
EVENT: Robbery
Stolen Items: Electronics
SECURED: Unknown
DETAILS: It was reported by the victims on the local St. Martin VHF net, that at approximately 3:30 am (local) Monday, while they were anchored near the bridge in Marigot Bay, French St. Martin, they were boarded and robbed by 3 men with French accents who arrived in a hard dinghy with an outboard that had no cowling/cover. They were threatened and robbed of electronics. It is not known at this time if their boat was locked, what if any weapons the men had, if there were any injuries , damage to the yacht, or if a report has been made to the local police. CSSN will update this report when we receive additional information.
DATE: 2015-12-09 02:25
Country Name: St. Martin (French)
Location Detail: Lagoon
EVENT: Theft
Stolen Items: 13ft Boston Whaler taken from mooring and outboard stolen
SECURED: Locked
DETAILS: At 2.25am a team of determined thieves stole our Boston Whaler from Nettle Bay, French St. Martin. They had to cut through stainless steel chains and locks securing the boat to two sand screws. We know the whaler was towed out into Marigot Bay to a position approx 18.05N 63.09W, where we surmise the thieves then cut the two stainless steel chains and three heavy stainless steel locks securing the 15hp Yamaha outboard and probably loaded it onto a ship or boat. They then towed the whaler back into Simpson Bay and at approx 3.30am tied it to the stern of a rusted-out fire boat to the north of the Witches Tit. Why they towed the boat back into the Lagoon is a mystery.
While reporting this to the Brigade Nautique, someone else was reporting the theft of their 10ft aluminium hulled RIB and 20HP engine. The owner said his dinghy was locked to his yacht with two stainless steel cables, both of which were cut. The incident happened at the same time as our whaler was stolen and in the same area of Marigot Bay where our whaler had it’s outboard removed before being towed back into the Lagoon.
I know the positions and times because the whaler is fitted with a tracker. We lost a whaler in similar circumstances just over a year ago, I use the whaler for my business, hence the tracker. Unfortunately, there was no tracker on the engine. We thought we had done enough to secure the boat. We were wrong. Those who took it were tooled up, not much chance it was casual thieves or kids.
CSSN NOTE: In this case, it is not practical to lift a 13 ft Whaler each night. However, when it is possible, lifting and locking your dinghy and motor to the yacht with stainless steel chain and a quality lock is usually good protection/prevention against theft. In some areas thieves have upped their game using more effective tools. An alarm may help foil an act and of course trackers help find an item after its gone. SXM remains a particularly problematic area, and thefts are under-reported. Please keep the cruising community informed. Our online incident reporting form makes it easy.
DATE: 2015-05-04 13:00
Country Name: St. Martin (French)
Location Detail: Marina Royale
EVENT: Theft
Stolen Items: dinghy and outboard
SECURED: Not Locked
DETAILS: Unlocked dinghy with outboard was stolen from Port Royale marina dock, around 1PM. A video of the theft (and the 2 thieves) was posted on SXM Facebook and widely viewed , however the dinghy was not recovered – no further details available, incident may not have been reported to authorities.
DATE: 2015-03-24 03:01
Country Name: St. Martin (French)
Location Detail: Lagoon
EVENT: Theft
Stolen Items: Dinghy
SECURED: Unknown
DETAILS: Dinghy stolen overnight was found with another stolen dinghy, see prior report Details about this dinghy unknown, (not know if locked or if police report was made) but was returned to the owner.