Old Harbor Dinghy Theft

The owners of the vessel Oblivion — names, vessel type and hailing port unknown — reported to the Mazatlan net on January 12 that their dinghy had been stolen from them "at knifepoint" by two thieves.

 

Three important facts: 

 

1) The Old Harbor is at the extreme south end of town, about seven miles from El Cid Marina and Marina Mazatlan, both of which are at the extreme north end of town. Seven miles is about as far as Belvedere is from San Francisco’s Bayview District. No such thefts have been reported at Marina El Cid or Mazatlan Marina.

 

2) Oblivion was the only boat anchored in the Old Harbor at the time.

 

3) In the last two months there have been at least three attempted dinghy thefts — two of them successful — at the Old Harbor / Stone Island anchorages. These are the only reports of attempted dinghy thefts we have received from Mexico this year.

 

Marek Nowicki and Helen Chien of the Green Cove Springs-based Cape Vickers 34 Raireva report that the Oblivion victims and other cruisers in the Mazatlan area have started a letter writing campaign to the Tourist Board, the Harbor Master, the Port Captain, and the Consulate. Even better, Eric Baicy and Sherrell Watson of the Seattle-based Pacific Seacraft 31 Sarana donated their spare dinghy to the victims.

 

Two days ago we spoke with Robert and Nancy Novak of the Sausalito-based Oyster 484 Shindig, who awakened one night at Stone Island to find a thief trying to unlock the outboard from the transom of their boat. When they yelled at him, the thief got into his dinghy and left. What surprised the couple is how casual he was about departing the scene of the attempted crime. "When he motored away in his dinghy, he did so at a very slow speed and without even bothering to look back at us," the couple said.

 

Would we anchor out in the Old Harbor / Stone Island? Not anymore than we’d stop to buy snacks at a Quickie Mart in certain parts of Detroit. What’s the point when there are so many other great places in Mexico — including other areas of Mazatlan — where there haven’t been any dinghy thefts?