Beware of Rogue Coasties

On Friday we brought you the bizarre story of the ‘naked ninja’ thief who painted his entire body black and boarded the Bear Valley-based Shock Wave 42 cat Green Flash, which was moored off Cartegena, Colombia.

As wacky as that story was, the ninja’s intended victims, David and Bee Pettingill, tell us they have an even more remarkable tale to share concerning their recent stay at Cartegena:

"A few days before the naked thief boarded, cruisers were reporting boardings and inspections by the Colombian Coast Guard. One of the patrol boat crews was seriously misbehaving — drinking, drunk, and stealing. Tabbycat lost two cameras and an iPod. The boat Imagine lost cash from a wallet that was in a pair of pants. When Bob on Viva refused to let the suspicious officers board, they asked for beer, money and cigarettes because it was Christmas or their birthday. And there were lots of other incidents.

"These problems were reported through Paola (of the Cartagena Caribbean Marine Agency) to the Port Captain, who sent three ranking members out in a dinghy to interview those who had problems, including me. A few days later, a Coast Guard Patrol boat returned an iPod to Tabbycat with one of the guilty party in the boat. All problems with boarding stopped. It appears to have been the work of one crew gone rogue," says David.  

The lessons learned that David and Bee would like to share:

• A patrol boat in Cartagena cannot board you; you are not on the high seas.
• To board you in the harbor they must have a search warrant and an Inspector  on board.
• Make anyone wearing a uniform that boards your boat sign your log.
• Get the number of the patrol boat.
• Take pictures of them and the patrol boat.
• If you have any problems in Cartagena Harbor call Port Control on 16, or on the telephone. Not the police; not the Coast Guard.  

Although the Pettingills says that "almost 40 dinghies, worth about $200,000 U.S. dollars, were stolen last year," they stress that there was no violence associated with those thefts. They loved their stay at Cartagena and would recommend it to others. 

"Big, big kudos to Paola and Yesika of Cartagena Caribbean Marine Agency, who do your entry papers. All these problems were reported through them to the Port Captain. Paola organized meetings between the Port Captain and the cruisers that had problems.

"Paola and Yesika are energetic agents who will come out to your boat when you arrive, take your papers and bring them back to your boat for you. What a concept. Both Paola and Yesika are Colombian women married to gringos with boats. They both have lots of sea time, speak perfect English, have college degrees — and they’re both beautiful. Their office is aboard the custom 52-ft cat Little Wing, a beautiful carbon-fiber cat docked in Club Nautico (formerly of San Diego)."