Naked Ninja Attack Thwarted
No matter what business you’re in, thinking creatively often helps you become successful. Perhaps that’s why a would-be thief in Cartagena, Colombia, went to the trouble to paint himself from head to toe with black paint before attempting a nighttime caper in the cruiser anchorage.
In the end, the stealth coating didn’t help much, as his would-be victims, David and Bee Pettingill aboard the Bear Valley-based Shock Wave 42 cat Green Flash heard him rummaging around on deck.
When David shined his "multi-million candlepower light" around the deck he found "a naked guy on his hands and knees doing a slow stalking move just like in the movies." The guy, whom David later dubbed the Naked Ninja, tried to escape, but got hung up in the lifelines initially before diving into the bay and swimming toward a neighboring boat, Toucan. David launched his Hawaiian sling at the fleeing thief to give him an extra incentive not to linger, even though the guy was obviously out of range.
According to David, the Colombian Coast Guard showed up immediately, as they’d reportedly been drinking beer on a nearby boat. They eventually apprehended the painted ninja, and by the time they got him ashore a crowd had gathered to watch the action. "When the Coast Guard moved the naked guy from the boat to the paddy wagon, a big cheer went out and the spectators whacked him with sticks, kicked him, and threw things at him while he was using both hands to cover up," David explains.
It’s a pretty funny story, but the fact that theft in Cartegena — particularly of dinghies — is on the rise, is troubling to many westbound cruisers. Nevertheless, the Pettingills love Cartegena and wouldn’t disuade other cruisers from stopping there. "Cartegena is great," says David. "We wouldn’t have stayed six months if it wasn’t. Best place in the Carribean to get work done. Lots of dinghies are stolen and a few petty thefts from anchored boats, but no violence. Ours was the only boarding I know of with people on board, while or before we were here."