Theft

New Bern, North Carolina

Someone stole the lock and chain from my bicycle today at the library. They left the bicycle. Should I feel insulted?

Thinking back, we have lost very few things to theft in the 7+ years cruising, despite the fact that we are very sloppy about locking thing up. To what should we attribute that?

I think the main factor is that Tarwathie spends most of her time away from shore. We are under way, or anchored,or moored. It appears evident that most thieves are not going to cross the water to find a target. Indeed, we feel very safe at night on the boat with all the hatches open, no matter where we are anchored. Even high crime areas seem to stop at the waterline.

Of course, the few exceptions are notable. Our friend Doug on his W32 Robin was boarded by thieves one night in Gloucester, Massachusetts. In the Red Sea cruisers are kidnapped by Somali pirates. So far, none of those bad things happened to us. Knock on wood.


What about our possessions on shore? Well, the list is short. Our dinghy and my bicycle. The dingy was stolen 18 months ago in Burlington, but I recovered it right away. Our dinghy is old. It looks old. Most of the time it has no motor mounted. If the motor had been mounted the day she was stolen in Burlington, the outcome might have been different.

What about my bicycle? Well, today I have the answer. A lock thief declined to steal the bike.

So if you want to be safe from thieves:

1. Never go ashore
2. Never own anything attractive.

p.s. As I sat here in the library reading a book, my neighbor in the next chair said, "Man. These chairs are a lot more comfortable than those in the jail. Aren't they?"