After crossing from the Virgin Islands we were anchored in Grand Case St. Martin for a day or two. We had found a spot just off Dock 24, which is where the dinghy dock is – we were the nearest boat to the shore.

Yesterday night (12 May, 2012) about 03:00 the Skipper woke up sensing someone was on board the boat, lay on for a while and then decided to go into the cockpit for a breath of cooler air only to find the dinghy and the outboard had been stolen (AB Navigo 12VS RIB and 15HP Mercury Outboard).

We reported the theft on the Cruiser Net Ch 14 the next day and heard that another dinghy was stolen the day before from Grand Case. Having just crossed over from the VI’s we had not listened to the cruiser net nor taken the precaution of lifting our RIB out of the water. It seems about 30 have gone missing over the last month, looks like organized theft.

Chaining and padlocking the dinghy and outboard to the boat seems to be the minimum BUT that did not stop ours being stolen.

We had fun at the Gendarme Station – well after a 45-minute walk it is almost in the middle of St. Martin and built like a fortress with automatic gates for entry and exit. We eventually got someone who understood English, mind you the crime report is in French so the accuracy of it is dubious.

David Mackintosh

SV Highland Fling