Yes, it is a real shame. I do wonder too if something changed around 2019-20 which is when I have seen an uptick in trouble personally. Although it might just be another case of how much everything seems to have gone downhill since 2020!
It’s so awful this happens Dan. We’ve always stayed well out of towns at night, did the tourist thing during the day but by late afternoon we were on the move looking for a quiet spot. Still heard a few people around in some places. Leaving the locks open was the one that I hated, can cause so many problems. We were lucky but reality is we’ve only spent 12 weeks on the canals all up and that was holidays when in the UK. Great life. 🥰
It’s sad but practical to keep your boat, car, everything low key to diminish theft/mischief. Those practical tips you gave for each possible way a thief could be thwarted are gold, thanks for sharing! 🙌🏼
I’m doing the Stort and Lea and it’s been the worst canal I’ve been on since I’ve been doing my cruising sebatical… Locks left with paddles up and gates open.. not an isolated incident. It’s a regular occurrence… If this is the attitude it’s a warning sign that worst may yet come
Sorry to hear this, sadly I’ve heard similar stories, heavy, awkward items going walkabout! At one point a looong time ago I heard of a group who were stealing outboard motors from boats moored in marinas. They were paddling in row boats silently under the cover of darkness!
theirs a weird thought process when your a victim of theft in that you spend a couple of minutes thinking wheres my stuff gone before realising or accepting its gone i had that thought process when i had a house and someone stole a chainsaw from my front garden that id only put down for a minute , on my narrowboat i have two big dogs one of them is a real barker at anyone who goes past so theirs no way anyone getting in my boat when im not there , also there was a boat recently that made the forums because it got stolen and repainted but fortunately the public were very vigilant and found it and reported it to the police and it was recovered
Good grief it is almost unbelievable really when you think about these boat thefts. When I would tell non boating people about it they thought I was joking! Yes you are right about the thought process, even all these years later I remember opening the boat door to see my bike had gone and initially having a sense of shock rather than anger and almost doubting myself that I had left it there!
@@SortOfInterestingTheirs a guy that's well known on the K&A for steeling generators and selling them on Facebook the police caught him a few months ago with 6 boaters generators in his car and yet still let him go I never leave anything on my boat roof or outside my boat roof and I never tell my dogs off for barking
As a 10 year old boy , i lived on Oaklands Rd Chirk Bank up until 1968, we then emigrated to Australia, and I've remained here ever since. Went to Selattyn School, my Dad and his sister ran Bartleys Buses for decades .. things must of changed because crime certainly wasnt an issue back then.
Hello, wow those are some familiar places, I'd love to have seen the area back then and the trains of that era passing through the countryside and viaduct. I would imagine that apart from a lot more bungalows in Chirk Bank, you would mainly be shocked at the changes in Chirk and Weston Rhyn, it was always the working theory that my bike was stolen by somebody passing through Chirk Bank between the two.
A series of funny thefts; We had the slowest police chase in history at our marina a few years ago, A couple separated, the ex husband moved onto the boat and unplugged the boat, this notified the ex wife with a text, she called the police, the police chased the boat at slower than walking pace, finally after several hours caught the thief when he stopped at a lock. So turns out, ex husband when kicked out the house, took the boat, hadn’t told the ex wife, she thought it stolen. So not really a theft. A funny story, I use to work in Comet, our neighbours Argos came in and said there is a thief, be careful, we asked what was taken, they said a 50 inch TV, we asked how’d you miss a 50” TV. They said a van pulled up outside, two blokes got out wearing high vis, they dismantle their Sky wall, and took the TV off the wall where it was bolted to a bracket, placed in van and left. The staff just assumed it was Sky replacing their screen, when in fact it was a thief as bold as brass stealing their TV. We said thanks but don’t worry, we always check work orders before letting anyone dismantle our displays, we asked what did they say when you asked them what they where doing, the staff said we didn’t ask, just assumed they where from sky, we said was the van branded sky, they said No, plain white van!😂
As someone who has a good bit of inside knowledge about a large car operation in the US, eventually shut down in the 1980s, Those boats would be easy to make vanish once you had them elsewhere. But driving one away, with limited options on where you can go, and having to stand on the back for everyone to see? Thats what keeps it from being common I bet. How many people are you going to pass. What are the odds they know the boat an who should be driving it. A car becomes any other car around the first corner, an no one is looking at who's driving. A boat, on a canal? Not so much. Should be able to get outside cameras that dont look like cameras. Look at nanny cams. You trying to make it look like nothing ever moves so they can never tell, assumes criminals work harder than they do. Real world criminals are opportunistic. Looking like nothing ever moves is likely to make you more of a target, not less. But they dont need to know if someones home, its easy to find out. Knock. The first thing robbers in the US commonly do is ring the doorbell. If someone comes to the door, they have a story ready. I would expect the same over there. I would expect they do something like loosen a knot, knock an tell you your knot is coming undone. If no one comes, they know no one is there. If someone does, they get thanked an walk away. People are buying those doorbell cameras in the US to act like they are home when they are not, for this exact reason. But thats the US an criminal culture may be different.
I’ve had 99% good experience with the boaters around my region… but I understand that that is sadly not the case for everyone and I have been warned of areas further afield not to moor up due to who may be boating by!
What about having a well hidden tracking device on the boat itself, in case it gets stolen, and an instant alert to your phone if it does? And reinforced windows and doors that are very difficult to break into coupled with a loud alarm? I suspect most thieves gives up easily if they realise they have to be at it for a long time just to get in. Criminals are usually lazy scumbags looking for easy money, that's why they don't work for a living.
Sadly, anything we might come up with as a deterrent that might do harm to these R Soles is considered illegal.. even if your dog attacks them and takes a healthy bite out of them it's unlikely that the thief will be prosecuted.. more likely it's the dog owner that will be charged. That's something I like about America.. no such nonsense over there.. well, except maybe amoung the weirdOs in California.
It is one of the true mysteries! That was what I then replaced with the first mango fixie which ultimately led to them sending me two more for free! So it all worked out in the end!
@SortOfInteresting I remember when you first got the Mango, but don't remember the story behind the two free ones? Have you considered that maybe aliens stole your bike?
😂 you never know! Basically back then I was the most “visible” person online using one of their bikes in videos all the time so out of the blue they said they would give me two new ones to make sure I kept riding them in camera! Don’t make any money from it but I saved a lot on bikes!
Any little toad who walks past a NB with a bicycle with a flat tyre on a winter mooring in the countryside in the freezing cold. If it’s not locked, bolted, tied down or made really difficult to nick, anything up to and including a whole 60ft NB can be pinched by someone, my neighbour came home from work and his home wasn’t where he left it, we went blazing down the road and overtook it, the little darlings ran off over the fields. Ive had people come on my boat when I’ve been at the other end, either because they thought I wasn’t in or they thought it was some sort of museum, I wasn’t impressed and I made that very clear.
Can we stop canal crime with locks and quays?
This reply is better than my entire video! 😂
@@SortOfInteresting We both know that's not true, but thank you for that kind reply. 👍
😢 used to park up by Blakemere, night fishing, never knew what state my vehicle would be when i returned, yet Ellesmere is such a lovely ❤rural town😢
Yes, it is a real shame. I do wonder too if something changed around 2019-20 which is when I have seen an uptick in trouble personally. Although it might just be another case of how much everything seems to have gone downhill since 2020!
@Last.Man.Standing Very good 😁 Take a bow. We need a stern solution to this problem!
It’s so awful this happens Dan. We’ve always stayed well out of towns at night, did the tourist thing during the day but by late afternoon we were on the move looking for a quiet spot. Still heard a few people around in some places. Leaving the locks open was the one that I hated, can cause so many problems. We were lucky but reality is we’ve only spent 12 weeks on the canals all up and that was holidays when in the UK. Great life. 🥰
It’s sad but practical to keep your boat, car, everything low key to diminish theft/mischief. Those practical tips you gave for each possible way a thief could be thwarted are gold, thanks for sharing! 🙌🏼
Yes, sadly we are living in a world where it is easier to simply not have “nice things” and not have to worry about them in the first place!
😂 The string through the window bit, I was waiting for you to say you tied it to your toe....
Haha! I wish I had thought of that as an extra joke line to add in!!!
I’m doing the Stort and Lea and it’s been the worst canal I’ve been on since I’ve been doing my cruising sebatical… Locks left with paddles up and gates open.. not an isolated incident. It’s a regular occurrence… If this is the attitude it’s a warning sign that worst may yet come
Just had my boat broken into and my stove and chimney stolen. Impossible that it was done by anyone other than another boater.
Sorry to hear this, sadly I’ve heard similar stories, heavy, awkward items going walkabout!
At one point a looong time ago I heard of a group who were stealing outboard motors from boats moored in marinas. They were paddling in row boats silently under the cover of darkness!
theirs a weird thought process when your a victim of theft in that you spend a couple of minutes thinking wheres my stuff gone before realising or accepting its gone i had that thought process when i had a house and someone stole a chainsaw from my front garden that id only put down for a minute , on my narrowboat i have two big dogs one of them is a real barker at anyone who goes past so theirs no way anyone getting in my boat when im not there , also there was a boat recently that made the forums because it got stolen and repainted but fortunately the public were very vigilant and found it and reported it to the police and it was recovered
Good grief it is almost unbelievable really when you think about these boat thefts. When I would tell non boating people about it they thought I was joking! Yes you are right about the thought process, even all these years later I remember opening the boat door to see my bike had gone and initially having a sense of shock rather than anger and almost doubting myself that I had left it there!
@@SortOfInterestingTheirs a guy that's well known on the K&A for steeling generators and selling them on Facebook the police caught him a few months ago with 6 boaters generators in his car and yet still let him go I never leave anything on my boat roof or outside my boat roof and I never tell my dogs off for barking
As a 10 year old boy , i lived on Oaklands Rd Chirk Bank up until 1968, we then emigrated to Australia, and I've remained here ever since. Went to Selattyn School, my Dad and his sister ran Bartleys Buses for decades .. things must of changed because crime certainly wasnt an issue back then.
Hello, wow those are some familiar places, I'd love to have seen the area back then and the trains of that era passing through the countryside and viaduct. I would imagine that apart from a lot more bungalows in Chirk Bank, you would mainly be shocked at the changes in Chirk and Weston Rhyn, it was always the working theory that my bike was stolen by somebody passing through Chirk Bank between the two.
Haven't a clue where you talking about
Shame to hear all those things happening close to home - love walking down the canal on a Saturday with the dogs ❤
Yes it is a shame to say that nowhere can truly escape trouble these days!
A series of funny thefts;
We had the slowest police chase in history at our marina a few years ago,
A couple separated, the ex husband moved onto the boat and unplugged the boat, this notified the ex wife with a text, she called the police, the police chased the boat at slower than walking pace, finally after several hours caught the thief when he stopped at a lock.
So turns out, ex husband when kicked out the house, took the boat, hadn’t told the ex wife, she thought it stolen. So not really a theft.
A funny story, I use to work in Comet, our neighbours Argos came in and said there is a thief, be careful, we asked what was taken, they said a 50 inch TV, we asked how’d you miss a 50” TV. They said a van pulled up outside, two blokes got out wearing high vis, they dismantle their Sky wall, and took the TV off the wall where it was bolted to a bracket, placed in van and left.
The staff just assumed it was Sky replacing their screen, when in fact it was a thief as bold as brass stealing their TV.
We said thanks but don’t worry, we always check work orders before letting anyone dismantle our displays, we asked what did they say when you asked them what they where doing, the staff said we didn’t ask, just assumed they where from sky, we said was the van branded sky, they said No, plain white van!😂
As someone who has a good bit of inside knowledge about a large car operation in the US, eventually shut down in the 1980s, Those boats would be easy to make vanish once you had them elsewhere. But driving one away, with limited options on where you can go, and having to stand on the back for everyone to see? Thats what keeps it from being common I bet. How many people are you going to pass. What are the odds they know the boat an who should be driving it. A car becomes any other car around the first corner, an no one is looking at who's driving. A boat, on a canal? Not so much.
Should be able to get outside cameras that dont look like cameras. Look at nanny cams.
You trying to make it look like nothing ever moves so they can never tell, assumes criminals work harder than they do. Real world criminals are opportunistic. Looking like nothing ever moves is likely to make you more of a target, not less. But they dont need to know if someones home, its easy to find out. Knock. The first thing robbers in the US commonly do is ring the doorbell. If someone comes to the door, they have a story ready. I would expect the same over there. I would expect they do something like loosen a knot, knock an tell you your knot is coming undone. If no one comes, they know no one is there. If someone does, they get thanked an walk away. People are buying those doorbell cameras in the US to act like they are home when they are not, for this exact reason. But thats the US an criminal culture may be different.
I have had boats for 50 years crime has always been the same
What about the other boaters ?
I’ve had 99% good experience with the boaters around my region… but I understand that that is sadly not the case for everyone and I have been warned of areas further afield not to moor up due to who may be boating by!
What about having a well hidden tracking device on the boat itself, in case it gets stolen, and an instant alert to your phone if it does? And reinforced windows and doors that are very difficult to break into coupled with a loud alarm? I suspect most thieves gives up easily if they realise they have to be at it for a long time just to get in. Criminals are usually lazy scumbags looking for easy money, that's why they don't work for a living.
Beware of pirates!
Always a risk!
Sadly, anything we might come up with as a deterrent that might do harm to these R Soles is considered illegal.. even if your dog attacks them and takes a healthy bite out of them it's unlikely that the thief will be prosecuted.. more likely it's the dog owner that will be charged. That's something I like about America.. no such nonsense over there.. well, except maybe amoung the weirdOs in California.
Who steals a bicycle with a flat tyre from a winter mooring in the countryside in the freezing cold.
It is one of the true mysteries! That was what I then replaced with the first mango fixie which ultimately led to them sending me two more for free! So it all worked out in the end!
@SortOfInteresting I remember when you first got the Mango, but don't remember the story behind the two free ones? Have you considered that maybe aliens stole your bike?
😂 you never know! Basically back then I was the most “visible” person online using one of their bikes in videos all the time so out of the blue they said they would give me two new ones to make sure I kept riding them in camera! Don’t make any money from it but I saved a lot on bikes!
@SortOfInteresting That's amazing. But where did you store them all? Where are they now?
Any little toad who walks past a NB with a bicycle with a flat tyre on a winter mooring in the countryside in the freezing cold. If it’s not locked, bolted, tied down or made really difficult to nick, anything up to and including a whole 60ft NB can be pinched by someone, my neighbour came home from work and his home wasn’t where he left it, we went blazing down the road and overtook it, the little darlings ran off over the fields. Ive had people come on my boat when I’ve been at the other end, either because they thought I wasn’t in or they thought it was some sort of museum, I wasn’t impressed and I made that very clear.
Do not park at the council flats
Anything that looks newish/easy to sell etc is just seen as free money.
Unfortunately I am sure that to some people that is becoming a default view on the world around them!
They steal Bigfoot juice