Marina Mischief

The_Chain

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So last night I drove up to the boat its been a week since I had checked/used it, and to my suprsie I found fish, guts and juice all over my cockpit with the assoiciated smell and flies everywhere...nice..all baked on in the high 90 degree weather here...spent an hr cleaning it. So this makes the third time it has been F with..So what would you do? And or what would you do if you caught them at the time there doing it.??...I have not made enemys and I am typically the guy willing to help out around the dock..maybe im a target cause Im younger (29?)..manager said hes looking into it, people are leaving the gate open (its supposed to be locked at all time, no camera either)...couple of the live aboards havnt seen anything and are keeping a watchful eye....I cant sit in the bushes all the time, and i am paying good money for a locked/gated marina...no one else is having issues, nothing stolen, nothing messed with...what gives with people...what happened to people respecting others stuff...sorry for the vent its just really frustrating...

I was thinking of getting one of those game cameras and hide it good....flash would give it away though
 

Doc Stressor

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Are you sure that it's not just a varmint such as an otter using your cockpit as a hangout?

Many years ago I kept my Overnighter at a buoy off of a marina. Every time we'd show up on a Friday night, the boat was full of dead crabs and clams. We thought that we had local enemies, but it turned out that the birds were using the boat to crack shellfish by dropping them from the air. We ended up using a rotating wind vane type of thing on the canopy to keep them away. Except for calm days. :cry:
 

DennisG01

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Does your marina have wifi? If so, I'm sure there must be cameras you can get that transmit over wifi to your phone or computer. I can't personally recommend any... mainly 'cause I don't know much 'bout dat stuff... but I'm sure it's not too hard.
 

The_Chain

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Doc Stressor said:
Are you sure that it's not just a varmint such as an otter using your cockpit as a hangout?

Many years ago I kept my Overnighter at a buoy off of a marina. Every time we'd show up on a Friday night, the boat was full of dead crabs and clams. We thought that we had local enemies, but it turned out that the birds were using the boat to crack shellfish by dropping them from the air. We ended up using a rotating wind vane type of thing on the canopy to keep them away. Except for calm days. :cry:

They were filleted so that would have to be some crafty birds or otters...
 

lgusto

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The marina should take some responsibility and at the very least check your boat each morning during their facility walk through. And THEY should install cameras or take other measures as necessary.
 

Fishtales

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Interesting.

I would lean toward someone with some type of issue with you. Maybe you were fishing their spot or doing something that doesn't amount to much to you or most, but to this guy it does - especially if this is the third time trashing your boat.

Maybe ask others on the board to help be on the lookout if they are local. I know if someone was doing this on my dock, I'd help. Talk to everyone on the dock. Explain the damage, explain that if you offended anybody you are willing to talk it out. Nobody likes this type of BS except cowards. Ask for an email from the marina each day after an AM and PM check of the boat. Need to make them accountable and on the lookout as well as have documented cases. This could escalate to damage or worse a sinking. In each case take pictures and notify the police of the activity. You will have a documented record of harassment should it be needed. Who knows, you might have a local police officer that owns a boat and makes it his personal mission. We had one on our dock and he patrolled it nightly.
Maybe put a sign on the boat and ask if the person doing this is targeting the wrong person - heck ask them to meet face to face. If no luck, hang a sign in the cockpit detailing the damage and asking for information. Worth a try. I remember when I was a kid a person in an apartment building was trying to beat be out of the cost of 6 weeks of newspaper deliveries. One note on the doors and elevator describing how a 12 year old kid was getting shafted, the game ended and I got paid. Public embarrassment can work if the guy has even a small conscience.

If you put the effort in and get some help, I'm sure you can get the person identified and caught or at least stopped. Need to determine if there is a pattern (day/time etc) that he likes to do his work. Even if no pattern, you can talk specifics with people on the dock - date/time after each occurrence. If the dewbag is on the dock, he will know you are on the lookout and that enough may get it to stop. One thing for sure, the more people do crap like this, like any crime - the more they get lazy.

Once you get him, then you have a wealth of options - especially if documented. I'm sure once caught, he will roll quickly. I don't know many boat people that would like to be associated with such a person and if in the marina, his reputation would be tarnished and he could be asked to leave by the marina. You may not have to do anything once folks know.

He may have a legit beef over something that you don't understand or know about. He could have you mistaken for someone else. Doing coward acts like this instead of talking to you face to face demonstrates that he is a coward.

Good luck. I'd love to know how this one ends.....
 

bayrat

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lgusto said:
The marina should take some responsibility and at the very least check your boat each morning during their facility walk through. And THEY should install cameras or take other measures as necessary.

Yep..I would pressure your marina in a big way and don't be too nice. You are paying for security and you're not getting it. If they cant keep your boat secure (3 times, really?) you and others should have a sit down with them and turn up the heat. Maybe start by having them clean up the mess. If they don't really respond in a positive way it may be time to find a new home.Good luck.
 

Tuna Man

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Just trying to give your marina people the benefit of the doubt. You mentioned that you saw fillets, is there any chance birds are carrying the carcasses to your boat and eating them in your cockpit? Or maybe its raccoon or something similar?
 

The_Chain

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Tuna Man said:
Just trying to give your marina people the benefit of the doubt. You mentioned that you saw fillets, is there any chance birds are carrying the carcasses to your boat and eating them in your cockpit? Or maybe its raccoon or something similar?

Thanks guys for the ideas...I have thought about racoons or otters...Prob is they way it was tossed around in the boat dosnt make it look like an animal...no tracks either...i have talked to a few people last night and the owner of the marina has alerted the police which are now gonna make regular walks on the boardwalk and has removed the chain used to prop the gate open...he felt bad and I think he has the best intetiontions..we will see, he gave me his personal cell number to report anything further..stay tuned..
 

VeroWing

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Reminds me of when I used to keep a Grady in a marina out in east Moriches. One day we arrived at boat and discovered one of the windshield halves busted out. After calming down, we discovered birds had been dropping clams on boat to break shells open. At first I was thinking, is someone mad at me for something I'm not aware of.
 

noXcuse

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I noticed you mentioned the hunting trail cams. The newer and a little bit more expensive ones don't use a flash at all. They use infra-red. They still look like an LED flash, but really they're LED infra-red beams. You can't see them flash. Finding a good place to hide one would be a little more difficult though. They are pretty bulky.
 

NOTHING ELSE MATTERS

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If you have a hardtop with the electronics box, remove the black acrylic door and make one out of plexiglass and tint it from the inside. Now you can install the camera behind the door and it will take clear pictures as long as the lens touches the door from the inside.
 

izzy

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Tuna Man said:
Just trying to give your marina people the benefit of the doubt. You mentioned that you saw fillets, is there any chance birds are carrying the carcasses to your boat and eating them in your cockpit? Or maybe its raccoon or something similar?

I agree with Tuna Man, if someone close fishes alot, the seagulls would do the same thing over and over when they fillet,I actually had a similar problem , dead bunker all over my boat time and again, finally found them dang birds were picking them from the water and dropping on my boat, to me it looked like they were being thrown

Not always someone screwing with you....................you just never know until ........well.................you know :)