Arabella cruised into El Cid marina April 25, after a leisurely trip
up the coast from Puerto Vallarta. We arrived as a big swell from a
Pacific storm was about to close the harbor for 3 days, so we decided
to put the dinghy into the water for visiting friends a half mile up
the channel in Marina Mazatlan. We were relaxed and feeling very
casual, so never even thought to lock the dinghy up at night. We were
on an end tie, and had it snuggled up behind the bow, tied to the
dock. You guessed it, the second night it disappeared while we were
aboard the boat, just after returning from dinner. Jorge, the El Cid
night watchman, came by in his panga as I was snoozing in the cockpit,
and asked if we had loaned our dinghy to someone. I said no, and he
said he had just seen an inflatable heading out of the harbor full
speed. He was ready to take off in pursuit, but since the harbor was
closed, had to get permission from the Harbormaster before he could do
so. As we tried to raise the Harbormaster on the radio, I made a call
to the fleet on the local hailing frequency, and immediately had an
answer from Mike Wilson on Tortue. It turned out that he, and several
others, had also had dinghies stolen in the past month or two, and he
offered to call the Police, Navy, and Port Captain to make the report.
This was the first dinghy to be snatched from marina El Cid, and
Estevan, head of security, also made the calls. By the time we
decided it would be too dangerous (and most likely futile) to try
crossing the waves breaking clear across the harbor entrance, the
police were arriving and ready to take our report. Everyone was
amazed the thief had actually made it out through that 10' surf in an
inflatable powered by a 6 horsepower engine.
Anyway, thanks to the quick report, and prompt response by the
authorities, the thief was caught by the Navy as he came ashore near
the Fisherman's Monument several miles away. All we had to do was go
to the District Attorney's office the following day, file a statement,
and we would be able to reclaim our dinghy and motor. During the
night he spent in custody, the thief was persuaded to confess to
stealing the other dinghies, and three of them were found at his home.
One was the brand new Caribe and motor that Mike Wilson had lost only
two days after he had bought them.
Mike offered to drive us around and get all the paperwork done at 9:00
am, but "El Cid Estevan" was waiting for us, and he happened to be an
ex policeman who knew everyone we needed to deal with. After three
hours of driving from one government agency to another, eventually we
found our dinghy at the Municipal Police station.
It ended up taking another day before we actually were able to
retrieve the dinghy, and again, Estevan and another El Cid employee
were there to drive and help load the dinghy into the truck. When we
arrived at the station, it turned out the police wanted to display all
the recovered dinghies and motors and have the local newspapers
photograph them with the thief standing handcuffed in front! It was a
classic situation, and worth the extra time it took. The thief will
get about 15 years in jail, and they were anxious to make an example
of him. It's a really bad thing to mess with the tourists around
here, since we've become the lifeblood of the place as the shrimp
fishery declines.
We learned a lot from this; primarily that it is smart to inquire on
the morning net whether there are any security concerns when arriving
at a new port, and never get so relaxed and casual that you risk
losing something as important as the ship to shore transportation
device!