In March of 2001 I had my boat stolen. I reported it to the police and to this list at that time. My boat is an early model Necky Arluk II, and fairly unique. Not very many of those early models were made before they were refined, and darn few made it to Southern California. I have used that boat for trips in Canada and Baja and all parts in-between. I have also worked as a kayaking instructor for close to fifteen years during which the majority of my classes were taught from the seat of my old Arluk. I always figured that I would eventually find the boat in that the boat sticks out like a sore thumb to those who know a thing or two about sea kayaks, and a great many people know my boat. On a sunny afternoon in November of 2002 Duane was playing hooky from work and went for a paddle down the coast in the middle of the week. As he approached Laguna Beach he spotted another paddler on the water and went over to say hi. As Duane got closer he recognized that the paddler was in my stolen boat! Duane tried to casually engage the fellow in a conversation to get some information from him, but the fellow became suspicious. So Duane just confronted him and told the fellow that the boat he was in was stolen. They parted company and Duane went back to report the incident to the Harbor Patrol. He then managed to contact me, at which point I left work and spent the rest of the day cruising up and down the coast looking for my boat - to no avail. Apparently the encounter with Duane spooked the guy in my boat to the point that he went back to a small cove in Laguna Beach, probably the one he launched from, and attempted to scuttle the boat. The boat washed up later, and was recovered by the lifeguards. The lifeguard policy is that they will hang onto found items for three months, after which they can keep them. Three months came and went, so one lifeguard promptly claimed the boat as his, and then sold it to a friend for five hundred dollars. The friend, Frank, came to the shop I work out of looking for parts for the boat to attempt to restore it since the boat had been heavily neglected and now needs a lot of work. Frank showed some pictures of the boat to the guys in the shop, trying to determine just what kind of boat it was that he had. Of course the guys in the shop immediately recognized the boat as the one that had been stolen from me, and they had Frank call me. Upon receiving the phone call I dropped everything and ran over to the shop to meet Frank. One look at the pictures was all I needed to identify the boat as mine. Frank seems like a nice enough fellow who is just stuck in the middle, however he is out five hundred dollars, and apparently the lifeguard does not want to refund the money! So after two long years of searching for my boat I finally find it --- but I can't seem to get it back!!!!!! Unfortunately the boat does not have any serial numbers that can be used to positively identify it as mine. I can, however, easily produce at least fifty witness's that can easily recognize it, and of course I have pictures. Does anybody on this list have any ideas of what I can do here? I am soooo frustrated I could just scream! Scott So.Cal. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
> SNIP > Upon receiving the phone call I dropped everything and ran over to the >shop to meet Frank. One look at the pictures was all I needed to identify the >boat as mine. Frank seems like a nice enough fellow who is just stuck in the >middle, however he is out five hundred dollars, and apparently the lifeguard >does not want to refund the money! So after two long years of searching for >my boat I finally find it --- but I can't seem to get it back!!!!!! >Unfortunately the boat does not have any serial numbers that can be used to >positively identify it as mine. I can, however, easily produce at least fifty >witness's that can easily recognize it, and of course I have pictures. Does >anybody on this list have any ideas of what I can do here? I am soooo >frustrated I could just scream! Scott, Is it possible that you, all your kayaking friends and the harbor patrol can appeal (often and concurrently) to the lifeguard to do the decent thing here? Bill Leonhardt *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
What a story! Get in contact with Necky, try to get a paper from them, that this boat is very special, extreme rare and maybe they could say it must or IS yours, because they (the manufacturer) delivered it to you in 2001. Got no other idea. Hey, all my boats are so special, I could be very sure, they're is only one sp special kayak from this type, from this special company with special build in's, it only couldbe mine. AND most boats got a serial number, crazy Necky don't give out Serial Numbers. ______________________________________________________________________________ Wenn POP fur Sie mehr als nur Musik ist. Senden Sie Ihre SMS direkt aus Outlook oder Netscape! http://freemail.web.de/features/?mc=021177 *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Ah! Another idea. What the lifeguard had done is in my country against the law. He dealed with stolen goods. It doesn't matter if he knew that the boat was stolen. But he should had thought about this chance, noone let go such a kayak for free! Don't know what California law says, but maybe its also not allowed to deal with stolen things and you could go to the police. ______________________________________________________________________________ Sie stehen auf POP3? Dann versenden Sie mit WEB.DE FreeMail Ihre SMS aus Outlook oder Netscape! http://freemail.web.de/features/?mc=021178 *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Scott wrote: <SNIP>>>>>>>>>>>>The lifeguard policy is that they will hang onto found items for three months, after which they can keep them. Three months came and went, so one lifeguard promptly claimed the boat as his, and then sold it to a friend for five hundred dollars.<<<<<<SNIP> Did the Lifeguards report this find to the Police? If so you may be out of luck (especially if it was a different police department than the one you reported the theft to). If not I doubt the lifeguards have any legal right to keep an item of that much value no matter what policy they may have decided to adopt for found items. Normally if you report a found item to the police they pick it up but you can file a claim to the item if the owner isn't found within a defined period of time (such as 60 or 90 days). Did the lifeguards file a report with the Coast Guard? Maybe it was obvious that this kayak had been underwater for a long time when it washed up, but if not the Coast Guard should have been notified immediately. Was it the lifeguards that actually found it or someone else who turned it into the lifeguards? How was it determined which lifeguard was to receive this windfall? Did that lifeguard put and money or effort into restoring the kayak? How much restorative time and money did the last buyer put into the kayak after they bought it? Morally (and possibly even legally) the lifeguard should return the money he received beyond what value he personally added to the kayak. Scott should get the kayak but I think the buyer should be compensated for any value he added to it as well. Lots of questions, I'd find out your legal rights and ask them. Two Skin-on-frame Aluetian baidarka style kayaks were stolen last Thursday night or Friday morning in Anacortes WA. They may have been spotted later that morning on a car at a shipping company that barges freight to AK, so it is suspected they may be going to somewhere in AK. One is about 25" wide, darker Brown (translucent) with some lighter water stains on the left side of the deck. The other is 20" wide, Pale Yellow (almost white) with a patch in the hull near the cockpit. Please check the details at the Stolen Kayaks page of our website and check the list regularly for stolen kayaks you may recognize. The most recently stolen kayaks are also listed separately near the end of the list so it is easy to see what's new on the list. Matt Broze http://www.marinerkayaks.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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