If any of you know of any kayaks stolen in the SF Bay Area in the last six months and you don't see that kayak listed in the Stolen Kayak database already (Google "Stolen kayaks" is probably the easiest way to remember it) please let me know about it ASAP. I know about 7 stolen kayaks in the Bay area recently but there are probably at least twice that number that were stolen. Even more important, if you know of anyone who bought a used kayak in the Bay Area from an ad on Craigslist in the last several months they could be instrumental in adding years to the sentence of the most prolific kayak thief ever known. So far our efforts have gotten him arrested for violating the terms of his parole. I learned today that this guy is only facing a maximum of nine months in prison based on these parole violations. He needs to be connected to (and convicted) of some of these thefts he has recently committed. The best way to do that now is through the buyers of the kayaks he stole and sold. We need to find those people. Given his long past history of crime, a conviction (or three) for the sale of stolen property should add many years to his sentence and you won't have to worry much about him until he gets out again. I've been tracking this character for over twelve years now and whenever he is back on the streets kayaks start disappearing (along with a lot of other items). If you know someone who might have purchased a stolen kayak warn them that sale of stolen property is a serious felony so they should not try to resell it. I'm working to put together a program now where I and many other kayak related businesses will reward those who come forward to take some of the sting out of losing the kayak they recently purchased for such a great price. As I envision it now the first to come forward will get first choice of the offers made the next will get to choose from those offers remaining. We hope to advertise this program soon on the SF area Craigslist and the BASK Buzz. In the mean time I'll keep track of who were first to contact me and so on. I'm open to ideas as to how something like this might be most effective. Matt Broze 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/ ***************************************************************************
On Thursday 11 October 2007 07:20, Matt Broze wrote: > I'm open to ideas as to how something like this might be most effective. If all kayaks sold had the owners name stencilled on them they would be less prone to be stolen, I suspect. Also if all kayak retailers in the area set up a fund, say $50 per kayak they sell, it would be possible to pay those who return stolen kayaks what they have paid, and then a little extra. As all schemes this could be misused, so the kayak returners should be kept on file, as otherwise they could start a new profession: kayak returners - steal a kayak, and then return it, and get paid! Tord *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
All boats, including kayaks, sold in North America are supposed to have a HIN (in two places: outside starboard on the stern and port inside at the bow ... or in the cockpit in the case of kayaks), that is a Hull Identification Number. This number contains a code for the manufacturer's name, which is registered with the Coast Guard. In other words, all kayaks manufactured and sold legally already have identification such as Tord mentions. This identification can usually lead to the first legal buyer of the boat via the manufacturer, who will have kept a record of the HIN on each bill of sale. Retailers may not always record the HINs of boats they sell to their customer. Nor do private sales usually continue the chain. I expect it would be very useful if they did. Matt Broze explains all this much better than I could: http://www.marinerkayaks.com/mkhtml/stolendb.htm http://www.marinerkayaks.com/mkhtml/STLNKYKW.html etc. A RMP officer with whom I happen to discuss this issue a few years ago suggested purchasing a small jar of (personalized) microdots, which one can affix to one's property in order to make it recognizable after it has been recovered after a theft. Seemed like a good idea to me ... however, since this kind of stuff always happens to other people and never to me, I have not acted upon it ... Ralph Hoehn -----Original Message----- From: Tord Eriksson Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Bay Area Paddlers Please Take Note On Thursday 11 October 2007 07:20, Matt Broze wrote: > I'm open to ideas as to how something like this might be most effective. If all kayaks sold had the owners name stencilled on them they would be less prone to be stolen, I suspect. *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
On 10/10/07, Matt Broze <marinerkayaks_at_msn.com> wrote: > If any of you know of any kayaks stolen in the SF Bay Area in the last six > months and you don't see that kayak listed in the Stolen Kayak database > already (Google "Stolen kayaks" is probably the easiest way to remember it) > please let me know about it ASAP. I know about 7 stolen kayaks in the Bay > area recently but there are probably at least twice that number that were > stolen. <snip> > I'm open to ideas as to how something like this might be most effective. I'd look into putting some kind of tracking system in your merchandise something similar to http://s5w.com/index.html I don't know the cost of these solutions but you should be able to remove the chips as you sell them. Just a thought. Kent *************************************************************************** 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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