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Re: Crime in the BVI
[Re: Shifty]
#108785
09/30/2016 03:10 PM
09/30/2016 03:10 PM
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Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 201 TN
msdj69
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 201
TN
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I haven't seen much myself and we finished our 6th charter in 7 years earlier this year. The only illegal activity I've noticed is the occasional marijuana deal. I've seen that happen several times in both CGB and JVD (around Foxy's).
We always take care to lock our dinghy. We've never had anything happen but it's better safe than sorry. I did notice some sketchy guys hanging around the dinghy dock at Trellis the last time we were there. I stayed near the dock while the gals shopped. I'm not sure if they were up to something but it looked suspicious.
Keep your stuff and dinghy locked up. Have a great time. As long as you don't do anything crazy, I believe the chance of something happening to your or your crew is pretty low.
Mike
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Re: Crime in the BVI
[Re: Shifty]
#108791
09/30/2016 04:09 PM
09/30/2016 04:09 PM
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 7,034 GA/NC
GeorgeC1
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 7,034
GA/NC
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Re: Crime in the BVI
[Re: TepeRacing]
#108794
09/30/2016 07:15 PM
09/30/2016 07:15 PM
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Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 814 Redmond, WA
MrEZgoin
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 814
Redmond, WA
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How we "feel" isn't always the most accurate measure of such things. That's why crime statistics are kept.
The murder rate in the BVI is still about twice the US average (though far lower than the USVI)
M4000 "Lio Kai"
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Re: Crime in the BVI
[Re: MrEZgoin]
#108795
09/30/2016 09:45 PM
09/30/2016 09:45 PM
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Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 2,390 Ill, USA
Will_L
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 2,390
Ill, USA
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MrEZgoin said: How we "feel" isn't always the most accurate measure of such things. That's why crime statistics are kept.
The murder rate in the BVI is still about twice the US average (though far lower than the USVI) if you are a tourist, what matters is the murder rate involving tourists. It is small or non existent in the BVIS. If I travel to Chicago and stay on Michigan avenue, I am quite confident I will not be a murder victim, while the murder rate is very high. That is not a feeling, it is a statistic that when understood makes it likely a very safe place to visit. The other item is the extremely small population that makes one murder hugely skew statistics..so from one year to the next, if you have no murders..great, if you have one, then the per capita murder rate is huge compared to more populous countries.
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Re: Crime in the BVI
[Re: TepeRacing]
#108796
10/02/2016 06:15 AM
10/02/2016 06:15 AM
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Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 256 42.99N 76.46W
jmon
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 256
42.99N 76.46W
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We too suffered great loses in the BVI. Last time we were there we lost our cares, our worries, our stress and our negativity. Bankie Banx of Anguilla sings, "Wasted worry will possess you". Go down, be careful and have fun.
Jeff Tug William B
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Re: Crime in the BVI
[Re: txjustin]
#108799
10/03/2016 08:44 AM
10/03/2016 08:44 AM
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 685 Roswell, GA
Armand28
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 685
Roswell, GA
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txjustin said: Never thought twice about crime in the BVI. Never felt uncomfortable or unsafe. Every time I leave my dinghy at the dock in CGB or Great Harbor Jost I can feel dozens of eyes staring hungrily at it waiting to pounce the moment I step out of sight...
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Re: Crime in the BVI
[Re: purplelily]
#108801
10/03/2016 02:49 PM
10/03/2016 02:49 PM
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Joined: Nov 2014
Posts: 1,049
StormJib
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Nov 2014
Posts: 1,049
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purplelily said: Yikes! Having your boat boarded while you sleep is scary. I'd have to say if I survived that, it'd definitely be my last "vacation" in the area. We never take anything of much value, though. They'd be risking life and limb for our dime store sunglasses, a cracked iphone 6, and some wet swimsuits... I think my sandals cost more than anything else I take, but they'd need to wear a size 7.
Where I live (TX), you shoot first and ask questions (drag the body in) later if someone has the cajones to enter your house without an invitation. I guess on a charter in the BVI, you'd just need to be a good aim with the flare gun and can of Raid. People impacted by drugs, needs, and illnesses can be anywhere. A shrub or corner near home or any anchorage/hotel. We should all be wary of looking like good bait. A cockpit full of bright iDevices at night looks like gold to some. To much flashy gold ashore or wads of cash flashed with each tab could be attractive to someone desperate anywhere. Leaving wallets on the nav table is really silly. Across the Carribean over four decades we have only been victims on Antigua. A very long time ago in a large rented villa. With more than 25 crew on a maxi sleeping someone came in and was taking wallets and anything else they could find out or in pockets after a late night pool party. We felt really dumb. We thought we were untouchable. Each afternoon at the end of racing the police had truck load of guys they rounded up with hats or shoes they thought match the description of some things taken. -One pair high tops with red shoe laces -One Donald Duck Hat -One pair rainbow socks The police simply rounded up anyone that new to be trouble maker wearing funny shoes, shocks, or hats for us to inspect as we back up to the dock at the end of racing. My two cents be less conspicuous than the other boats and crews around you. Do not leave out anything of any kind of value where it can easily seen through the portholes and hatches. Let somebody else be the easy juicy victim if the bad people become active. Try not to be so loudly and wildly obvious the entire boat crew is loading into the dinghy and leaving the boat empty for hours or returning to pass out when the time comes.
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Re: Crime in the BVI
[Re: Benny_Toe]
#108803
10/06/2016 06:48 PM
10/06/2016 06:48 PM
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Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 5,678 An island state of mind
tradewinds
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 5,678
An island state of mind
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Benny_Toe said: A few years ago we were staying on land for 3 days after the charter. Woke in the middle of the night to see a man on the room rummaging through our stuff. Ran off when I got up taking a back pack with him. Dropped it right outside them room. Called the police, they took a report and that was the last we heard about it. So, where was it and how many years ago? Being vague and cryptic doesn't help anyone. Have you been back since?
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Re: Crime in the BVI
[Re: Schwendy]
#108806
10/07/2016 12:42 PM
10/07/2016 12:42 PM
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Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 1,392 Maryland
Kirk
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 1,392
Maryland
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Schwendy said: For those of you that lock your dingy, how do you do it, what do you use? Do you lock to the boat davit as well or just when going ashore? I'm assuming you just lock the outboard somehow? I was surprised the charter company said nothing about securing the dingy on our trip. I thought they would even give us a lock. I too saw several people at CGB scoping out our dingy at the dingy dock. It was off season early last month and we were the ONLY one's on the beach. Went up to a bar to get a drink and came back to our towels and flip flops stolen where we were laying on the beach. Every charter I've been on we've had a long cable and a lock for the dinghy. We just make sure it goes through the engine and gas tank and then lock it to the dinghy dock. I do lock it to the boat overnight...but that's probably overkill...but better safe than the pain in the butt of losing the dink.
Kirk in Maryland
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Re: Crime in the BVI
[Re: Kirk]
#108807
10/07/2016 02:23 PM
10/07/2016 02:23 PM
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Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 1,951 St. John, USVI
RickG
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 1,951
St. John, USVI
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We lock our dinghy every night and every time we leave it ashore. We also lock our outboard to the transom and the stern rail. Your charter company should provide a cable, lock and key. Lots of stories every year about dinghies and outboards being stolen.
Cheers, RickG
S/V Echoes, 2003 Beneteau 423 Grenada
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Re: Crime in the BVI
[Re: RickG]
#108808
10/07/2016 05:04 PM
10/07/2016 05:04 PM
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Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 10,999 Macon, Georgia
GlennA
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 10,999
Macon, Georgia
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Always lock your dinghy! Dinghy theft is not high on law enforcement priorities. BVI judges tend to give local dinghy thieves 6 or 7 chances to "straighten out" before imposing any serious penalties.
Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. - Mark Twain
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Re: Crime in the BVI
[Re: Calvin]
#108810
10/07/2016 06:19 PM
10/07/2016 06:19 PM
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Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 1,198 Cape Coral Florida (Texas tran...
stoneyusaf
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 1,198
Cape Coral Florida (Texas tran...
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Two words that will help anyone...home or abroad...."WASP SPRAY!!" Believe it or not....Wasp Spray will do a number on a person from a long distance and doesn't run-out like pepper spray. I too am from Texas (live in FLA now) and you have to improvise when a gun isn't available.
https://www.tickerfactory.com/ezt/d/4;10765;405/st/20220331/e/USVI+and+BVI/dt/0/k/05ce/event.png
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Re: Crime in the BVI
[Re: Calvin]
#108811
10/08/2016 01:36 AM
10/08/2016 01:36 AM
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Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 348 Pittsburgh, PA
Schwendy
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 348
Pittsburgh, PA
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Calvin said: Do any of you know if The Moorings have dinghy locks? We have never been offered a lock and we have never asked for a lock. We did have a dinghy stolen in 2000 or 2002, I can't remember without looking it up. It seems the issue is more important now than it was back then. Thanks in advance. I planned on bringing some sort of cable and lock but figured Moorings would have something. Same thing for me! They didn't offer and I didn't think to ask. Too many other things going on and it slipped my mind. Next trip I'm definitely bringing some type of lock! When your dingy was stolen did the charter company deal with it or hit you up for the insurance deductible?
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Re: Crime in the BVI
[Re: Calvin]
#108813
10/08/2016 08:59 AM
10/08/2016 08:59 AM
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Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 2,040 Charlotte, NC
NCSailor
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 2,040
Charlotte, NC
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Calvin said: Do any of you know if The Moorings have dinghy locks? We have never been offered a lock and we have never asked for a lock. We did have a dinghy stolen in 2000 or 2002, I can't remember without looking it up. It seems the issue is more important now than it was back then. Thanks in advance. I have had Moorings boats that had a cable/lock on board and others without. Ask your boat briefer to locate the lock for you. If they can't find it ask them to get you one.
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Re: Crime in the BVI
[Re: stoneyusaf]
#108818
10/14/2016 09:26 AM
10/14/2016 09:26 AM
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Joined: Nov 2014
Posts: 1,049
StormJib
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Nov 2014
Posts: 1,049
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stoneyusaf said: Two words that will help anyone...home or abroad...."WASP SPRAY!!" Believe it or not....Wasp Spray will do a number on a person from a long distance and doesn't run-out like pepper spray. I too am from Texas (live in FLA now) and you have to improvise when a gun isn't available. There are many things that might work. Those things can come with risk. Not every jurisdiction allows another person to intentionally do harm to someone else with complete immunity. Hosing someone with a "poison" from a distance could easily land an american in many foreign jails far from home until the matter is resolved. My point, once you leave the borders of your home state. I would be very careful with the possession of anything that could be labeled a weapon or using any tool to do harm to someone else. That is not a political or moral statement. That is free amateur legal advice. The maritime standard is to order a stranger aboard to leave. If that fails you give them what they want.
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Re: Crime in the BVI
[Re: Rhindley]
#108820
10/21/2016 04:52 PM
10/21/2016 04:52 PM
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Joined: Nov 2014
Posts: 1,049
StormJib
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Nov 2014
Posts: 1,049
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Rhindley said: So .... Because the crime was really easy I guess that makes it ok. I'm tired of hearing all of the "you shouldn't have left your stuff out" comments. How about people should just leave other people's stuff alone. The boat wasn't in a high traffic area with all of our stuff on display.....but the current trend is to defend the criminals I guess... Crime is never OK, the same is true with touching someone or their stuff without permission. One of the facts of life is once you feed a stray animal they will keep coming back. When travelers before us make crime easy and lucrative the bad actors will repeat the bad acts. Be careful what you bring, be careful what you show or flash, do not be careless, and be careful where you leave stuff on the inside or outside of the boat. On land do not leave bags unattended will the entire group swims.
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Re: Crime in the BVI
[Re: StormJib]
#108821
11/16/2016 09:18 PM
11/16/2016 09:18 PM
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Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 47 San Francisco
Rock_Toy
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 47
San Francisco
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I have left bags out in open sight on land and on the boat and have never worried one bit. HOWEVER, we were assaulted on the Willy T on locals night a few years ago and then returned to our 2 Cats and found that we had been boarded and robbed: They made off with 2 laptops and a handful of phones. I inquired with the Willy T the next morning and they blamed it on the "locals", which were actually a bunch of hoodlums from St. Thomas.
Other than that one thing, we have never had an issue. Never lock up our dingy and usually just leave our bags lying where we drop them. Its a safe place...
Fast enough to get there, slow enough to see.
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