First-person Report: December 20, 2019

Date: 12/20/2019
Port: San Diego, Bravo dock for dingies

I left my dinghy locked up at the dinghy dock overnight. The outboard and fuel tank were locked to the dock with a large diameter cable and horseshoe type bike lock. When I got back, the cable had been almost cut through, and my fuel line to my auxiliary fuel tank was missing. Had they been successful cutting the cable, they could have easily walked away with everything.

I’m currently anchored in cruisers anchorage A6 in San Diego bay. Other cruisers have told me similar stories. Oars going missing, fuel being siphoned, etc.

The dinghy docks here in San Diego are absurdly unsafe, unlit, unmonitored, unmaintained… homeless people are always loitering and sleeping at the top of the docks. Countless abandoned dingies are chained up to the dock and make it extremely difficult to use.

I did not report the incident. It doesn’t seem worth it. I have a spare fuel line. A new bike cable won’t cost much.

Follow-up December 24, 2019

Just a followup on this report. I’ve talked with two other cruisers in this anchorage (A-9, “cruisers’ anchorage”) who both had incidents in the past week. One of them had their entire dinghy stolen. The other had their outboard stolen. Both were locked up at the dinghy dock with padlocks and cables, both were cut.

Cruisers in San Diego should be advised to not leave their dinghies at the dinghy dock overnight. If they must, then leave the outboard and anything else (fuel tanks, fuel lines, etc.) on your boat at the anchorage and then paddle your dinghy to the dock. And don’t leave your paddles in the boat – they will get stolen as well!

Gabriel Harriman 

San Diego Noonsite Information

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The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the view of Noonsite.com or World Cruising Club.