Burglary

It has taken some time to bring ourselves to write this blog entry even though we have talked about it elsewhere and with people we know.

We awoke in good time on Saturday 2nd April as Mike and the two girls had a train to catch so that they could be returned home. After starting to get up Mike went to make sure that the mobile hotspot was turned on but the phone was nowhere to be seen. We looked in all possible places where it might have hidden itself but to no avail. We even tried ringing it but discovered that it was switched off.

Suspecting that something sinister might have happened, Mike quickly donned some clothes in order to go outside. When he came to open the rear doors he found that they were fastened from the outside. Going round from the other end he discovered that one of the spare locker padlocks (there is little of value beyond gas bottles which cannot readily be removed anyway) had been hooked over the rear doors and hatch.

By now it was clear that we had been burgled whilst asleep and any lingering doubts were eliminated when we also spotted that the laptop was also missing, along with its power lead.

We range the police immediately (using Christine's phone)  and they promised to get back to us. Meanwhile, Mike rang Three to ensure that the number was blocked as soon as possible.

Not long after, we had a call on Christine's phone (just proves than having two is not sill after all) to say that an officer was at Napton Narrowboats and how could they find us. It was easiest for Mike to walk quickly to the car park, only a couple of minutes away, and to meet with the officer who then came to the boat. She took details and compiled a statement. As it had been raining, it was not worth calling forensics. About the only really useful thing about this process is that we get a crime number to use when making an insurance claim. In today's economic priorities, small scale burglary does not warrant much of an investigation and so there is unlikely to be any action unless the serial numbers turn up in a much larger haul. Nevertheless, all our contact with the police over this has been very professional and courteous even if sometimes it does take quite a long time for the phone to be answered on follow-up calls. (Why don't they use email as an option?)

We suspect that the intruder must have sussed out the items in the evening whilst it was still light - everything alas points to someone who is familiar with boats who could gain entry and make a quick getaway without waking us or the two girls who were just a few feet away. We are not sure how in detail they gained access as the doors were bolted on the inside - otherwise they swing open. Nothing else, apart from a spare mooring spike, was taken, even the hook we use on the outer stern doors to prevent them from swinging in a wind was neatly hooked back on one door!

The main frustration, apart from all the effort to replace the missing items and to set them up again, is that all of the photos from the trip were stored on the laptop.

What somewhat comes to mind is that these items are unlikely to fetch more than a few pounds on the black market and without access to illegal equipment neither can be used. yet, despite the very high risk of being caught, someone is so desperate for cash that they would do this.

We managed to recover sufficiently (or at least Mike did!) to set off in good time to catch a bus into Wolverhampton from the nearest road. We managed to get to the train station very efficiently and had a bit of a wait before the time for our train to Reading where we changed onto one for the shorter segment to West Drayton.

Here we met with Adrian who was collecting the girls and who kindly dropped Mike off at Packet Boat where the car was parked. (Adrian and Joanna had had a good time on their mini-break)

The drive back to Wolverhampton was straightforward and as scheduled. In fact Mike arrived at the supermarket where Christine had asked him to meet up with her to save her carrying shopping back to the boat, before she did.

Next day we moved across to Oxley Marine where we are leaving the boat in their tender care to lift it out for bottom blacking and possibly some work on the stern tube. The quinquennial Boat Safety Examination is also due and hopefully will be done during this time when we are back home.

The drive home was - in the circumstances fortunately - uneventful!