Gang,
My canoe has found its way home. It was stolen by an unknown group of people, current police case pending. Apparently these people have 8 other canoes.
It was traded or sold to some fellow paddler that notified the Kai Waa Canoe Reps looking for Iakos and a seat.
This threw red flags for the Kai Waa rep contacted me.
Long story, short: I picked up the canoe last night.
There was no damage to the canoe but it was stripped of all decals, plugs were removed and the bungee cargo ropes where swapped out with a different color rope.
The only way I could identify the boat was two chips from that i made from my paddle along the foot wells.
Lessons Learned from the experience and the cops:
1) Lock up boats
2) Need to engrave a serial number... According to cops, if some one walks in your yard and takes boat paddling and you see them. Just having stickers does not allow the police to differentiate the boat. Have a VIN number or a picture of specific DINGS or DAMAGE. MARK IT!
3) Never store Iakos and Seat with canoe... This was the one thing that saved me...
4) Lastly, get a camera system for your house. The officer said that houses that have advertised camera systems or alarm systems hardly get robbed in looking at large percentages of robberies. Robbers are going for the lowest hanging fruit. (Basic 4 Camera System with DVR is $250.00 and buy a sign advertising it.)
Special Thanks to Kea Paiaina, Mike Pederson and Derrick Esbill for their Aloha and assistance in the canoe recovery.
Thanks again to everyone...
~Lee
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Last seen this morning Dec 16th on boat rack in yard. It only could have been taken in the last four hours.
Boat is a red almost pinkish top with white bottom. It also has red ama.
Boat was taken from Kailua / Lanikai home without iakos and seat. It has the pa'a racing number on it 184.
My paddler friends please keep and eye out and a $300 reward if returned, no questions asked.
Thanks,
~Lee
542-6913
Submitted by lliddell on Thu, 12/16/2010 - 1:16pm
Boat stealers! Lowest of the low! I hope you get it back.
#1 Thu, 12/16/2010 - 2:51pm
WTF? That's some balls & MAJOR stupidity!
Very bad mojo in the water on a stolen boat IMO .
#2 Thu, 12/16/2010 - 9:12pm
In thinking about this, whoever stole this OC-1 is connected to and very aware of the paddling community.
They didn't steal an older model OC-1 but took one of the best canoes. Someone out there knows who this is.
#3 Fri, 12/17/2010 - 11:12am
If my canoe came up missing I would first ask my wife. She threatened to destroy my canoe's several times recently. She even busted up a several surf boards. My only guess is that; she perceives that I play too much with them.
Hope you find the canoe and the perpetrator of the heinous act. Marara.
#4 Fri, 12/17/2010 - 6:17pm
The canoe will probably be used to repair identical canoes that have been damaged? Watch out! This could be an early warning that there might exist a "chop shop" for highly popular canoes?
#5 Fri, 12/17/2010 - 9:17pm
i highly doubt that the thief/thieves were specifically targeting a scorpius xm. why? because oc-1 paddling community is relatively small and tight-knit, if a paddler pops up with a new/different boat questions are gonna be asked. more likely a random theft by some crackheads or young kids with shit for brains. same with the chop shop theory; a scorpius xm is heavily damaged, are they gonna use the stolen boat for parts? what parts?? are they gonna graft the boats together? doubt it, not too many people can do that and the ones who are good at it would probably get the word out about what was going on. bruddah, unless the boat is trashed, i think there's a very good chance you'll be getting it back. too many good people in the paddling community, all watching for your boat. you going get 'em back!
#6 Fri, 12/17/2010 - 9:51pm
canoe chop shop. that's a good one.
#7 Fri, 12/17/2010 - 10:23pm
Since the thief/thieves don't make off with the seat or iakos, one of the first thiings you should do if you haven't already is to contact Kai Wa'a (and their reps) and let them know to be on the lookout for anyone recently ordering those items.
The same goes for the rest of us in watching out for anyone asking about any extra seat and iakos they can get, borrow or buy off you.
As for chop shop, if they can't get the iakos, they may try making a "Franken Canoe" with whatever other parts from another canoe to get it on the water. So be aware of your canoe parts after a run. Think twice about where you park if you have to stop somewhere with your canoe on your truck or leave it unattended.
#8 Fri, 12/17/2010 - 11:27pm
or they had a boat already that they smashed or broke. might show up with a different paint job than their original boat.
#9 Sat, 12/18/2010 - 1:07am
In the absence of a repair mold, the next best way for repair is to cut and "graft."
#10 Sat, 12/18/2010 - 4:04am
Only "chronics" would be stupid enough to steal an OC1, unless there is an ex wife or girl friend in the equation. Hope you find your boat in its original condiiton. Better yet finding the thief also would be sweet. Kaaawa posse is on the lookout.
#11 Sat, 12/18/2010 - 8:01am
Probably you right KGB:
In Lanikai, in broad daylight, with pinkish deck and red hull, the thieves knew what they wanted. The canoe is probably now in one shipping tube, in transit for somebody's sweetheart on the mainland? There's only one road in and out of Lanikai, so the thieves (or thief) were pretty sophisticated for not being seen or noticed.
#12 Sat, 12/18/2010 - 8:38am
think that when he was referring to ex-wives/girlfriends he meant that maybe they were getting revenge or acting stupid. not that somebody stole the boat for a "sweetheart" on the mainland. LOL!
#13 Sat, 12/18/2010 - 10:46am
Everyone Thanks for looking out for the boat. At this point the boat is still a no show.
Everyone from builders to repair people have been notified. Other islands are on the lookout as well as shipping companies.
I'll post some pics on Monday.
Thanks again to everyone and please watchout for your toys too.
~Lee
#14 Sat, 12/18/2010 - 6:08pm
Also watch out for any "new" canoe builders.
When the boat comes back, I bet its gonna be all buffed out and slippery from mold release wax.
Sorry for your loss lliddell.
aloha,
pog
#15 Sat, 12/18/2010 - 9:58pm
Kind of off topic but I was just wondering. What is the safe way to go about buying a used canoe from someone not knowing if it is stolen? esp if the boat has been refurnished/painted.
#16 Sun, 12/19/2010 - 4:40pm
if you're really that worried about your purchase, just get a notarized bill of sale. most banks have a notary public and it only costs like five bucks. both parties produce id's,sign and bill of sale gets notarized. kinda getting carried away eh? "new canoe builder" is gonna start building knock-off xm's? some peolple's imagination runnin' wild!
#17 Sun, 12/19/2010 - 8:26am
FYI Lilo,
Only from MY recent experience ...... Needed a notary a couple times in the past month .. Banks here ( Big Island ) do NOT have a notary ... Credit Unions do but only for members. Had to get a private Notary and it was 15 and the other one was 20.00.
Gonna sound like a dick here but I know of two recent model canoes which had major sections molded off other ( non same brand ) boats. It would be too obvious to copy a complete boat yeah ? But EZ to copy the 'meat' of a design and make it look like ones own. " New" canoe builder was intended as tongue in cheek. " knock off " was YOUR imagination talking.
aloha,
pog
#18 Mon, 12/20/2010 - 9:06am
New photos attached above
#19 Mon, 12/20/2010 - 9:20am
Eh! Pog: is that what you call a hapa canoe? For somebody who like experiment and have time for cut two different canoes in half and glam on the parts for see how they perform seems interesting or lolo?
Anyway, the last time somebody made flops in Hawaii, they got punched out.
#20 Mon, 12/20/2010 - 1:30pm
Some stupid idiots steeling your OC1. I hope you get it back and find out who stole it!! I'll definitely look out for an OC1 with the orange 184 number on it when I'm out paddling.
#21 Mon, 12/20/2010 - 5:18pm
I hope you find your canoe. I let my dad, Paul Gay, know in case the idiot brings it for repair, or if he hears about it or sees it when he makes the beach rounds every morning by Kailua Beach Park. Good luck - my eyes/ears are open.
#22 Mon, 12/20/2010 - 9:31pm
Hi Koa,
Nah, the kind of person doing this is just looking to crank something new out with little to no R&D hence go for the newest / coolest thing. NOT saying its happening here. Too much attention ... They would borrow one or do it while repairing. Remember the blatent copy of the Epic V-10 ? http://surfski.info/latest-news/item/82-v10-copy-again--now-with-poll-.html
Sorry to sidetrack this thread.
Did you let Young Brothers know to look out for it too ?
aloha,
pog
#23 Tue, 12/21/2010 - 1:50am
yo guy's
jus jumped on this thread and could'nt help but read through it. I will be on the look out too. I race pa'a too. you catch'um u beat the sht out of um... then u get the canoe back! LOL
#24 Tue, 12/21/2010 - 2:36pm
Sup canoeman1? I agree about the means of settling the matter just prior to taking recovery of the boat. A good O'o would be an appropriate instrument for the thief to remember this occasion.
#25 Tue, 12/21/2010 - 7:37pm
Stealing a watercraft of any sort in Hawaii is just plain dumb. Even though you may not know the owner, you know who rides what. I once borrowed my friends surfboard and as I sat in the lineup I had two guys ask me about the owner of the board.
Maybe it's just me, but I tend to look at what other people are riding.
#26 Wed, 12/22/2010 - 10:58am
Glad you got it back! It's a small island. See you on the water!
#27 Thu, 12/23/2010 - 9:00am
Wonderful!!!!! Now, who this "group?" And whose 8 canoes are those? Time for the oo.
#28 Thu, 12/23/2010 - 1:32pm
lliddell. right on brah, told you that you was gonna get your boat back. island too small and paddling community too tight -knit to hide one boat like a xm. one way or another, somebody gonna know about the boat and say something. forget about all that talk about the thief/thieves stealing one boat to make a mold, ridiculous! if someone was gonna do that they woulda jus borrow one xm or pueo. glad you got your boat back and see you at the burn-off. also, maybe let us know the names of the thief/thieves in case we know them and they paddle. wouln't want to see them around my boat. your x-mas is merry already, aloha!
#29 Thu, 12/23/2010 - 5:10pm
"Borrow" is more right on it lilo
aloha,
pog
#30 Thu, 12/23/2010 - 11:32pm
Good to hear Lee. Hope they caught the people responsible for the theft.
Just wondering was there traces of mold release and wax left on the canoe? Or maybe they read this OC Paddler and cleaned it very well!
Thunder
#31 Fri, 12/24/2010 - 9:18am
just curious why everyone is sold on the idea that someone is making a mold?
so many easier ways to go about it than steal a canoe. couldn't anyone just borrow the demo, make a mold, then take it back? seriously... there are so many scorpius XM, pueo, and OC boats out there that anyone at any time could borrow and copy one without arousing all the suspicion of actually stealing a boat. if you are modifying the boat isn't it legal to make a copy and then tweak it a certain percentage to call it your own?
my guess is the boat was stolen simply to make a buck. it's the holiday season and people get more desperate this time of year.
don't all boats have a serial number on them? i know at least one manufacturer that used to stamp each boat with a serial number in the cockpit but not sure about the rest.
#32 Fri, 12/24/2010 - 10:19pm
#33 Fri, 12/24/2010 - 11:51pm
Glad to here your boat has been recovered.
I too am curious why there is no manufacturers serial number. I thought all boats manufactured in the US, and those imported into the US, are supposed to have a unique hull identification number (HIN). Every boat I've owned has had one.
#34 Sat, 12/25/2010 - 4:03pm
I know Outrigger Connection's Mirages/M2 and Makaha models always had HIN's on the front and back walls.They've since began putting similar individual serial numbers on all OC-1's and OC-2 they manufactured after August 2009. These are located in the seatwell area and tail and are embossed out of the mold. From what I was told by Karel Jr when I bought my Osprey in Sept '09 was that a Coast Guard Rep had told them it was required on all their models they sell and not just the 4 and 6 man.
Don't know why the other builders/makers haven't started doing it yet since it would help tracking it better in cases of a lost/stolen/recovered craft.
#35 Sun, 12/26/2010 - 3:08am