Another Canoe ripped off

[Chicago Bob]

I was planning to paddle the lower Caddo this afternoon. I dropped off my canoe at the Glenwood access at 2:10 and proceeded to the Amity take-out, dropped off my van and returned to Glenwood at 2:40 to find my Green Mad River Reflection gone. Also taken were my 25 year old Hershok p.f.d. My Werner 230 c.m. kayak paddle, a mohawk canoe paddle, a 70 throw bag and rope, and the lock and cable with which I had locked the boat. The hull number on the boat is WEMWHOGSC212. I had locked the boat to a scrub willow which was small enough to allow being bent over, thus enabling the cable to be slipped over the top. BOB

[Twindad]

Sympathies, Bob. Do you have another boat to paddle?

[sig]

Oh man that sucks! Let us know if you need to borrow anything and we'll watch Craigslist for ya.

[Cowper]

A lot of times a stolen boat is never seen again. But every once in awhile the thief screws up and steals something that to him is just another boat, but that to us stands out like a sore thumb. That happened when they stole the Moore's raft; when some folks who obviously were not paddlers came tooling down the Cossatot one day in that puppy, with sub-standard equipment except for the raft itself, they left the river wearing handcuffs (THANKS Cossatot rangers!).

I'm hoping this could be the case with Bob's canoe. IMO, the Dagger reflection is a relatively higher end canoe with lines that, to us, are quickly recognized as a nice river touring canoe, not just another Old town DIscovery, Buffalo Canoe, or other similar "general purpose whitewater" type design. Bob, please correct me, but I believe most also have wood gunwales and relatively nice cane or wicker seats.

Another dead give-away in this case would be Bob's canoe-length double blade paddle. If you see someone in a Green Dagger Reflection using a double blade Werner paddle, classic gold fiberglass blades, that is the boat! If you see someone in a Dagger reflection that has been painted to some color other than green, that is probably the boat. If you see someone in a kayak with a too-long Werner whitewater paddle, that might even be the paddle. (Obviously, I'm gambling that the thief is one of the ~99.9% of Arkansans who is not aware of this message board.)

I don't want to encourage anyone to get into any riverside arguments or fights; that could end very badly. You know before it starts you're dealing with someone that has a flawed character, what you don't know is how flawed, how crazy, or how armed they are. Be careful, just gather whatever information you can safely. That said, let's see if we can bring this one home to Papa.

Bob, if you know of any other distinguishing marks, please add that. Also, which length was it? (I've linked to a 17 footer but will update if you tell me otherwise.)

Just to give folks an idea of the lines on this boat, here is a link:
http://www.madrivercanoe.com/product/in ... lection_17" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Jim Krueger]

Bob,

I'm sure sorry this happened, even more so on my beloved Caddo river. Were you using the little Game and Fish access there or the highway access upstream at the Hwy 70 bridge? If you were using the G&F access, there's a residence right as you get to the river, they might have seen something. Any chance the boat could have come loose and drifted downstream?
The three major outfitters up there could possibly be of help in spotting it if it's seen in the area. If you like, let me know and I would be glad to contact them. I wish I could be of more help.

Best Regards
Jim

[Cowper]

I'll speak for Bob on the "floated downstream" part: No Way. River didn't rise, and Bob's been around the block enough times to not leave it cable locked but floating in the water. Although I can say I know of two cases where a boat was stolen and either just shoved off into the river or taken downstream a short distance and then abandoned, so I propose a downriver float in the next day or two to check that possibility.

Somebody pick a day; I've never seen that part of the river and I'm up for a "special mission". Also, let me know, how many shoals?

[Jim Krueger]

Yeah, I knew that was the case when I when I asked such a silly question, just grasping at straws. I too thought about a downstream survey, and would be pleased to help with that, however Wednesday would be the earliest I am free this week. The river is indeed low, the float is in the 8.5 mile range, with some two dozen shoals and riffles. I think it's going to feature quite a bit of dragging unless we get a little dab of rain tomorrow.

Jim

[hdh]

Anyone got a pic of it , do we can post it FB also

[MissEllie]

I am sure that a police report was made - as for me I am calling my insurance agent to double check my coverage.

If a photo is posted I would be happy to help contacting pawn shops to alert them..... if they don't dump it, Craig's List or sell it out the back of their truck I would bet on a pawn shop.

There is low & there is low....

[Chicago Bob]

Thanks to every for all of your concern. The Canoe was a Mad River Reflection 15, which is actually 15.4 long and features web seats and vinyl gunwales. Mad River has pictures of the boat on their web site.The canoe will be discontinued in 2014. Both the paddle a 230 cm Werner Sherpa with gold blades and the P.F.D. a Hershok a 25 year old British design are unique. I thank everyone for your offers of gear but I have spare boats, paddles and P.F.D.s. Its just a matter of money which I can bare. The irony is that when I was writing my Illinois Guide Book I left an earlier Dagger version of the same boat in downtown Chicago unlocked and returned over an hour later to find it unmolested. I ordered a new boat paddle and throw bag from O.O.O. today and will be back in business in December. Thanks again to everyone this is a great club. BOB

[Moniker]

I live in Mena,this is not the sort of thing that can be allowed in my neighborhood.

[MissEllie]

I just talked to my agent... Shawn with Perry County Farm Bureau. He is working on a rider for me. Looks like I can cover my four kayaks, paddles, PFDs, skirts and other misc. gear for about $125.00 per year & will have $5K of coverage with a $50.00 deductable. I will be covered for any loss any place any time. He will get back to me with final numbers.

Right now I am covered under my home owners if taken off my property with $1,000.00 standard deductable.

Pisses me off that the "good guys" have to take such action & pay good money because of some "bad guys".

[Canoe_Codger]

I detest thieves with a passion. Some years ago my old beater canoe was stolen here. It was not worth much but it was mine and the only canoe I had at the time. Last Monday I came home from work to find that my back door had been kicked in and my house tossed. They took my laptop, cameras, knife collections, cash and wrecked my desktop. Fortunately they did not touch my canoes. I have them chained and padlocked to the rack, but we all know how easy that is to defeat for a determined thief. No insurance coverage and I am down about $4,500 in stuff I worked hard to earn and cannot afford to replace. But... a friend in Arizona was just stabbed in a mugging in his town, so I am reminded that things could have been much worse had I come home a few minutes earlier and interrupted the thieves while they were loading up my hundreds of knives. Did I mention that I detest thieves?

Michael

[okieboater]

My heart goes out to the folks going thru stolen canoe and home invasion.

I remember in the early days just leaving boats or a little shuttle motor bike ( I had a little honda type 90cc so called dirt bike) that was left on the Cossatot all the time for shuttle back in the day and it never was touched.

I don't know the reason but things sure have changed in our country.

When I moved out here (Tulsa OK) in the mid '70's, It was rare to read about a murder, rape IE violent crime.

Now, it is common for murders every week it seems sometimes several.

Never knew of a home invasion, now they are reported on the news almost daily. Some just involve thief, often the home owner gets beat up and sometimes killed.

Car jacking and drive by shootings. Happen all the time. Women with packages walking to their car at night even in major big box store centers are a favorite target.

Bottom line, might be better reporting, but seems to me like more and more thieves and bad guys in the general public than I can remember. We all have to look out for each other, more than ever.

[Moniker]

One time(a long time ago)when I lived in the country and someone asked why I did'nt lock my doors,I replied"If I locked my doors it would be too hard for people to get in if they needed to borrow something."
When I went by to check on a vacant property I'm buying in rural Sebastian County last weekend I saw someone had already started helping with the renovation by removing the wiring.It gave me great satisfaction to see a report in the Ft.Smith media of two copper thieves being arrested in the same area the next day.I still won't leave anything of value unattended there.
Hopefully the new process of making pseudoephedrine will catch on(it can't be used to make meth in a profitable manner).