Yep. Check ebay, craigslist and the Concord flea market for the fishing equipment, boat accessories and the engine parts.
Cranksters are quick to strip all of the metal parts from the boats and turn them in for money at the metal recycling places. They have been known to cut up an entire boat trailer and turn it into a pile of metal scrap within a couple of hours too.
A seller will get much more by selling off the parts of a motor than selling off the entire motor, plus there is less risk of being caught due to watchful victims, law enforcement and serial numbers...
Remember, they are looking for quick money. Or should I say, quick cash...
When I took our motorhome back to storage at the Sugar Barge last w/e, I saw handmade signs about the thefts posted on poles and tree's.
One thing that they didn't install on that fancy new B.I. bridge was a simple overhead camera. One way in and one way out and yet the county goes cheap on an observation camera. Law enforcement asked for it, but due to it not being in the "budget", it was denied.
Most stolen boats are moved to a location just minutes from where the theft occurred and then stripped of everything of value and then the carcass is towed to another location for dumping. All in one night.
In these cases, the suspects are either residents of the island or know someone that lives there that has a garage or barn that they can do their stripping in. As far as the boats that are in the water goes, they use electric motors on small prams or inflatables or cartoppers and tow the stolen boat out of its berth and to a ramp where their tow vehicle and stolen trailer are waiting. Most ramps are not locked, manned or don't have camera's, so they are easy to access and remove the stolen boat from.
