Yachts moored in the Bay of Islands near Suva were hit by a wave of robberies, with goods worth more than $6000 stolen in 1979.
According to an article published by The Fiji Times on November 15 that year, thieves using punts under the cover of darkness took a rich haul from 12 yachts, with a female decoy suspected to have been used in one case.
The boat owners were scared of leaving their boats unattended in the bay off the Tradewinds Hotel at Lami. It was the latest in a series of raids when the 20-tonne Auckland yacht Lady Sterling was cleaned out of about $1500 worth of goods.
Her owner, George Kelsall, found the yacht burgled when he returned after going for a meal from about 7 to 8pm.
The haul included a movie camera, radio, binoculars, stereo set, watch, cassettes, clothes and beer.
Mr Kelsall said the thieves must have used a crowbar to break open a bolted-on lock. A friend on another yacht reported seeing someone board the yacht from a white punt.
Connie Myers from the United States, who was looking after a yacht moored in the bay, said there had been 12 robberies with losses of more than $6000.
Ms Myers said she knew of one case in which a yachtsman was “set up” by his Fijian girlfriend.
She said the girl arranged to meet him at the bar but didn’t turn up. The man waited for about an hour and when he returned to his yacht, he found he had been cleaned out of almost everything.
“We told the police that we suspected the girl was an accomplice, but it was not until days later that they began looking, and by that time she had disappeared,” Ms Myers said.
“We haven’t seen her since.”
She said her yacht, Castaway, had also been robbed of “everything from radios and electric tools to pots and pans”.
Lami Police Station officer Inspector Ambika Prasad said three recent reports of yacht robberies were being investigated.
CID director Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Chandra Deo Sharma said the police were concerned at the increasing number of robberies from yachts.
The police had a patrol boat operating in the area, but the robberies still occurred.
The article concluded with SSP Sharma appealing to the public to inform police if they witness anyone suspicious near yachts in the Bay of the Islands.
