Further to my message of last weekend:

"Mike Sullivan was kiting at Trigg on Saturday afternoon and became separated from his Peter Lynn Phantom 12. Around 5ish he eventually caught up with it way up the beach, wrapped it up and placed it in a sand dune while he returned to recover his board.
As he was running back towards the kite he saw a couple with 2 white dogs load his kite into the boot of a white sedan. It is just possible that these people were doing the right thing......."

I am very pleased to report a happy ending. Safety Bay kitesurfer Steve (Darce) Duggan grabbed an early copy of today's "Quokka" and found a bargain, a Peter Lynn Phantom 13 (not 12) at the bargain price of only $300!!! He called me to say that he was going to check it out to see if it was the missing kite. I mentioned to him that Mike's kite has a small repair in the front left corner from a snagged stick. I called Mike Sullivan to check out where he was and passed on Darce's number.
Sure enough, the kite was Mike's. Darce called Mike, waited for him and both returned to take another look at the kite.
They managed to convince this prick that he had a choice of giving them back the kite or discussing the rightful ownership with the local constabulary. The fact that Mike showed him the bag that the kite lived in may have helped!

Sincere thanks to Darce for being a bloody-good-bloke and upholding the highest quality of the kitesurfing community by helping out a fellow kiter even though he didn't know him. He now has yet another mate!!

Thanks also to Seabreeze for providing this forum allowing instant communication to the kitesurfing world.

PS Darce reckoned it was a 'steal' at 300 bucks........... :)

Hooray, a happy ending.... merry christmas

G'day Louie and Carl... :)

You're right of course, however, the law just isn't that easy! The last time I was involved in a similar situation about $3K worth of stunt kites were stolen from a students stolen car. One arrived in my shop 3 years later. I set the cops onto the dude who sold them from the "Quokka". He fronted me the following day and was not a happy chappy! He had BOUGHT the kites and had a receipt to prove it, from

A POLICE AUCTION !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When the kites were found, the cops hadn't even bothered to check their own stolen property list!

In the mean time, they took the said kites as evidence for over a year! I had to lend the unfortunate end buyer some of my gear.

So, I figure that Priority One is to get the gear back. We will of course report the incident to the cops but they just ain't getting the evidence!!

cheers

NeilT

Similar story.
Found my stolen board through a Quokka ad (co-incidentally also in Rockingham ).
Went to the cops only to be told they couldnt (wouldnt) do anything to assist getting it back because I had already seen the board and therefore could just be claiming it as mine by description !!
BUT - cop this (unintentional pun) - even though I had a receipt & had the local retailer who sold it to me prepared to identify the board and confirm my purchase.
When I suggested that Id have to get a mate or two to return & collect the board I was issued with an 'official' warning that to even enter this dudes property with the intention of removing ANY property is a criminal offense which I WOULD BE charged with on the back of any complaint received.

Its a crazy world we live in - got the board though

For the record (or to avoid one)
Apparently if you suspect you know the whereabouts of any stolen goods you must
1) report them stolen - officially with description blah blah blah.
2) inform the police of your suspicions & reasons for blah blah blah
Then they will either escort you there for an ID or you can go check & report back that the reported stolen goods have been located.
JUST DONT TAKE THEM OR ITS TURNED ON ITS HEAD AGAINST YOU.
If the holder of the goods gets rid of them before the police return you are stuffed - end of story.
If the holder of the goods still has them but disputes your claim to ownership the goods will be impounded until the matter is sorted in court !

PS (edited in) sounds very anti-cop - sorry - its not.
Its the system that sucks not the cops. They probably find it far more of a hassle than us 'public'. They have to work with it everyday.

"He who enjoys most - WINS"