Under the heading "Thieves have eyes - take your keys with you" The Bayside Leader reminds us that Bayside police have warned beach-goers to stop leaving their keys on top of their car tyres when thay park on the foreshore.

Bayside Sgt Bruce Rigoni says thieves could easily spot the keys. [KBV adds: they are also likely to be watching for new beach arrivals!]

Ironically Sgt Rigoni said people left their keys on their tyres because they didnt want to lose them or have them stolen while at the beach.

He also warned motorists not to leave valuables such as GPS units, luggage, and wallets [KBV: and kiteboards/gear] in their cars. "If you are going to do that be prepared to lose your goods" he said.

Sgt Rigoni said a number of thefts from vehicles parked at the beach grew during the summer. Police crime statistics show there were more than 700 thefts from motor vehicles in Bayside alone during 2009/10 and 110 cars stolen.

KBV says: This problem is not unique to Bayside - KBV has received similar reports from St Kilda and other areas - Obviously it requires a bit more care on our part to lock gear securely [in the boot] where it cannot be seen from the street - but do it - and TAKE YOUR KEYS WITH YOU.

Become a "water-skippy" - get a waterproof pouch!

Marine Safety Vic has great promotional waterproof pouches on a fat ribbon to hang it around your neck - they can house a mobile phone and your keys and providing they are not stuffed too full can fit snugly and safely under your wetsuit. Check transportsafety.vic.gov.au/maritime-safety for these free pouches or simply contact them.

the dilemma:

there is maybe/maybe not just enough wind to get out there.

you decide to go down and pump up and mooch about waiting for the extra 0.75 knot to convince you its on.

you are updating your http://www.baywx.com/ every 4 minutes (despite that you know it only updates every half hour) on your techPhone.

now to the dilemma: leave your expensive phone at home? leave the phone IN the car (hidden of course)? leave the phone in your shorts pocket/ 'hidden' (not) pocket in your bag/ with your gear on the beach??

clearly you want it in hand waiting about on the beach to confirm/deny that the wind is picking up further down the bay... hmmm.

hey KATANI!! heres and idea. buy a cheapo monitor, and a dirty cheap PC. log it onto Baywx.com. stick it in your window. we will come, we will look... and... if the reading is <14 knots... we may even begin to browse and make an impulsive frustrated SPEND!!!!

(straying from the topic i agree... but a positive contribution maybe )

chino said...

craggers said...

hey KATANI!! heres and idea. buy a cheapo monitor, and a dirty cheap PC. log it onto Baywx.com. stick it in your window. we will come, we will look... and... if the reading is <14 knots... we may even begin to browse and make an impulsive frustrated SPEND!!!!

I still think that these guys need to rent out lockers for people to lock up their valuables. It would solve the key problem for us, and bring in a bit of cash and more foot traffic for them.

With free waterproof bags from the Marine Safety and key logs which attach to any car why would you even want to?

Craggers the computer at the beach end of Katani is always available to check the wind!

Harumaki said...

Anyway, even a BIG display at Katani will not be worth ** to anyone at Brighton, Hampton, Altona, Rosebud etc AND THE TOPIC WAS THEFT AWARENESS - what the *&^%&^ has that to do with weather displays?????

chill North boy! (thats north of the border... boy).

just having a yarn mate... where ever that leads. it lead to phones being desirable to have on the beach to check the wind, but also being a nickin' target for nefarious types.

we could get BOM to invest in a blimp that they fly over the bay and project the baywx map/wind speed onto. then everyone in your list will benefit