Gizo police hunts culprit and missing iPads
BY BEN BILUA
GIZO police are on the lookout for a thief who stole two IPads from a yacht belonging to a German sailor.
Island Sun spoke with the sailor about what happened early Saturday morning.
Hilde Larsen said the incident took place around 5am.
“I woke up early around 5am to get ready for the day. As I walked to my shower room, I saw something besides my boat. At first, I thought it was a piece of timber upon closer look I realized it was a dugout canoe.
“I shouted at the person because it was the only weapon at my disposal. He left and paddled towards the village across Gizo (Nusabaruku), this does not mean that this person is from Nusabaruku.
“I went back inside my boat and open my windows to improve ventilation. I came out and called the police. It was at this time that I heard a noise at the front of my boat. I thought it was my cat that made the noise to my surprise, my cat was sitting in front of me. I ran into my room to see my clothes scattered and two of my IPads were missing.
“I came out but the thief already took off, paddling towards the mangrove area at the western end of Gizo shoreline,” she said.
The 64-year-old sailor said she has reached out to the police and hopes the police will help return her stuff.
She said the IPads have all her documents including navigation maps and contacts.
Larsen said the incident gives a bad image to the sailing community worldwide.
But she said she loves the Solomon Islands and will continue to paint a good picture of the Solomon Islands to the sailing community.
“The sailing community has its own network where they communicate everywhere in the world. The Solomon Islands is among other countries that sailors are always cautious to travel to unlike Vanuatu, Fiji, and New Caledonia.
“In the sailing world, most sailors always avoid reporting issues to the police. They get along with the nightmare they faced but the reputation of the countries will be tarnished.
“I took a different approach, I report the matter to the police and will continue to promote the Solomon Islands to attract more sailors.
“The only thing the Solomon Islands can do is to stop such incidents from happening,” Larsen said.
She hopes the police will locate her stuff.
Larsen also called on Gizo’s residents to help look out for any person who may want to sell the IPads.
Island Sun understands that a similar incident occurred last month to sailors at Gizo.
