RandL_SBH
Reged: 02/10/05
Posts: 6
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I can unfortunately confirm that there were 3 robberies in Pt. Milou and one other near there the night of June 10th. My wife and I were in one of those villas robbed. Happened during the night while we were asleep and we lost a lot of electronics and misc. (safe to small to hold the expensive stuff) Neighbors also lost electronics and saw 2 men who were trying to enter their bedroom at about 4 AM. They were successfully scared away when they realized the couple was awake, hit the lights and made some noise. Working with police and villa managment on all the reports ect. and looking at insurance recoveries. What a pisser!!!
Other than that.... was a nice 11 days but about 1/3 of them were very hot! Top highlights included lunch at Santa Fe (if you haven't tried in the last 2 years, it is great under the new owner!), the Wall House closing party, dinner at Le Sapotillier for our anniversery (the night we were robbed which took the glow off the evening!), seeing Andy, and drinks regularly at Cocolobo (where a nice breaze was always waiting for us!) And finally, and the best, most days we had a lot of Saline or Gouverneur to ourselves.
Free Advice...For those going in the warmer months suggest avoiding western views with afternoon sun and getting on the windward side of the island.
Unfortunately we left on a downer and more than a little unnerved by the robbery. Undoubtedly will still be going back but concerned it will never be the same.
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Tammwi
Reged: 05/25/05
Posts: 29
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What a way to spend an anniversary! I am so sorry this happened to you but very happy that you and your bride are safe.
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Maureenm
Reged: 03/19/03
Posts: 185
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I am so glad that you and your wife are okay. These robberies are very upsetting. It is only a matter of time before someone gets hurt. the Pt Milou area has always been my favorite but this is making me think twice. it's a bit more isolated and the villas are mostly rental or absent owners, very few locals live out there. The St. Barth police need to get this under control. St.Barths is the only island where I would ever rent a villa. And that is because I have always felt safe there. This is seriously making me think twice about it. It seems to be happening way too often.
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nnoska
Reged: 04/06/04
Posts: 1100
Loc: philadelphia/jersey shore
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that really sucks ,i know what you mean about not being the same, st.barts is supposed to be safe etc. when something like this happens it leaves a bad taste in your mouth, i know it doesn't happen much but the luck of the draw, i know it will make me think about storing our laptop and other electronics, so sorry this happened to you.
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bebe0711
Reged: 03/09/05
Posts: 48
Loc: Monmouth County, NJ
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So sorry to hear about the robbery. Like someone else said, Thank God you and your wife were not harmed.
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Eileen
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Eric
Reged: 10/07/02
Posts: 679
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I don't mean to make light of this serious situation, but the other victim here is MikeR. He lives for these type of posts and he's not around to respond.
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bto
Reged: 04/10/03
Posts: 1452
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LOL, Eric,
Exactly what I was thinking! "Wait till MikeR hears this one." Don't worry, he'll dig this one up when he gets back from the island :)
Seriously, though, I'm glad you were both safe. I am in shock that this is happening in that area...especially having stayed there once before. It can happen anywhere, and the fact that it is mostly absentee owners makes sense....I was not aware of that.
Bev
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bto
Reged: 04/10/03
Posts: 1452
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I remember Tom thinking I was crazy for locking up all our "valuables," etc. when we'd leave the villa and at bedtime....the living area was all outside and we could lock the gate to it but still, I'd never leave anything laying out in the open...just habit.
How did these vandals enter the villas? Jump the fence?
And, what did the SB police have to say about it? When the couple who scared them hit the lights, were they able to catch anyone or get a good look?
bev
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MartinS
Reged: 05/25/03
Posts: 776
Loc: Anna Maria Island, Florida.
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We read about the burglaries in the paper a day or so ago. Someone entered our car and took change and a 50 euro from a small change purse we leave in the car. Happened at night in our villa driveway. We found the interior light on and the money missing when we headed out for morning coffee.
Martin
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You can rest when you're dead !!!
www.silentcaptain.com
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MartinS
Reged: 05/25/03
Posts: 776
Loc: Anna Maria Island, Florida.
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Last night at dinner we discussed this with a friend that lives on SBH. They said don't expect much from the island cops, regardless of your loss. Sorry.
Damn island cops,,,,,LOL
Martin
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You can rest when you're dead !!!
www.silentcaptain.com
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ashtangi
Reged: 06/10/05
Posts: 482
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Roger,
That certainly would be a downer for any of us, and since we're all in this together, it's a downer hearing this happened to you. It's such a violation, especially when you are on vacation. You could probably return to SBH once a year for the rest of your life and it would never happen again. SBH is a cherished part of my life and I figure if you're that lucky to go again and again..something unexpected is bound to happen. So figure you got yours out of the way.
I agree with you about the western view villas. Just came back from one and had perfect weather for 9 days...no way to escape the sun and you can't believe you actually want to.
Glad to hear you had fun too, and will return. The Wall House closing must have been special.
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LLee
Reged: 04/25/06
Posts: 6
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What villa were you staying in? Did they come into the bedroom or just the living area and did they take any of the owners electronics or just yours? Do you know the names of any of the other villas that were robbed?
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Chip
Reged: 10/02/02
Posts: 273
Loc: Richmond, VA
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The robbery of occupied villas is a very troubling development. The recurrent nature suggests that the problem cannot be written off to the misdeeds of departing temporary workers. My view of the island as a relatively carefree eden has already been changed.
Many villas cannot be readily secured because of the indoor/outdoor living areas.
Interesting that the thieves are not bothered by the multiple circulation alternees slowing egress from Pointe Milou; perhaps they are within walking distance.
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Chip
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georgedp
Reged: 06/22/04
Posts: 2804
Loc: Beautiful hunterdon county new...
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Burglaries of villas on SHB are not a new development. Friends of ours were broken into over Thanksgiving 2001 while they and their two young daughters were sleeping in their villa. Don't recall if they were staying at Pt. Milou or some other part of the island. I could probably accept the burglary of an unoccupied villa but what is more disturbing is the brazen nature of burglars that dare to burglarize an occupied villa. The possibility of someone getting injured or worse is very much there.
As far as the SBH gendarmes are concerned, I guess they are too busy operating sobriety roadblocks so they don't have the time to properly investigate the burglaries or take actions to nab the perpetrators.
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RandL_SBH
Reged: 02/10/05
Posts: 6
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Thanks for everyone's comments. Just want to address a few issues some have raised.
We had small things, and thankfully my wife's important/sentimental jewlery, in the safe but unfortunately it was not of the size that it could hold the rest. Also, villa doors on bedrooms would not lock (broken) so we hid some of the electronics in other cabinets in the common area, thinking if someone would come looking they would focus on the bedrooms. Unfortunately the common area had sliders facing a verical stone wall in the back that went up from 6 to 20 feet and we left those open to try to get a breaze flowing through most of the time. Won't do that again!! But after looking at the set up on it and other similar villas, if they want in...they are coming in. Especially if there are 2 people where one could give the other a boost to climb over the front patio/pool area rails.
The neighbors that were robbed mentioned they had felt the villa may have been cased before and then the thieves came back that night going right for where things were stored (don't know why they said this). The area of Pt. Milou targeted were the Villas right above the Christopher. The villa Mgr. mentioned that they were notifying other villa Mgrs./Rental companies as many of the villas were empty and may have been hit but no one was there to report it. It was interesting that the police said that except for an owner's small stereo system that was taken, the rest of the property all belonged to the renters.
While the experiance put the old saying "a bad day at the beach is still better than a good day at work" to the test...yep, we will go back!!! But, more wise in our decisions and maybe more careful in the selection of our villa regarding surroundings, set-up, etc..
RandL
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Dennis
Reged: 04/05/04
Posts: 3202
Loc: Chicago
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Quote:
I could probably accept the burglary of an unoccupied villa but what is more disturbing is the brazen nature of burglars that dare to burglarize an occupied villa. The possibility of someone getting injured or worse is very much there.
If you think about it, there's little risk to the burglar. What are the chances that a tourist will be armed? If a burglar awakened me, the most I would do was try to frighten him by making noise or turning on lights. I would never attack unless threatened. I'm sure they know this and take the risk knowing they will scurry into the night if sighted.
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georgedp
Reged: 06/22/04
Posts: 2804
Loc: Beautiful hunterdon county new...
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Quote:
If you think about it, there's little risk to the burglar. What are the chances that a tourist will be armed? If a burglar awakened me, the most I would do was try to frighten him by making noise or turning on lights. I would never attack unless threatened. I'm sure they know this and take the risk knowing they will scurry into the night if sighted.
But as a tourist I am armed. I have my laptop which I would use to El Kabong
them over the head LOL
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Dennis
Reged: 04/05/04
Posts: 3202
Loc: Chicago
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Quote:
Quote:
If you think about it, there's little risk to the burglar. What are the chances that a tourist will be armed? If a burglar awakened me, the most I would do was try to frighten him by making noise or turning on lights. I would never attack unless threatened. I'm sure they know this and take the risk knowing they will scurry into the night if sighted.
But as a tourist I am armed. I have my laptop which I would use to El Kabong
them over the head LOL
If you're laptop is fired up, just leave the WW home page up. That'll occupy the scoundrel until help arrives!
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georgedp
Reged: 06/22/04
Posts: 2804
Loc: Beautiful hunterdon county new...
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If you're laptop is fired up, just leave the WW home page up. That'll occupy the scoundrel until help arrives!
With my luck it would turn out to be a female cat burglar LOL
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tim
Moderator
Reged: 06/18/03
Posts: 6111
Loc: Vélo, Virginia, Vitet
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I'm going out on a limb here and predict the culprits will be caught and brought to justice. Brazen repitition breeds careless mistakes by criminals. Also, if these perps were brilliant, they probably wouldn't be robbing houses in the first place.
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The best moderation is the least moderation.
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StBarthBlue
Reged: 02/21/06
Posts: 23
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So sorry to hear about your misadventure in paradise. On rare occasions, stuff like this happens. St. Barth is still one of the safest islands anywhere. In fact, it's probably one of the safest places anywhere. Nevertheless, it's not a bad idea, wherever one travels, to make sure things are locked up when you go to sleep. Also, checking to see what your homeowner's insurance covers when you are traveling may give you some extra peace of mind. Hope your next trip is nothing but fun.
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georgedp
Reged: 06/22/04
Posts: 2804
Loc: Beautiful hunterdon county new...
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Quote:
I'm going out on a limb here and predict the culprits will be caught and brought to justice. Brazen repitition breeds careless mistakes by criminals. Also, if these perps were brilliant, they probably wouldn't be robbing houses in the first place.
What if the perps are in fact the gendarmes? They won't be catching themselves any time soon.
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NYCFred
Reged: 01/06/04
Posts: 6323
Loc: NYC
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<<What are the chances that a tourist will be armed?>>
Depends on the tourist.
In my case, 100%
of course, not a firearm, but I guarantee there's something readily accessible that will even the odds somewhat.
you can take the boy out of NY, but....
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I go for the Q-tips.
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JustTourists
Reged: 06/15/06
Posts: 3
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My wife and I were one of the couples robbed. We were in a very remote Villa on Pt. Milou, steps away from the cliffs, and not within earshot of anyone. Around 4AM my wife woke to the sound of the glass of our bedroom door being pushed. What she saw was two men watching us as we slept and attempting to enter our room. Just take a moment and picture that. Picture yourself in that nightmare scenario. This was no petty robbery. It had tremendous potential to be violent. We have been to the island multiple times and love the island and its people. But there are several major issues confronting St. Barths now. More later...
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Petri
Reged: 01/19/04
Posts: 1350
Loc: Helsinki, Finland
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That's pretty bad experience. Luckily firearms are not so widely available in e.g. St. Barth as in the states.
I'm glad my appearance alone will scare people, together with a strong finnish curse scared the gipsies in Firenze and they handed my wallet back nicely.
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Andynap
Reged: 10/24/02
Posts: 12360
Loc: Philadelphia
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QUOTE:"scared the gipsies in Firenze "
That's funny. My wife yelled at them in Florence too before they had a chance to do anything. She won my respect- I didn't know she could do that.
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Andy -
St. Barts- where no day is ever the same and one day is not enough
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georgedp
Reged: 06/22/04
Posts: 2804
Loc: Beautiful hunterdon county new...
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Quote:
That's pretty bad experience. Luckily firearms are not so widely available in e.g. St. Barth as in the states.
I'm glad my appearance alone will scare people, together with a strong finnish curse scared the gipsies in Firenze and they handed my wallet back nicely.
Unfortunately firearms are readily available in St. Maarten and Anguilla even through they are for the most part illegal. Would not be too difficult to smuggle them into SBH on a boat. The problem is not with firearms owned by the law abiding - it is with the illegal firearms in the hands of the criminal elements and that can occur in SBH as readily as any number of places.
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JackR
Reged: 10/10/02
Posts: 981
Loc: North Shore
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Anyone from Any EU country (and not all are wealthy) can travel to SBH on their passport. That is where the money is. Of course I cannot imagine stealing an old ipod, but maybe a laptop. When we bring ours to SBH I also bring the cable lock and use it. Also, and even at my own home, I LOG OUT of my computer.
This is a great deterrent to identity theft. LOG OUT when you GO OUT
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JackR
Reged: 10/10/02
Posts: 981
Loc: North Shore
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PS Where is IV to make sense of all this?
Signed,
The IV fan club
PSS I could not steal a laptop. I am a mac guy so I don't know how to work computers.
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JEK
Moderator
Reged: 01/20/04
Posts: 10983
Loc: Northern Virginia
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Quote:
PS Where is IV to make sense of all this?
Signed,
The IV fan club
PSS I could not steal a laptop. I am a mac guy so I don't know how to work computers.
IV is just back from SBH.
PS He promises a trip report
PSS Apple makes laptops :-)
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Carnaval 2009: Mardi 24 Février 2009!!!!
JEK
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jaimesbh
Reged: 04/22/06
Posts: 12
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Ok, this just makes my skin crawl! In April of this year my son's newly married sister and brother in law went to St. Lucia for their honeymoon. While they were asleep one night they were awakened by men on top of the wife binding her mouth, hands and ankles with duct tape while they started roughing up the groom. They then forced the bride to open the safe where they found US dollars and a cell phone. They took it all, but left her diamond rings and pendant. They then locked the couple in the bathroom and left. The thugs continued past the next bungalow (where British people were) and hit the 3rd and 4th bungalows where Americans were sleeping. These couples also lost their US cash. Thank goodness no one was seriously hurt (physically). The resort and the St. Lucian police did (and have done) virtually nothing to help. My daughter in law (the bride's sister) wasn't too keen on the idea of our renting a villa on SBH next June after this happened. I have been reassuring her that SBH is a very safe place and we have nothing to worry about! Now I read this and am shocked and am wondering if we should take a chance in a villa. The one we're most interested in is in the Preservation District of Gustavia. Does anyone know how populated this area is? Are many of the villas there rented out in June...thus making the possibility of having neighbors perhaps a bit of a deterrent to a similar fate? I recognize that this could happen anywhere...and unfortunately often does in my home town. But to have it happen while on vacation in beautiful SBH would be horrible! Thanks for any thoughts!
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Island Visitor
Reged: 12/19/02
Posts: 10396
Loc: Retraité
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Mac has a feature that makes its laptops WORTHLESS to steal. It is called Filevault. When activated, it takes a home folder and turns it into an encrypted "image". Rather than a folder where info resides, it takes all the data that would be there and encrypts it on the fly as though it were a mere image such that it can ONLY be read when it is unencrypted.
Most industrial encryption is done with 56 bit code whereas Filevault uses 128 bit code. It has been estimated that if a machine could decipher a 56 bit code in one second (and no known machine can), it would take that same machine 190 TRILLION years to decipher a 128 bit code. As such, so long as your password (and master password for the machine) are secure, it is claimed that even Apple can't get past Filevault. Indeed, if you forget the password and master password, your Filevault data is GONE FOREVER.
It is a wonderful security feature that works on the fly. When you are logged out, your data is UNREADABLE. So long as no one knows you password or master password, they CAN NOT READ IT. Even if they boot from another machine or another disk, all the data is still encrypted and cant be bipassed.
Memo to thieves: Most Maccies use Filevault and can lock their machines down. As such, dont even bother to steal them.
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Island Visitor
Reged: 12/19/02
Posts: 10396
Loc: Retraité
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My view is that the gendarmes DO take the idea of even "petty" burglarly seriously. Even so, there probably is a "what can we do" attitude about all this. In some ways, I think there is a LOT that can be done. For instance, Pointe Milou is not a very large area. Even something as simple as a fellow walking around at night with a walkie talkie could be a powerful deterrent.
I imagine that the gendarmes do try to investigate these things. However, if there is concern that these become "cold cases" (and many probably do) why not elevate them to the status of Hot Ticket Items?
In other words, yes, report these cases to the gendarmes. But also tell your rental agency. It seems logical that if the rental agencies, whose bread and butter depend on villa rentals, start getting a groundswell of "We're thinking about Mustique after what we are seeing on the internet and what happened to us" they will be forced to make a lot of local noise.
Personally, my own view here, were I repping a lot of villas on PM, I would have a couple of big guys walking around the neighborhood at nights.
Here in the South, we have some rural gas stations that stay open all night. Some of them have a wall of mirrors behind the cashier and a BIG sign that says "Man with shotgun sits behind mirror four nights a week".
Ya know, those stores never get robbed.
If this is a pattern, and I dont know whether or not is it, then I would advise people to put the issue in the lap of those who have a HUGE stake in happy tourists continuing to rent villas.
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Island Visitor
Reged: 12/19/02
Posts: 10396
Loc: Retraité
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Yes, this is my third post in a row in this thread. But let me give an example. We have vacationed two straight years on St Croix which many will have you believe is Poster Boy for "dangerous islands". Even so, we have felt safe as kittens both times knowing that the Armstrong family were NOT ABOUT TO LET anything happen to us at The Buccaneer.
Well, The Buccaneer is a property about the size of Pointe Milou a |
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