Boat security and some basic questions

[jimbouy]

Looking ahead to when i have hopefully aquired my dream little boat and paid up for my swinging mooring.

How secure is a boat going to be? Ok so the hatch and external locker can be pad locked. But, and you will have to excuse my lack of (but slowly growing) knowledge, what's to stop some low life rowing/wading out to her and untying her from the mooring bouy and bye bye boat. Can you pad lock to the mooring??

Generally are boats the subject of crime?

jim

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[tcm]

there is not too much to stop crime, but not a whole load of crime. criminals know that boats on swinging moorings are less likely to have have valuable gear on board than poncier boats in marinas, so it is only a tinopening of stuff for boat jumbles. I would make sure that the security is total (so the move on) or otherwise just have not much on board, use handheld gps, leave the place a moderate mess on the deck and make sur that jemmying the door does not cost more to fix than whatever they might pinch.

Actually stealing a cruising boat is rare indeed - there are only a relatively small number of ports which a small boat could visit, and even if it was trucked elsewhere, internet etc makes everything very public, very quickly.

Theft of tenders is not rare, so that needs a decent lock, and the mankiest paint job on the outboat you can manage - i bought a spare manky cowling to deter thieves.

Of larger boat thefts, several have been found to be having the characteristics of an insurance fraud.

I have seen "neighbourhood watch" and autohelm "boat alert" stickers move people on, away from your pride and joy.

I would be wary of padlocking boats - if anything happens, only you can move the boat. The round turn and 39 half hitches is uninviting for most boat and fender thieves.

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[Guest]

I agree ....

Don't make the hatch's so strong that the thief smashes boat structure to get in.

There have been various ideas of crossing metal bars across hatch boards etc. - to fitting alloy plate on reverse of hatch boards etc. Great until someone considers that if you go to that trouble - then there must be something valuable on board.

I know of several cases where large outboards and hatches have been chainsawed out of boats leaving exteme damage and expense to repair.

Most items on boats are either covered by Marine Insurance - if not then by Household Contents ..... yep - I have had various replaced by House contents - eg fishing rods and gear etc. even down to PC etc.

It's the old story ...... if they want to get in - they will .......

As to theft of whole boats ..... not often, as it may be difficult to get rid of them - unless they are dinghy's.

Petty theft is more prevalent I believe in Marinas and Boatyards ...........


<hr width=100% size=1>Nigel ...
Bilge Keelers get up further ! I only came - cos they said there was FREE Guinness !

 

[jfkal]

There a nice GSM based alarm systems on the market which :
Alert you once the boat gets moved, broken into or filled with water and also lets you switch bilge pumps and acutically monitor what is going on.

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[jimbouy]

Thanks to all

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[Birdseye]

Im a biker as well as a sailor - and the biking world suffers badly from theft. One response is to use microdots / transponders to identify items, and to put a sticker on the bike to show that this has been done. The company doing this - Datatag - is now branching out into boats, and from what the police said to me, it looks like a good approach.

OK - it wont necessarily stop the initial theft like a large Rottweiler might, but if it makes stolen goods much more difficult to sell on at boat jumbles (police do sometimes check the items for sale but normally have difficulty in proving the origin of suspect stolen goods) then it will reduce theft.

No - I dont work for them! Suspicious s*d!

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[jimbouy]

I never said that. In fact it sounds sensible

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[TheBoatman]

Re: I agree ....

Nige
I couldn't agree more. If you make the boat so anti theft proof your almost asking for trouble and a lot of damage.
Mark what you have, best way possible and put a sign up saying so?
As for boats thefts we've had 2 ribs nicked in the last month. 1 was padlocked to its mooring the other on a trailer with wheel clamp in place. Neither made any difference. If they want it they will get it (unfortunately).

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