Cherbourg (Port Chantereyne) Marina security probs

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lewsd

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Just for info – there have been some recent instances of theft / vandalism with boats at Cherbourg.

On a couple of occasions this summer our boat had obviously been used as a free lodging house, there was “evidence of occupation”, and a few things stolen.

Recently a couple of boats were more seriously damaged, doors smashed and the boat interior comprehensively trashed in a foul manner.

In fact one owner had begun cleaning up and repairing, he left the boat overnight and returned to find uninvited guests had revisited!

The problem is at least two fold – the marina is open to the public, with no effective security; (despite the assurances given), and a nice cosy boat must be tempting if you are a pavement dwelling vagrant, especially with winter coming.

The marina staff say to report the incident to the local police. This wastes a lot of your time and patience, their paper, and makes no discernable difference whatever!

So, caution advised if you plan to leave your boat unattended overnight at Port Chantereyne.

Bon Chance!
 
Sorry to hear that and welcome to the forum.

Did you have decent locks and an alarm system fitted?

If people can't be bothered to notify the police after an incident, I would ask why anyone would expect them to be interested?

We were berthed in a private YC marina, with electronic gated security and some years back 14 boats were 'done' on one pontoon in one night. The barstewards returned again a week later and did another 12. Since then the YC rules insist that every boat is equipped with an entry alarm, plus a volunteer watch by members is maintained at high risk times. The point is that all places are at risk and owners should at least take some basic precautions of their own.
 
Hi

We were there during July this year (on "Q" pontoon) and at 0630 one morning there was a loud thump on deck and my thoughts were of another yacht/boat coming alongside. The noise was basically someone walking very heavily on the decks so I got up and stood at the bottom of the steps going up to the cockpit. There was a guy trying to slide the wash board up so he could get inside but I had locked the sliding horizontal cover so the washboard couldn't be lifted out. I chased him off and went back to bed. Half an hour later he was back so I basically forced him off the yacht.

Later on I reported this to the marina office and was told to fill out a report. No CCTV coverage and the police were not going to be told.

So be advised in Cherbourg--lock your hatch cover.

dansar
 
I spent last winter there (5 months all on Q pontoon in fact, gotta be a record), never had any problems, the marina guys had to go out in middle of night once or twice to chase drunken teenagers off the docks though..
 
Cherbourg probs

Hi - ours and the two most recent serious incidents (British & French boats) were on Pontoon(s) G,F,H.

Easy to see why if you look at the Marina map, but also easy to see where improved security should be targeted.

The Marina management are certainly aware of the problem, but apart from noting it are doing nothing new. They try to shift all responsibility to the local police, who never routinely visit the site.

The Gendarmes (not the Police) only visit when a high profile visit to the military zone is occurring.

Rest assured all the incidents have been dutifully and immediately reported to the Police, if only to satisfy our insurance requirements!

The fact is that it is a public area, and there is no security.

Controlled access to the pontoons, and effective CCTV would help, all been suggested many times.

More voices may help? Your go!
 
Sorry to disillusion you but unless CCTV is monitored 24/7 all it will do is tell you at what time the suspect was about, because inevitably the thieves will wear hoodies or some kind of cover up, which was the case at our marina where the only identifiable person was a club member taking his dog for a walk the next morning. Our marina was also fully gated with electronic swipe cards, but the thieves simply entered by dinghy and you cannot gate the harbour entrance.

The pontoon numbers you mention are in the area usually reserved for local boats rather than visitors so the thieves might be targeting where they think people are less likely to be on board.

I still think the best way is to to fit an alarm system and publicise it with labels, in the hope that the scum will prefer another boat that is a softer target.
 
Port Chantereyne- Cherbourg

Hi everyone from the marina in Cherbourg,

We are sorry to hear about the security issue some of you have had to deal with during your stay in Cherbourg.

The marina is equipped with a video camera system and there is also a night watchman. We are also permanently testing different systems to constantly improve the security in the marina.

We hope that this experience won't stop you from visiting Cherbourg again in 2012! If we can help in any way with your next trip to Cherbourg, please feel free to contact us at anytime.

Best wishes,

Magali Hamon
Port Chantereyne - Cherbourg-Octeville
+33 (0)6 87 71 09 41
 
(Port Chantereyne- Cherbourg
________________________________________
Hi everyone from the marina in Cherbourg,

We are sorry to hear about the security issue some of you have had to deal with during your stay in Cherbourg.

The marina is equipped with a video camera system and there is also a night watchman. We are also permanently testing different systems to constantly improve the security in the marina.

We hope that this experience won't stop you from visiting Cherbourg again in 2012! If we can help in any way with your next trip to Cherbourg, please feel free to contact us at anytime.

Best wishes,

Magali Hamon
Port Chantereyne - Cherbourg-Octeville
+33 (0)6 87 71 09 41 )

Hello Magali

Thank you for your note re. security issues at Cherbourg (Chantereyne) Marina.

I appreciate the Marina is equipped with a daylight video camera security system. The system gives a scenic general view of almost all the marina. The area where most of the recent problems have occurred appears in the far distance, showing insufficient detail to be of any practical use. But as the system is not even occasionally monitored, it is not worthy of consideration as a security device.

The Marina may well employ a night watchman. There is however no regular security patrol at the marina, especially in the problem areas furthest from the office building. Especially, (and unsurprisingly) if the weather is poor.
From 22 Dec to 02 Jan I saw no evidence of effective security patrolling, or camera monitoring at the Marina office.

Code controlled security gate access at the head of each pontoon would surely solve most of the problems. I am aware that it is not easily possible to prevent access directly from the water, but I suspect most drunk / drugged vagrants and trouble makers do not arrive at the Marina by boat.

In the meantime, I would continue to use Cherbourg only for an occasional stay with my boat “en route”, I will not leave the boat there unattended for any time until effective security is properly and visibly in place.

Good luck with your “different systems to constantly improve the security in the marina”, and a Happy 2012!

cc. Député-Maire : Bernard Cazeneuve mairie@ville-cherbourg.fr
 
Port Chantereyne said:
Hi everyone from the marina in Cherbourg,

We are sorry to hear about the security issue some of you have had to deal with during your stay in Cherbourg.

The marina is equipped with a video camera system and there is also a night watchman. We are also permanently testing different systems to constantly improve the security in the marina.

We hope that this experience won't stop you from visiting Cherbourg again in 2012! If we can help in any way with your next trip to Cherbourg, please feel free to contact us at anytime.

Best wishes,




Magali - Happy New Year
In the security list you posted for the marina in Cherbourg you forgot to mention the "No Entry" signs on each gangway. They are afterall as useless as the fixed (does it scan) non-monitored daylight video camera system - which does not cover the main marina by one third and the visitors pontoon - not at all! Its capabilities have have already been mentioned by others. The Night watchman does just that - watches the night and has only a vague idea where the marina is!
Male and Femail prostitution thrives in an around the public toilet opposite F & G pontoons and the drug users hide in the bushes.
The recent wave of vandalism was as far as I know carried out on permament berth holders boats - not visitors, as your note seems to imply.
Last November between 11th and 21st my boat was vandalised as was that of a friend who is berthed two away from mine The estimated cost for the repair to my boat is €3,500.
In early December I wrote to the director of the marina and copied the Mayor of Cherbourg as of this date I have not had a reply. Hardly the behaviour of people in high places.
You cannot continue to take berthing fees against unsafe berths - you need to protect your investment. The Cherbourg Boat owners Assiociation inform me that they have been asking for better security on the marina for a long time, but the city of Cherbourg will not listen to them.
Eventually Cherbourg marina will be classed by Insurance companies as 'unsafe' and premiums will increase - as will the empty berths on the marina. Cherbourg has a lot to offer the boating fraternity by virtue of is geographical position, and is a good source of income for the city...........but you need to plough some the this income back into the marina by investing in a efficient security system or even key pads and gates at the top of each pontoon bridge - that way you will regain the confidence of your boatowners and keep the Insurance companies happy.
Click to expand...
 
Port Chantereyne - Cherbourg

Hi Magali

I have been a resident in your marina for a number of years and the lack of any security, which has always been a concern, is now much more so following the recent attacks on a number of boats in the residents' area - as I'm sure you are aware, one of the boats suffered a large amount of gratuitous, malicious damage as well as the theft of property. To be more explicit, my concerns are as follows:-

1. The one video camera, which appears to be non-panning, has to cover such a large area as to be virtually useless. In addition, it's position on top of the race control building above the capitanerie means that its presence is not at all obvious to the criminal element so has no deterent effect.

2. There may be a member of staff on duty at night but I have never seen them and suspect they are elsewhere on call and only attend when asked to do so.

3. There is nothing preventing non-boat owners from walking down the pontoons and many, some very undesireable looking individuals amongst them, do so. In deed, many use the pontoons to fish. I have never seen any of these individuals challenged by marina staff. A card operated, security gate was installed on one of the residents' pontoons last year, as a trial, and this, if extended to the rest of the pontoons, would have the most effect in preventing unauthorised access to boats. Persons could always, of course, achieve access by sea but the sort of individuals causing the vast majority of the problems simply walk down the pontoons. So, are there plans to install such gates on the pontoons and if so, when?

4. At the present time, My boat insurance premium is discounted because it is kept in a marina and if I do make a claim, my no claim discount is protected. If, however, Cherbourg marina's lack of security and record of theft and vandalism becomes more widely known, I fear that these benefits will be lost.

5. I note that you say, "We are also permanently testing different systems to constantly improve the security in the marina". Can you tell me, what are these systems, what has been the result of the tests and what systems are planned to be introduced and when?

6. I am aware that a resident, whose boat was recently attacked, wrote to the person in charge of the marina, with a copy to the mayor, more than a month ago, expressing his concerns at the lack of security, but has yet to receive a reply from either. He has not even received an acknowledgement of his letter, a fact which does not instill confidence that the matter is being taken seriously and is, to be blunt, rather discourteous.

The many boat owners, both residents and visitors, using the marina are a significant source of revenue to the businesses of Cherbourg and the provision of adequate security would ensure they continue to be so.

Happy New Year

Grumpygramp

cc. Député-Maire : Bernard Cazeneuve mairie@ville-cherbourg.fr
 
Security at Cherbourg (lack of)

Eek! 3,500 Euro to repair the damage - no insurance company is going to continue to indemnify at Cherbourg for claims like that.

Shame the "night watchman" doesn't do a bit more watching - but it sounds like it's getting "un peu dangereux" out in the marina after dark these days!
 
So, now we have two new users here posting about Cherbourg.

If I were a suspicious person I might think this was some kind of vendetta, since these are the only posts you have made I believe to the forums. NO marinas to my knowledge in France have gated access, certainly none that I have ever visited and I haven't missed many.

As for insurance companies blacklisting Cherbourg, I think they might have reason to expect owners take some responsibility themselves and fit alarm systems to their boats. I replied to an earlier post of yours to say that despite gated security and CCTV our private YC marina was still 'done' multiple times, until the club rules changed and all boats had to be fitted with alarms and they put in volunteer boatwatch patrols at high risk times.
 
Robin said:
So, now we have two new users here posting about Cherbourg.

If I were a suspicious person I might think this was some kind of vendetta, since these are the only posts you have made I believe to the forums. NO marinas to my knowledge in France have gated access, certainly none that I have ever visited and I haven't missed many.

As for insurance companies blacklisting Cherbourg, I think they might have reason to expect owners take some responsibility themselves and fit alarm systems to their boats. I replied to an earlier post of yours to say that despite gated security and CCTV our private YC marina was still 'done' multiple times, until the club rules changed and all boats had to be fitted with alarms and they put in volunteer boatwatch patrols at high risk times.
Click to expand...

Above noted
but Deippe has a swipe card system
 
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