Locking the boat from inside...

V1701

V1701

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Hi all,
Having just moved aboard fulltime (:)) I find that I cannot lock the boat from the inside with the lock that's there as standard, so when I go to sleep someone could just come and remove the washboards and come aboard. Is this normal and for safety purposes? Any ideas how I can secure the boat when I'm going to bed? What do you do?

Many Thanks,
David.
 
djbreeze said:
when I go to sleep someone could just come and remove the washboards and come aboard. Is this normal and for safety purposes? Any ideas how I can secure the boat when I'm going to bed? What do you do?
Click to expand...

In some parts of the world it would be unwise to go to bed leaving the hatches unlocked. After all, would you go to bed at home leaving the front door on the latch?

In the traditional arrangement with a couple of washboards and a sliding hatch secured with a padlock you can't lock it from below but the remedy is simple. A common brass bolt screwed/bolted to the top washboard that engages the sliding hatch will prevent it being opened from outside and let you get out instantly in the event of fire without having to hunt for a key.

We don't have a problem as our main exit is a conventional door that opens out into the cockpit. We can lock it from inside and leave the key in the lock so we can get out easily.
 
Snow Leopards bolt is the best solution but if you can't fit one easily an alternative is to fit a hook and eye. By fitting the hook to the main hatch and the eye to the top washboard you prevent the hatch being opened in the same way as a bolt does.

It is worth mentioning that being able to lock the boat from the inside is also a safety recommendation that came out of the Fastnet Disaster Enquiry where it was found that crews sheltering below had difficulty in keeping hatches shut and washboards in position in extreme weather.
 
If you had a Jeanneau you would have a knurled wheel to turn that operates the washboard lock from inside. I sure such a lock could be purchased and fitted to any washboard.
 
BUT I rarely lock myself in as I don't want any impediment to getting out on deck in a hurry if needed - at anchor or on a mooring mainly. In two years in the Caribbean we only locked ourselves in once in St vincent and glad we did as two boats reported minor overnight thefts.
Mind you I did put the kettle on the saloon steps as a routine, try sneaking on board when you just trodden on that!!
 
We had a bolt on the hatch and shockcords holding the washboards in, but on the previous boat had a Seasure hatch lock that had handles inside and out on the top washboard, locking it to the sliding hatch but with a padlock.

Problem is we like to leave hatches open for extra ventilation and especially so in summer.

Our next boating adventure is as liveaboards on a trawler yacht in the USA, where temperatures are higher and thieves are meaner, so we have been giving this some thought. Our main access will be doors, sliding and hinged rather than washboard + sliding hatch.

My feeling is to leave the main entry doors unlocked, even open when we are on board but to devise an alarm system that will go berserk if someone crosses the threshold. There might also be an exterior PIR sensor to switch on deck lights as an early warning if someone steps on board. Plan B is a pump action shotgun...
 
There is an interesting variation on the Lord Nelson. On a coded vessel doorways to the interior have to have sills to stop water coming below. With wheelchairs on board that's not feasible so they have double doors with an alarm that goes off if both doors are open. When moored overnight they shut the outer doors but don't lock them and leave the inner doors open. Anyone trying to sneak in will get a very loud surprise.
 
Robin, I assume you jest about the shotgun, as that will see you ending up in court, even if you only show it in a threatening manner.

I tend to not worry about sleeping on an unlocked boat. If anyone tried to come alongside, or board, the boat will move & I will wake up. And I am likely to be quite annoyed at having my sleep disturbed. :eek:

As far as I know this is where a boat differs from a house, it would be quite easy for someone to walk into a house while the owner sleeps upstairs. I understand it is a common situation simply because houses don't normally rock when you step aboard. :rolleyes:
 
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snowleopard said:
There is an interesting variation on the Lord Nelson. On a coded vessel doorways to the interior have to have sills to stop water coming below. With wheelchairs on board that's not feasible so they have double doors with an alarm that goes off if both doors are open. When moored overnight they shut the outer doors but don't lock them and leave the inner doors open. Anyone trying to sneak in will get a very loud surprise.
Click to expand...

Surely that's only going to work if a wheelchair user is sneaking aboard? Any able bodied person would just step thro' the open inner door - at least that would be my normal response, why would I need to risk opening the big door? :confused:
 
Searush said:
RobinH, I assume you jest about the shotgun, as that will see you ending up in court, even if you only show it in a threatening manner.

I tend to not worry about sleeping on an unlocked boat. If anyone tried to come alongside, or board, the boat will move & I will wake up. And I am likely to be quite annoyed at having my sleep disturbed. :eek:

As far as I know this is where a boat differs from a house, it would be quite easy for someone to walk into a house while the owner sleeps upstairs. I understand it is a common situation simply because houses don't normally rock when you step aboard. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

The shotgun is not a problem as we will be in the USA and they don't take prisoners... Joking with a degree of seriousness. Some places we will be visiting have bears as well as tea leaves.

Otherwise as I said we like to have everything open, hence the thinking about an alarm that can be used without those on board setting it off. Over here I haven't felt the need but then we were not on board 24/7 and it might be different in the depths of winter with nobody else about.
 
Cerddinen said:
If you had a Jeanneau you would have a knurled wheel to turn that operates the washboard lock from inside...
Click to expand...

I have a Jeanneau but no knurled wheel. Think I'll either put a bolt in or fix an eye (poss with superglue) to each of the 2 washboards that I can just slide a bolt into. Don't want anything that involves locks and keys.

Thanks for the replies all...
 
When we close our hatch lid it has a lip that sits over the washboards. So with the lid closed there is no way to remove the washboards without opening the lid.
To lock the lid from the inside we screwed a barrel bolt onto the hatch lid, drilled a hole in the side wall and when the hatch lid is closed we can slide the barrel bolt into the hole.
If we need to get out in a hurry it is a very quick slide back of the bolt and done.
 
I have a window lock fitted to my hatchboards, that is, a lock barrel which acts llike a plunger to fit a 10mm recess in the sliding hatch.
The lock comes with anti -tamper screws and has two keys to unlock; to lock only requires the plunger to be pressed into the aperture. Cheap and simple to fit.

ianat182
 
Joshua Slocum scattered his decks with tacks but that might not deter a trainer shod villain. Some kind of photo electric cell or a mini laser would be effective. Outfits like Maplins might b able to advise.

I would be uneasy about locking myself ( and others) in. In extremis wife and I ( who usua;;y occupy the forepeak) could exit from the forehatch, but my son who has the aft cabin could risk getting trapped.

We have fitted an RORC type latch to the main hatch that can be opened from the inside and outside - a lesson learned from the Fastnet disaster in which people were trapped below when the boards were in and the hatch secured in heavy weather conditions.
 
I have seen advertised somewhere in fact think mentioned on this forum expanding locking grills for companionways. Therefore giving you security and ventilation.
 
A lot depends on the actual washboard arrangement, on our last boat it was easy to replace the normal padloch and hasp arrangement with a house type rim latch with a stainless steel lock barrel.
 
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