securing a boat abroad,

[ianabc]

cctv

290773686506 ebay
cctv 30 min loop


inexpensive bought 2 for cars 2 for presents

from China, where else!

 

[vyv_cox]

In thirty years cruising the Channel and Med, the only time the boat has been entered was in Chichester harbour! Plus I had a dinghy nicked from Emsworth marina, but then I shouldn't have been leaving it there.
In the Med since '89 I have lost nothing. I suspect Med marinas/boatyards are as safe if not safer than UK ones.

Very similar experience to ours in about the same time-frame. We had an outboard motor stolen while we were in the pub at Menai Bridge and had a GPS stolen from the yard in Porthmadog the day after we installed it. Since then we have spent seven years in Holland and nearly ten years in the Med, no problems whatsoever. In Leros most people leave their boats unlocked and along with others we leave our Bromptons on the quay for days on end, theft unknown.

 

[25931]

I always believe in a layered approach to security (same as IT systems).

1) There's only one rather long approach road and seaward side has pretty good security due to the adjacent car park full of new cars being exported. Police launch was tied up in marina overnight 2-3 nights when I visited.

2) The marina is also in a dock guarded by port police with cameras (including the approach road).

3) My boat is out of the water and sitting in a closed yard next to CCTV and about 3m from the door where the marineros and night watchmen hang out.

4) Good lighting all around the yard at night

5) Anything big and expensive is padlocked in place and I made it very awkward to unlock anything (need to move things, crawl into spaces and reach up to unlock). Even using bolt cutters would be difficult (but not impossible).

6) Yacht alarm monitors the boat hatches, lockers etc. and will text me (I can call yard 24hr number or dock police).
Extract of last status update via TXT below
YACHT Sentinel
MISTROMA MMSI=235074713
BOATBATT=12.8V
VBATT=4.1V
TEMP=14
GPSFIX=YES
TIME=02:12:02 DATE=25-11-12
LAT=?? ??.???? LONG=??? ??.????W
SOG=0
COG=89

7) There are more attractive targets nearby
8) Additional measures (not saying)
9) Further measures (def. not saying)

Ok, so I'm paranoid (but they might be out to get me). I think I'm fairly happy to leave the boat where she is until next year.

Is she protected against fire ?

 

[Mistroma]

Only by being slightly away from other boats, not connected to power, diesel supply off, gas bottle disconnected all systems isolated apart from one fused & regulated solar panel. Oh and an automatic fire extinguisher. Generator and outboard are both drained of petrol as they are now stored securely in a non-vented area. I must admit to leaving sl. less than a litre of petrol but it is in an explosion protected container in a vented location.

The alarm system will email me if temp. rises above 30C but I doubt that would be of much use.

Not 100% but I did attempt to reduce the risk as much as possible.

I think that the bottom line is to be able to prove that all reasonable steps were taken to protect against a hazard, but have good insurance (& read small print).

Abundans cautela non nocet

 

[affinite]

Very similar experience to ours in about the same time-frame. We had an outboard motor stolen while we were in the pub at Menai Bridge and had a GPS stolen from the yard in Porthmadog the day after we installed it. Since then we have spent seven years in Holland and nearly ten years in the Med, no problems whatsoever. In Leros most people leave their boats unlocked and along with others we leave our Bromptons on the quay for days on end, theft unknown.

Ah-Hah, the Bromptons are yours Viv. I've been looking for some decent replacements for ours

 

[Jegs]

Theft

We had our two bikes stolen in the S of France this summer - locked to a lamp post 10 metres from the boat.

John G

 

[Saint Louis]

Nothing at all to do with boats, but several years ago I lived for a time in Tiblisi, Georgia - in a 3rd story appartment. My kind employers provided me with a generator so that it could help me cope with the very frequent power cuts. It was massively chained to the building, on the balcony. It disappeared one day, chains hacksawed, in front of windows of many surrounding appartments.
Now THAT is enterprise.

 

[Roaring Girl]

Our experiences are much like others.

We have had far more damage from wind and weather than thieves, eg a rope chafed when we were longer away from Toulon than expected, but we had paid a bit extra for guardiennage there so it was fixed, plus some chafe damage to our winter cover.

So if we are away for months, we take our sails and lines off (mousing them), take off mizzen boom and lash down, leave dinghy upside down on deck with kryptonite lock on and tarpaulin over the top, anchor off chain and locked on deck (that's for security), leave cover up still but it will need tlc next March when we get home, put sun covers on the hatches, put fenders below etc etc.

The net effect is much the same but for different reasons.