Thieving Ba*****s 2 (Portsmouth Harbour)

[Calluna]

Went out to the boat this morning looking forward to the first sail of the season and discovered that it had been broken into sometime during the week. Luckily they couldn't work out how to steal the GPS and Radio (they had a good go - so we've now taken them off the boat), but they've nicked the flares, binoculars, compass, torches and search light, foghorn, climbing harness etc. - basically all the small safety gear - along with the tool kit.

She is moored just south of Portchester Castle and the neighbouring boat was also done over. I expect that we're not the only ones. Everyone that we've spoken to assumes that it's kids (or someone heading for the Beaulieu boat jumble) so we're now trying to work out the best way of keeping thieves out. Any suggestions (the boat has a sliding hatch and washboards locked with a padlock)?

Heather

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[paulrossall]

Sorry to hear of your loss. My first thought would be to fit a much stronger locking arrangement. Maybe instead of a traditional washboard arrangement you could make one big and very thich board which you just used for security and placed under a bunk when you were aboard. Perhaps you could fit more secure locks to this board?
Second thought would be to fit some very loud siren arrangement which sounded for say 3 minutes if the hatch was opened. That might be enough to attract atention to what was going on and also to frighten off the culprits.
Problem with fitting bigger lock is they maight make more structural damage when breaking in. Worry is that once they have been they might return again.
If I were you I would go to the boat jumble and see if you can spot your gear.
Best of luck Paul

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[TheBoatman]

Sorry to hear about the loss!

Ever thought of putting up a sign which says "Everything on this boat has been marked with smart water"

Then underneath say "To late you've just stood in some of it"

If nothing else you make lose some gear but have the satisfaction that they probably threw away a perfectly good pair of shoes<s>

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[pugwash]

What\'s smart water?

Do I need some?

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[Celena]

We use a hatchlock that we got from Moody's. It has a bar which goes through the hatch into brackets fitted to each wash board. It wasn't cheap; and of course, I'm not sure how effective it is, but it might be different enough to deter thieves

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[AndrewB]

Making your yacht hard to break into is not the only approach to security, but personally I prefer that to allowing easy entry on the grounds of avoiding damage.

You need to get in the thieves' mindset, consider how you would you break into your own yacht, armed with a jemmy and a hacksaw. Ultimately of course, any yacht can be broken into. Nevertheless, it should be possible to install measures in most yachts to prevent someone without expert skills from breaking in, if you assume they'll want to spend no more than 15 minutes on the job, and not make too much rumpus.

Its not just the actual security but just as important, how it is presented. Check out other yachts moored nearby, and make sure yours LOOKS the hardest to crack.

Two things I've done are to fit steel security bars across the washboards and the sliding hatch, also behind the deck hatches, in such a way as to allow no purchase to a gemmy or easy angle for a hacksaw. Also I've replaced the padlocks with internal mortice locks.

 

[TheBoatman]

Re: What\'s smart water?

John
It’s a new special liquid that contains millions of molecules that have your details on. You paint it on all yer kit and when it dries it can’t be seen except under a high powered UV light. The old bill can then identify it as yours; it’s a bit like DNA.
I don’t think the marine version is ready yet but checkout this site.

www.smartwater.com


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[pugwash]

Re: What\'s smart water?

Thanks for the info. Fascinating development. This should revolutionise boot fairs and boat jumbles, not to mention the antiques trade.

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[vyv_cox]

I'm in agreement with a couple of other posters. Here's some detail from my experience.

Multi-part washboards are very easy to open by sliding a tool like a jemmy or large screwdriver under the sliding hatch. The first thing I did after the only break-in we suffered was to replace the three parts with a single one. I fitted the largest piece of ply I could slide down the slots. Fortunately this stows easily in a vertical position in a cockpit locker, actually far more convenient than the previous three pieces.

Small padlocks as used by most of us are ridiculously easy to open. A sharp blow with a light hammer is usually sufficient to burst the catch over the staple retaining slot. Even the biggest can be broken with a heavy hammer, although it's more likely that something else would break first. So I agree with Andrew here - eliminate the padlock. I installed a mortice-type lock vertically to engage in the sliding hatch. The lock I used was intended for internal use in locking patio doors, preventing them from sliding. I expected to replace this every year or so, but surprisingly I still have the original in good condition, now 8 years old. This is not very hammer-proof, of course, so I installed a protective guard in 4 mm stainless steel over the top of it, through bolted to the washboard with the nuts burred over. The bolt of the lock protrudes about 20 mm into the sliding hatch, so this would virtually need to be destroyed before it could be lifted over the washboards. The hole in the guard for the key is the smallest I could get away with, in fact I had to grind the key a little to get it in, so the lock is reasonably proof against bursting.

It seems to me that one of the advantages of this arrangement is that it looks so unusual. Thieves look for easy opportunities, so when faced with the unknown they tend to move on. Well, that theory has worked so far.

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[Calluna]

Thanks for all the info. As a temporary measure we replaced the broken latch with a stronger one and left her on her mooring (after a long debate about whether to put her in a marina for a bit).

That was Sunday evening and when we returned on Tuesday afternoon she'd been broken into again, so we moved her to a marina. The latch was intact but bent and the padlock missing. Nothing else was stolen, because there was nothing left to steal. We think that they came back for the GPS and VHF radio, which they'd had a go at taking but hadn't quite managed to and we'd then taken home.

The marine police recommended making the boat harder to get into, so that it's unattractive to burglars who would just try another boat in the area. They told us about the moody lock (£80ish?), so we're going to try something along those lines with a reinforced washboard. Everything on the boat will be engraved or marked in some way and expensive items removed, so hopefully they will get fed up with breaking in and leave us alone.

Heather



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