What do you cruisers do with important papers?

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Delta Dog

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United States
Vessel Name
Plan B
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1982 Ocean Alexander 43
Hi all, we currently live in the forest and every summer there is fire danger, so we keep our important papers, (vehicle titles, deeds, wills, financial, etc) in what we call a "go box" that can be grabbed and taken on a moments notice. We are looking at moving aboard this spring and beginning our cruising life. We've thought about safety deposit boxes but what happens when we are 2000 miles away and need a document? We've looked at installing a safe, but if the boat were to sink, our papers would be at the bottom of the sea. We've had several "Why didn't we think of that?" moments reading here, so here goes...What do you do?
 
Keep copies on board, or in many cases a pdf of them on your computer is better. Then keep the original in a bank safety deposit box.

In my experience the only reason you need the original is if you die (your will and the subsequent probate process) or in litigation where you have to show the original. Hopefully neither of these will happen to you while cruising.

Otherwise a copy or pdf works fine for all other purposes.

David
 
I've gone fully paperless. Everything is scanned, PDF. Stored in the cloud available on any device of the moment, as well as a local HDD copy.

I actually don't know of anything I own that I would need the original-original for except for the will stuff as dj said, and relatives have copies of that.
 
My important originals that copies wouldnt work for are all in a zippered 3 ring binder in my go bag.

If the boat sinks while I am off it, the boat is in a marina or at shallow anchor and the bag will float around inside the cabin till recovered.
 
I guess I'm a little more lax. I just keep the documents stashed on the boat in one location so I could grab them if needed, although we're mostly paperless. I keep digital copies of Certificate of Documentation and insurance for the boat. If the boat sinks I'll have bigger things to worry about..
 
We digitalize all documents, boat or otherwise, so have access to them at all times. Anything we need the original for on the boat, we keep it in vacuum sealed pouches or in some form of protective plastic. Anything we need the original for but don't need it on the boat is in a safe deposit box. That's mainly deeds, titles, licenses.
 
We did as described above, both digital and hard copies. But one exception is passports, those we kept in the waterproof "ditch bags" on boars as well as having scanned copies available.
 
Think of what you REALLY need originals for....

Really nothing, but

What would be inconvenient is: (but you can recreate)
Passports
Titles to vehicles
Birth certificates

You don't need:
Deeds (when you sell, the deed is a non issue)
Contracts
Financial stuff (all on a drive or in a bank or brokerage account)
Wills (would be nice if you croak, but most states don't even need them notarized)

For "me", I'm all paperless except for the first three things. There might be something else there, but can't think of it.

Non issue for me.
 
We join the club of digitalizing everything. Boat papers I keep both a digital copy and the originals on board. Some countries demand to see originals. I risk the digital copies being stored in the cloud along with a complete back up of my computer a separate portable hard drive also has a copy which is hidden on board.

We are more likely to suffer a loss by theft then a sinking. Had that happen to a few friends. Thus multiple copies.
 
If your boat is sinking or on fire, I think documents will be the last thing on your mind.

I would suggest a safe deposit box or something similar on land and copies stored in the cloud.
 
If your boat is sinking or on fire, I think documents will be the last thing on your mind.

I would suggest a safe deposit box or something similar on land and copies stored in the cloud.

there are 2 kinds of important papers...

those related to the boat and cruising...where originals are the ONLY option...

and all others that can be anyplace.
 
I carry paper copies on the boat PLUS scanned copies on my phone. I also send scanned copies of titles, documentation, insurance, passports and credit cards to our kids so we can get copies should all others be lost.
 
I scan everything I can to a directory on the home office computer, backed up to a thumb drive kept at my work office, then the remaining paper goes in a gasket sealed file box kept on the boat while it's in the water, and at home when the boat is a popsicle on jack stands. Like this:

Sterilite Product Catalog

I think that a Pelican case would be a better solution for something you want to protect from water immersion. Like this:

Waterproof Storm hard cases | Pelican Professional
 
Would the USCG accept a scanned certificate of documentation on your phone when boarding your boat?

I carry the original on the boat. If the boat sinks, I'm not going to need it.
 
documentation is easy for a boarding team to check, also a replacement is free if the boat sinks.

so why not carry it?
 
I've gone fully paperless. Everything is scanned, PDF. Stored in the cloud available on any device of the moment,

I'm probably the only guy in the world who does not store things on the cloud. I figure if the NSA's computers can get hacked, what can the security be like on the cloud?

boathealer, do you have any anxiety over storing important docs on the cloud? Would you put your banking or investment info on there?

Just curious.
 
Just noted that the public list of uscg documented boats does not include owner's address anymore.
 
Just noted that the public list of uscg documented boats does not include owner's address anymore.

Huh, what do you now, that's right. Hadn't noticed that. Maybe it's an attempt to make the database harvesting a little more difficult for third party - well, technically not scammers I suppose, but at least shady, with their faux official letterheads and insignias.
 
I'm probably the only guy in the world who does not store things on the cloud. I figure if the NSA's computers can get hacked, what can the security be like on the cloud?

boathealer, do you have any anxiety over storing important docs on the cloud? Would you put your banking or investment info on there?

Just curious.

Cloud sounds so nebulous. Long ago I backed up to other computers of some sort. That's all the cloud is, just other servers at remote locations. The difference is they are accessible from the internet. Clearly it's possible for someone to access the data there, although I feel those I use are secure. Many other, more efficient ways to access large amounts of information. I do worry about it but then think of what can be used and how.

Bank statements, investment records, I'd hate seeing in other hands, but without passwords and access they're of very limited use to criminals. Now, I monitor all accounts diligently. I have alerts set of every type. I check the accounts quite regularly.

Hackers are looking for quick and easy. Cloud storage of individual records isn't that. They'd have to wade through so much to get anything of potential use. That's why they want bank records from the banks, or credit agency files, or files from card processors or credit providers. They want files including hundreds of thousands of accounts that is easy for them to resell or to use.

Let's look at something like a bank statement. How would I use that to steal? Well, really the only way is to write checks or do e-checks. Easy enough as anyone can print checks or could enter e-checks. However, a lot of work for a little. Typically more the domain of small time petty thieves who somehow see a check you've written.

The real money in hacking is gathering huge amounts of account information and reselling it. Your files being backed up on the cloud does not fit that pattern.
 
But, if you store stuff in the cloud,and it rains,don`t you lose your data?
 
There is NOTHING that I have in the way of documentation that cannot be found by anyone with the time to look for it. I spend my time on detection not prevention. As to the "Cloud" I have all my property ownership documents recorded with the courthouse. No need to save them. I could probably burn the originals with only time wasted in getting new ones. Original documents are a thing of the past. You dont need them.

Is the customs official in St Kitts going to be able to detect that your modern copy is not the original??? Of course not.
 
I'm just starting this off the top of my head and encourage anyone to add anything they think I'm missing.

Things I keep a hard copy of, either personal or in business. This is irrespective of where kept so can be home, boat, safe deposit, lawyers, wherever. None of these that can't be recreated or re-issued but still best to have.

-Vehicle Titles and Boat Documentation or Titles
-Property Deeds
-Wills, Trusts
-Marriage License
-Certified Birth Certificates
-Passports
-Life Insurance Policies
-Business License

We have one file cabinet in the office and one file drawer at home and we're very document intensive, just it's all stored electronically.
 
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My solicitor/attorney keeps all my important originals such as wills and property deeds.

Passports, birth certificates, licences etc are fairly easily replaced; just a minor inconvenience if lost.
 
boathealer, do you have any anxiety over storing important docs on the cloud? Would you put your banking or investment info on there?

Just curious.

Anything that is particularly sensitive to me is encrypted (by me) locally before sending to the cloud. This doesn't amount to much in my case, time-wise or content-wise.

Then, the cloud storage protocol automatically encrypts EVERYTHING again, with a hash of your sign in information.

It would be quite hard to get ANY of my information.
 
Some port outside the US may not be satisfied with a scanned copy.
 
My solicitor/attorney keeps all my important originals such as wills and property deeds.

Passports, birth certificates, licences etc are fairly easily replaced; just a minor inconvenience if lost.

And what makes you think his office is any more secure than your home? Things like wills and trusts, we have multiple originals and attorney has one. For other things we have a fireproof safe and most attorney's do not.
 
Some port outside the US may not be satisfied with a scanned copy.

Certificate of Documentation is the one document I've found one must have an original of. Certified copies of certificates of documentation are only $4 and we have several and would encourage at least one in case one gets damaged. If traveling overseas it's not unheard of for one to get misplaced in the process of checking into a country. Probably 1 in 10,000 odds but still a certified copy is good insurance for $4 each.
 

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