Safes on Boats

[Mark P]

So how many folks have safes on Boats? If traveling with cash or important papers (eg passports, etc) what do you do when away from boat with those valuables. Wife and I were just on Hilton Head island and ran boat out to lunch this weekend and as we walked away from dock to restaurant, this thought came to mind.
Thx for all comments.

 

[O C Diver]

I don't have a safe, but there are so many hiding places on a boat, that it hardly seems necessary. A Pelican (or other manufacturer) dry box, could be easily mounted in a concealed location, keeping thing secure and dry.

Ted

 

[Comodave]

No safe aboard. We just put anything really valuable away in a place we think that it won’t be found easily.

 

[menzies]

We have a small safe hidden. If someone finds it they will be eventually able to get it off the boat - but will have to have walked down the dock with a heavy hammer and make a lot of noise to do so. Our approach is to make it as hard as possible for them.

 

[ksanders]

Like others I hide things.

I do not lock the boat when I just to to lunch or the store. I have a intruder alarm that will sound some really loud sirens. Step into the cockpit, or enter through the pilothouse, either way it goes off.

The alarm arms itself automatically when I leave, disarms upon my return and of course also sends out a notification to my cell phone, as well as recording the intruder and uploading that to the cloud.

 

[Gordon J]

We have a safe that is fairly well hidden. The previous owner installed it to be a gun safe. It also works for passports and money.

 

[Bigsfish]

The main purpose for a safe would be for guns as some localities require it. I agree with Ted, there are places on my boat that if I hide something there I may never find it again.

 

[GFC]

I have a handgun safe that I'm going to install on the boat in a place where nobody would think to look because you'd first have to know I had a safe on board and second know where this place existed. I won't use it for weapons but for papers, passports, money, etc.

 

[Mako]

My old Burger had tons of "hidden" spots built in by the builder. Even a small section of the carpeted stairs lifted up. For valuables I used one of those heavy duty ziplock type folders, with a gel pack inside. Guns in Pelican cases with O-rings. Wouldn't want a heavy safe if I needed to grab my papers in a hurry and abandon ship, which almost happened once when a fire started in an electric heater.

 

[psneeld]

I think the safe is for when you are NOT aboard...a good ditch bag for when you are.

 

[DavidM]

Well, when we went cruising full time some years ago, I stashed $1,000 in a not easy to find location under the electrical panel. I forgot about it when I sold the boat later, but asked the broker if he could retrieve it for me since he was helping the new owner do some upgrades. He got it out and we had a nice dinner together to celebrate the find.

We now split our time between a Connecticut condo and a Florida one. I keep a fireproof/waterproof portable SentrySafe for passports, wills, deeds, insurance policies and a little cash. See https://www.amazon.com/SentrySafe-CHW20221-Fireproof-Waterproof-Cubic/dp/B00KOO594O/ref=sxin_3_ac_d_rm?ac_md=1-1-ZmlyZXByb29mIHNhZmU%3D-ac_d_rm&keywords=sentrysafe&pd_rd_i=B00KOO594O&pd_rd_r=5f76e480-c92d-4b6a-8fa7-7df39f5707f7&pd_rd_w=b6kOT&pd_rd_wg=ZwIlO&pf_rd_p=404c4843-2c96-4d0d-a5fe-2b0598693e61&pf_rd_r=3WMWQJWM5CFXPQMRZ5G6&qid=1568035748&s=gateway

I bring it back and forth between Ct and Fl. I used to have it bolted down in our Ct place but decided it didn't have enough value to bother with someone stealing it, so I now just keep it on a shelf in a closet.

For a boat you could use one and find a place to bolt it down. No thief is going to bring tools to remove it.

David

 

[Pete Meisinger]

I sort of have a hobby of making hiding places from ordinary objects so I have several on my boat. Some are big enough for a pistol though I generally don't carry any weapons on board beyond my freon horn and a longer barreled flare gun.

A thick, boring sounding book is easily hollowed out. There are fake oil, shave cream and other cans with screw on tops available from Amazon. I have emptied out and removed everything from a 12 volt battery and lined it with leather. The options are endless.

However, I agree with the majority. There are thousands of hiding places on a boat. In fact my P.O. tried to disguise an odor problem rather than source it out and fix it. He had put literally a bale of cedar chips under the master berth. They had long since lost their aroma but little by little they filtered through the cracks into the bilge. Turns out they were behind the bath tub, under false floors in closets, etc., etc. After I found them all I joked that drug intervention people should have been consulted, they could probably still find more.

pete

 

[menzies]

We have this Sentry. But as said, when crossing we take everything out and into a zip lock and into a buoyant ditch bag (got a new one bag for Christmas last year).

Most of the places we cruise are where I do not necessarily see people targeting and planning a robbery - more opportunists. So yes, it will take some doing, once they find it, to get the bolts (nuts inside the safe) off without tools.

 

[wkearney99]

Those Sentry safes are laughable insecure. A strong magnet can often be used to easily unlock them. Which with the fad of magnet fishing isn't unlikely for someone to be carrying.

 

[psneeld]

Other than marina guys with a magnet to get keys or sunglasses that fell overboard....thankfully I haven't seen too many strangers walking around marinas carrying strong magnets.

 

[menzies]

Those Sentry safes are laughable insecure. A strong magnet can often be used to easily unlock them. Which with the fad of magnet fishing isn't unlikely for someone to be carrying.

I have always found that unlocking a zip lock bag is much easier!

 

[BandB]

Other than marina guys with a magnet to get keys or sunglasses that fell overboard....thankfully I haven't seen too many strangers walking around marinas carrying strong magnets.

Wifey B: They try but they keep getting stuck on things.

Now, I figure Mark P is a professional thief and started this thread hoping to collect information from boaters as to where their cash and valuables are on their boats before targeting them all.

Now, seriously, don't think he is, but sometimes people online do act like no thief could ever come and read what they've typed. We tell them where we are, where our boat is, where our home is, that we leave our boat unlocked, that our valuables are stored in our bookshelf, and even what beer we have and how much. Good thing thieves don't seem to have descended here like they patrol facebook and other sites looking for useful information.

That said, I'm not about to answer more than "yes" and "do have an excellent security system."

 

[Comodave]

I have a handgun safe that I'm going to install on the boat in a place where nobody would think to look because you'd first have to know I had a safe on board and second know where this place existed. I won't use it for weapons but for papers, passports, money, etc.

Now we know to look for a safe on your boat... When are you not going to be aboard?

 

[dhays]

No safe. Nothing much of real value aboard.

 

[Mark P]

Well I am lawyer, so Wifey B is not too far off the
mark��. I like the stash it away idea but worry that I will forget like David did or throw away the thing that I hid the money or papers in. When we go to the next boat I think we're going to get a safe and get a moisture proof one.

 

[STB]

We tell them... and even what beer we have and how much.

If all they want is beer, I call usually call them dock neighbors and invite them over.

 

[BandB]

If all they want is beer, I call usually call them dock neighbors and invite them over.

Wifey B: Well, we have no beer on our boat so can't steal it.

 

[STB]

Wifey B: Well, we have no beer on our boat so can't steal it.

That's okay. FLL is too far from PIE for me to come over and be neighborly, anyway.

 

[menzies]

Trust me, they ain't looking for beer!

 

[BruceK]

We have this Sentry. But as said, when crossing we take everything out and into a zip lock and into a buoyant ditch bag (got a new one bag for Christmas last year).

Most of the places we cruise are where I do not necessarily see people targeting and planning a robbery - more opportunists. So yes, it will take some doing, once they find it, to get the bolts (nuts inside the safe) off without tools.

Keeping your nuts in the safe is probably going a bit too far. That type of safe is usually ok, but we`ve had them not recognize our code, or the hotel`s master code. One time the hotel opened it with a tool they inserted.

 

[ssobol]

Those hotel type safes are ridiculously easy to open. Had one fail in a hotel I stayed at once, the hotel maintenance guy got it open in about 1 minute. If I had had a couple of simple tools I could have done it myself.

 

[Comodave]

Keeping your nuts in the safe is probably going a bit too far. That type of safe is usually ok, but we`ve had them not recognize our code, or the hotel`s master code. One time the hotel opened it with a tool they inserted.

I’ll bet it really hurts when you close the door with your nuts inside...

 

[Shrew]

What are we warding against? What important papers do you have on your boat? I would assume insurance policies, Will's, Deeds are stored somewhere safer than the burnable, sinkable, floodable boat you're floating around in.

Nobody wants your passports. The world works on Credit and Debit. The small amount of cash is usually in my pocket. If not, it's usually small enough I can afford to lose it.

 

[menzies]

What are we warding against? What important papers do you have on your boat? I would assume insurance policies, Will's, Deeds are stored somewhere safer than the burnable, sinkable, floodable boat you're floating around in.

Nobody wants your passports. The world works on Credit and Debit. The small amount of cash is usually in my pocket. If not, it's usually small enough I can afford to lose it.

Shrew, when we go to the Bahamas for three months we have a decent mount of cash on board. It is only very recently that credit cards have been widely accepted in the bigger towns with a hefty surcharge - but still cash is favored.

When we went to the Chesapeake for two and a half months last year my wife also kept the small amount of jewelry that she took with her in the safe when she wasn't wearing it.

 

[Bigsfish]

I agree with Menzies. When we travel out of the country we tack credit cards but also cash. Cash is king. My dad told me at a Very young age to always carry enough money to make bail. I have enough places on the boat to hide cash in many bundles just in case one is found. Hint to the brothers go8ng to Ft Pierce, I’m keeping an eye out for you. LMAO