Vandalism & Theft while at Anchor

I'm hoping to get some good advice from all of you out there about alarm systems for my 45' trawler and the do's and don'ts of leaving your vessel unattended at anchor. Let me briefly explain what I'm asking advice on. We would love to be able to anchor off some shallow water fishing areas and take off in our dingy for some fishing and sightseeing, but we're wondering if it is really safe to leave the vessel unattended at anchor. Do you guys out there regularly do this or do you always have someone on board or some kind of alarm system while at anchor? I appreciate all your replies. Thanks

Never heard of a boat having a problem. Of course pirates aren't much of a problem here either.

They'd have to be pretty determined to pick a boat that was at anchor. It would be tons easier just to pull into any marina and look for a quiet empty slip next to something they felt like stealing.

One bit of advice I heard was to leave a radio on and a pair of big empty shoes on the deck as you enter the cabin.

Most cruisers regularly leave their boat at anchor from hours to weeks if need be.

While most just leave it open or lock it just enough to keep someone from waltzing in...the more secure you make it...the more damage you are likely to incur if a determined thief wants in.

I haven't yet but a few triggers that might set off the loudhailer or boat horn to alert you if on the each for the afternoon would be all I did.

A few weeks ago FF posted info about a pepper spray defense setup that looked interesting. I would probably not use it in my circumstances but I wouldn't hesitate to if I though I needed it...despite the critics who feared being sued (even though the device had an ample warning siren prior to discharge)

We do not have an alarm system on our boat and have never felt the need for one. However when we leave the boat, either in a marina, at a dock in a marine park, or on a mooring buoy or at anchor, we always lock the boat up.

In the 14+ years we've been doing this kind of boating here I have never gotten the impression that break-ins are an issue, particularly out on the water. It may well be different in your area, so I would ask boaters in your marina and who frequent the waters you boat in if they perceive a problem and if so, what they have done about it.

If someone really wants to break into a boat they will do so regardless of what steps the owner may have taken to prevent it. Of more interest are the casual, spur-of-the-moment, target-of-opportunity crimes. The objective here is to get the would-be burglars to regard your boat as too much hassle to get into and so move them on down the dock.

To that end we keep the dinghy motor on our Livingston locked with a bar clamp over the C-clamp handles and chain the dinghy itself to the main boat. I also fabricated and installed a plate on the main cabin door that covers the gap between the door and the frame. This prevents the insertion of a knife blade or credit card to pry the latch and deadbolt back.

We also keep the blinds closed on the windows when we're not on board so it's hard to see into the cabin form the outside.

So far, so good.......

I have a "guard bear" to thwart would-be thieves.



And then there is a sloop nearby with a couple of dinghys tied to it, plus kayak and various paraphenalia onboard. No one seems to have taken advantage.

Nevertheless, when I was away for 2.5 months, someone did steal my hose and spray nozel left at the berth.

I feel no need to lock the boat, if they want in bad enough they'll break what's holding them back. It's all stuff IMO and recreational stuff at that. Good insurance and hide the view with curtains like Marin does is enough security for us.

I've seen first hand what happens to securely locked boats on the rare occasion a major burglary hits a marina. The hatch and door damage is easily twice the price to repair than the items taken.

Just my take...

Depending on the location in the world security is a big issue.. in the states it's not that common to have a boat hit at anchor. We knew of a bunch of boats that got hit as we crossed the Pacific, while in Fiji one boat a close friends was hit about 200' away from us while we were aboard and below at dusk. The perp was caught wearing a t shirt from a sailing regatta the original owner had been in, and handed over to the police. The Fijian police took it very seriously as they didn't want their country to look bad to foreigners.
On my last trip to Mexico we kept the boat locked up tight at night with the exception of ports and hatches too small to enter.
I think a simple system that lights up the boat like daytime and a loud siren is probably enough for 99% of the situations.

Here is a different approach to yacht security that is non lethal, not that I have an issue with lethal defense either.
HOLLYWOOD

GOST CLOAK:

GOST Cloak : Boat Alarms & Yacht Alarm, GPS Marine Security Systems,Global Ocean Security Technologies - Products

I'm debating the wisdom of having a note in the window giving emergency contact numbers. That would seem to be an invitation to walk on board and have your way with whatever you find.

Thoughts?

No. I'd rather rely on the goodwill of others to contact me if there is trouble with the boat.

Most boaters around us in our marina put an "In case of emergency" card in the window, including the liveaboards. In our case we have the Port 24-hour office number listed first along with our own numbers.

I really don't see how such a sign could encourage theft. It's pretty obvious if someone's on a boat or not, so having emergency contact numbers displayed isn't going to mean anything one way or the other to someone who wants to break into the boat.

Having liveaboards on the same dock does, however. Fortunately, we have several of them.

And the signs do help. On our dock alone they were instrumental in notifying people of a fuel leak from a boat, a boat taking on water, and right next to us the other year, a big outboard on a Grady White that shorted its tilt motor which was running continuously even though the motor was tilted up against the stop. Called the owner and he told me how to get to the battery to disconnect it. When the owner came down to the boat he found that the wiring and other stuff around the tilt motor was burned and figured the next step could have been a fire had we not been there to call and disconnect the battery.

I have one and have found that it serves two purposes; security and social contact. I received a call from a concerned marina neighbor. I forgot to turn off my GPS and it was beeping from the lost signal once in the covered slip. I told him how to get into my boat and he turned off the GPS unit right then and there. I appreciated the call and made a new friend.

I leave the sign in the window at my slip. but not when I'm at anchor.

Good thoughts re the signs. Although when I look at them on the dock here in Campbell River they are usually on dark, apparently empty vessels. I suppose the same sense could be had from the same vessel without the sign. Many of the boats, however, have out of province numbers, which could be an invitation perhaps.

The only time I've had to deal with a neighbouring boat in distress I simply alerted the Marina management folks and it was dealt with promptly, but after hours might be a bit of a challenge.

I am inclined not to have a sign, as I have other dock friends keeping an eye out.

Before posting my telephone number beside my "guard bear," I received calls from a fellow dockmate via the marina office as well as someone from Seattle leaving a phone message at my home, thanks so much, when they noticed the Coot listing. The listing was caused by my taking fuel on only the starboard tanks, and I hadn't had time to balance the boat by shifting more fuel to the port tanks.

We lock our boat when away from the marina (but not if we're just going to visit on the other side or go to the office). We have a steel cable and lock on the dinghy motor.

If we're at anchor and sleeping or we leave the boat, we lock it. We lock the dinghy motor to the dinghy and the dinghy to the dock if possible.

I think that's about all I can do so insurance is my backup plan.

We don't normally lock the boat when we are on it. We might lock it if we are in a marina and go out to dinner, but maybe not. When we are at anchor, we do not lock the boat. We don't lock the boat when we are off in the dingy, nor do we lock it at night.

I suppose we are tempting fate, but we've had no issues in the twenty years we have been boating. If someone really wants to take something, I'd just as soon it be easy enough that they don't have to damage the boat to get it. Everything is replaceable.

Someone that simply climbs aboard is usually not a pro, just a snatch and go.

With no pro skills even just a pressure mat could be used to trigger a strobe light and horn.

Never had a problem , yet, but a precaution would be pretty cheap.

markpierce said:

Nevertheless...someone did steal my hose and spray nozel left at the berth.

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LOL, same experience here. Never had anything stolen off the boat, but after a while I learned to buy the cheapest hoses & nozzles I can find at Wal Mart. That cut WAY down on dock neighbors "borrowing" them from the post by my slip and "forgetting" to return them. I keep the good nozzles on board.

Some places it is necessary to lock your hose and power cords...but pretty rare...often the hose gets borrowed and "forgotten to be returned".

If you have one of those universal looking "white hoses"...sharpie your name or boats name on it so you have a decent argument to get it back...

Marin, this winter Bellingham has had a problem with bums breaking into boats, and living on them untill supplys ran out. One '35 is a total loss after they ran the batts down and bilge pump couldnt keep up. (Took the copper drain from a sink to a thruhulloff leaving a hole in the side of the boat)

We do have a problem with hoses and nozzles at my marina. Since it is primarily a dry stack operation, boats from the dry stack are put into slips if a customer wants to use his boat for more than a single day or if the horseshoe fills up. These people seem to think that the hoses and nozzles belong to the marina, not slip holders so they see no harm in moving them around. They don't see it as stealing.

Rather than buying a cheap hose, I bought a quality hose and strapped it to the dock with an electrical conduit strap. They can use it if they are nearby but they would have to use a screwdriver to actually take it. I just keep the nozzle on the boat.

I keep my drinking water hose on the boat and it's used for nothing else. I don't want people dropping it in the water or using it to rinse their holding tank.

Never had any problem when cruising down in that area, and we were at anchor most of the time, using the dinghy to run ashore and do whatever had to be done. But we did have a dog on board ("Cindy The Boat Dog!") who would bark if someone came to the boat. It occurs to me that they do sell security systems now which are activated by a motion detector and which sound amazingly like a very large and very mean dog which goes into a frenzy of barking! Never been a burglar myself, so cannot claim to know the thinking process, but I think that most of them will avoid a barking dog and find easier pickings.

John

rwidman said:

I don't want people dropping it in the water or using it to rinse their holding tank.

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So... I pulled up to the pump-out one day and was watching and waiting on the guy ahead of me to finish. He was filling and flushing his holding tank repeatedly. On about the third pass, I walked over and asked how long he thought he might be and he apologized and said "last time". The dock hose was stuck IN the pump-out port and then the tank gurgled full. He then takes that SAME HOSE and stuffs it in his POTABLE WATER PORT and says. "Lemme top of my potable water and I'll be out of your way".

I haven't drunk water from a dock hose, used a dock hose to fill my tanks, or drank water from another person's boat since.

SomeSailor said:

So... I pulled up to the pump-out one day and was watching and waiting on the guy ahead of me to finish. He was filling and flushing his holding tank repeatedly. On about the third pass, I walked over and asked how long he thought he might be and he apologized and said "last time". The dock hose was stuck IN the pump-out port and then the tank gurgled full. He then takes that SAME HOSE and stuffs it in his POTABLE WATER PORT and says. "Lemme top of my potable water and I'll be out of your way".

I haven't drunk water from a dock hose, used a dock hose to fill my tanks, or drank water from another person's boat since.

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You can't fix stupid!

I have to fill my tanks from the dock supply but, as I posted, I use my own hose.

Technically, what that guy did could contaminate the entire dock's water supply. It's called "cross contamination" and is the reason backflow preventers and such are often required by code on certain fixtures.

Yeah. We have back-flow preventers on all of our dock hoses here (code I suspect), but man it was gross. He thought he had a great idea there, but when he stuck that hose down into his potable water fill I was just shocked. Didn't know how to even tell the guy... or even if I should. (yuck)

rwidman said:

Technically, what that guy did could contaminate the entire dock's water supply. It's called "cross contamination" and is the reason backflow preventers and such are often required by code on certain fixtures.

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Exactly right. Also why those who write plumbing codes have been pushing for more universal use of integrated vacuum breakers on hose bibb faucets for decades. Drives me crazy when people remove the screw on style for convenience.

Cross connection control and back flow prevention represents a very large percentage of my income.

CPseudonym said:

Exactly right. Also why those who write plumbing codes have been pushing for more universal use of integrated vacuum breakers on hose bibb faucets for decades. Drives me crazy when people remove the screw on style for convenience.

Cross connection control and back flow prevention represents a very large percentage of my income.

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People don't realize how sick you can get from drinking a little poop or rat poison.

I have an underground irrigation system (that I installed myself). It had to pass an initial inspection and the backflow device must be inspected and tested annually by a certified tester. Fail to have it inspected and the city will turn the water off to the building.

On the hook, an NRA sticker on the back window, empty binocular case on the table, half a box of .300 Winchester Magnum cartridges open next to it... Everything will be there when you get back.

While not at anchor, 2 people were murdered in our marina today.

Man, woman found dead on houseboat at Loggerhead Marina | wtsp.com

I've been trying to get a 38 special since Sandy Hook, but can't find one.

Why limit your self to one caliber?

That’s a sad story. Be careful. If you see updates post them TIA

The Fun shops in my east coast FL location have lots of used Glock .40, S&W Colt, and Kimber .45s’, as well as US made 357 wheel guns, all of which would serve well as a personal defense weapon.

Without exception they are all over priced, but that’s life today.

Stay safe, I don’t fly often but when I do on your airline I like to imagine you are hauling me around.

Mike