Security on a liveaboard in Puget Sound and San Juan’s

[liquidsands]

Hello all, was talking to a bottom diver and he had expressed concern over people stealing from your boat when your not aboard. Is this something that I should be concerned about while living on the hook around Puget and the San Juan islands this winter.

To me it just seems crazy that someone would come out to my boat, board it and steal from me while at shore hiking and such.

I’m from western slope of CO and in the 27yrs living there I never even locked the doors to my house, even when vacationing away from home. Heck, i always left my car keys on the console of my vehicle in my driveway, even when going down to a local store.

If it’s true that I have to pay attention to the types of people and boats near me, I’ll have to get locks for everything then.

FYI: I have been living in the Pacific Northwest for decades. I have been commercial fishing in Washington and Alaska and had my boat at docks for months at a time during off season. Also my live aboard boats were commonly empty during work hours at the time my wife was working. While circumstances from one vessel to another vary, in my personal experience of 40 years of boating, I have not had anything come up missing. More often than not I didn't lock the doors. I am sure that in this day and age, things have changed, in many areas, but while I do lock my boat when I leave for the day I do it to keep the honest man honest. I can't speak to other areas, and I'm sure that the present economic difficulties experienced by so many, may contribute to a lowered level of honesty, but where do you draw a line? I would advise being proactive where possible, locking the doors, closing drapes off and on and I like the comment about having a second dinghy. My insurance requires me to lock up my boat when not there for coverage of personal property. Pain in the butt? Yes, but why tempt someone into lowering their standards either...

 

[Gonromin_II]

Does the calculus change in False Creek, Vancouver BC? Or is it “all bets are off”?

S

 

[Frosty]

I also think they think, “if this dinghy says T/T boat name, that means no-one is on boat name, so now’s a good time to rustle it.”

That always seemed like a bad idea to me, too. I mean why make it easier.

 

[liquidsands]

Does the calculus change in False Creek, Vancouver BC? Or is it “all bets are off”?

S

not exactly sure of the meaning of your post. I have had some experience in Canada. Spent time around Campbell River. In my experience, Canadians have been the friendliest people I've ever met. I'm sure every area has its shady characters, but I've never found them when I was up there. No losses for me. The only bad thing I found up there is the way they cook eggs, and the cost of buying fuel...

 

[Captain DJ]

B - We should let everyone know the truth, it's the right thing to do. South Sound is gangsta. It isn't safe, don't come down. Everything south of the Narrows is anarchy. Peligro!

I have docked for 5 years at the low-rent West Bay Marina in Olympia. Never had anything stolen. Not so rich liveaboards do a great job keeping the homeless, drunk, and druggies out of there. They have tried, but the liveaboards catch them every time. So I think your "gangsta" reference for South Sound is alarmist and mostly FALSE.
But then again, I grew up in South Chicago and live in Mexico, so what do I know about gangsta?

 

[luna]

Does the calculus change in False Creek, Vancouver BC? Or is it “all bets are off”?

S

We likely spend 30+ nights a year in False Creek, have done so for the last 3 decades and in fact are there right now, on the hook, as I type.

When we leave the boat it’s locked and the tender is also chained to the dock if we are going to be away more than about 30 minutes.

No issues with the local residents ever, although I do on occasion drop off hot coffee to some boats in the mornings.
It must be cold aboard with no heat.

 

[PNW]

I take extra precautions being here in Seattle, close enough to the downtown core to know and hear what happens "in the big city", but I am on my boat 90% of the time and I have a few items that make that stop-sign-of-a "CH-CHKT" noise (as well as "less lethal" kinetic/gel mace options), but to date I have never had an issue that called for those.

BUT the previous owner of the boat installed a motion-activated floodlight camera on the transom because he had someone attempt to take his dinghy off the back at the dock (on the Duwamish River, not on the lakes), and it has been nice to have camera coverage, so as others have alluded to I would recommend for the cautious:

• cameras and lights
• a watchful eye/ear
• making friends with neighbors at dock or in anchorage if you're there for long (get their phone #!)
• and a flintlock musket (or better) for those post-apocalyptic Book of Eli type scenarios

Stay safe, don't go overboard (pun intended) on security anxieties, and try to enjoy life on the water!

 

[Marco Flamingo]

I always make sure that I have the dumpiest boat at anchor/marina. Works.

Past marina had a picture of the repeated night-time burglary suspect getting around the locked gate by taking a small boat to the pier. He kept his head down and wore a hoodie. Couldn't ID. He was followed by his black lab puppy with a red collar. Not too difficult for the locals to ID the guy.

The recent enforcement of the local "move along" law has kept the permanently anchored crowd busy shifting around, cutting down on their ability to case and steal.

 

[sunchaser]

Generally, a look around a marina both at the docks and the adjoining land will give a clue as to potential thievery, especially with nearby homeless encampments. Having been on the water for 8 decades my numerous experiences with thievery include teenagers from adjacent boats, druggies looking for cash, boats removed for a midnight cruise by known boat workers, outboards boosted off stern mounted dinghies, full coolers stolen from beach ties and boat cleaners stealing onboard hoses etc.

I’ve first hand knowledge of crew members on large yachts using boat specific but owner supplied CCs for their own large purchases. Then comes the TF member who noticed his boat leaving the dock in Seattle while sleeping on board. We carried a $2,500 theft deductible as $1,000 was too expensive, due to the insurer seeing too many claims for easily boosted items including IPads.

 

[heysteve]

We typically don't lock our boat at anchor when we go ashore. Our boat, like I suspect most older boats, would be pretty dang easy to break into. Never heard of any problems. I'll take risk as I don't want to replace a window or splintered hatch teak!

 

[sjisailor]

Like many others, I have heard of very, very few incidents in the San Juans and also few (although a bit more) in Puget Sound areas. Of course it varies by location and some have more risk than others. I will note that boaters are often a bit "nosy" in a good way of keeping an eye out for one another

Mostly I'd say to use a combination of you own instinct for that, plus asking dock neighbors or marina office. If you have Internet on the boat, consider a security camera. (FWIW a mechanic recently advised me to put one in the engine room -- not for security but to have a record of what techs do during service!)

The other question is this: what are you comparing it to? "Liveaboard" in a house or apartment is not 100% secure either. I generally feel just as safe on a boat as I do on land.

 

[PNW]

Like many others, I have heard of very, very few incidents in the San Juans and also few (although a bit more) in Puget Sound areas. Of course it varies by location and some have more risk than others. I will note that boaters are often a bit "nosy" in a good way of keeping an eye out for one another

Mostly I'd say to use a combination of you own instinct for that, plus asking dock neighbors or marina office. If you have Internet on the boat, consider a security camera. (FWIW a mechanic recently advised me to put one in the engine room -- not for security but to have a record of what techs do during service!)

The other question is this: what are you comparing it to? "Liveaboard" in a house or apartment is not 100% secure either. I generally feel just as safe on a boat as I do on land.

great points all around, as a boat mechanic I recommend the engine room camera too! the stuff I have come across asking boat owners "wtf did the last mechanic do in here??" would have been great to have a video of it, and I'm confident enough in my work to be recorded (for a while I was trying to make youtube videos of my work so I am ready for the limelight lol).
also yes excellent reference to "land security" but my perception of OPs question was that it was unclear if an empty, unused-for-the-bad-weather-seasons boat sitting at a dock would need the same security as one clearly lived in and having someone on board a lot of the time. but yeah no residence or anything else is "100% secure" so that's a healthy reminder to just have a threat model and mitigate what you need to so you can relax.

Also, have insurance that covers theft if you can afford it.

 

[Delfin]

Hello all, was talking to a bottom diver and he had expressed concern over people stealing from your boat when your not aboard. Is this something that I should be concerned about while living on the hook around Puget and the San Juan islands this winter.

To me it just seems crazy that someone would come out to my boat, board it and steal from me while at shore hiking and such.

I’m from western slope of CO and in the 27yrs living there I never even locked the doors to my house, even when vacationing away from home. Heck, i always left my car keys on the console of my vehicle in my driveway, even when going down to a local store.

If it’s true that I have to pay attention to the types of people and boats near me, I’ll have to get locks for everything then.

Spring $50/mo for a Tmobile home Internet and buy an Arlo security camera. You'll get an alert if anyone gets in. I caught a homeless dude who broke into my boat with that setup.

 

[PNW]

Spring $50/mo for a Tmobile home Internet and buy an Arlo security camera. You'll get an alert if anyone gets in. I caught a homeless dude who broke into my boat with that setup.

for anyone reading who wants TMO 5G service, if you're going to have it all year anyway you might as well get Mint's 5G TMO router and pay $30/mo. you just pay the whole year upfront and bobs yer uncle. you get the first 3 mos at that price and then for the 4th month you decide if you want it for less-per-month by paying more-at-once. good deal. I have that and their phone service as well. lmk if y'all want a referral link (anyone interested) for one or the other, but either way, I do rec it.

 

[Don L]

In 15 years the theft I have experienced
- someone stoke our bikes, they came prepared and cut the lock cable, the bikes were outside of the locked marina gate
- someone tried to steal our dinghy and outboard while it was up on the davits, we were sleeping almost right under the davits and woke up, turned out to be the captain of a fishing boat and we knew the boat owner so he fired him, we couldn't prove to police but filed a report, the guy via a raft he had made

both those were at same marina in Jacksonville in different years

In travels all along the east coast/Gulf/Bahamas that is it. Have seen people's dinghies disappear. (0% of the time they went "walkabout" because they were not tied up properly (maybe some drinking involved). I have heard of thefts and it almost always was boaters steaking from other boaters and mostly among the low end liveaboard people.

I always leave my companion way hatch unlocked. I figure anyone who comes to the boat to steak isn't getting stopped by the lock and that happens is more damage. I also leave the key in the ignition figuring anyone who try to start the engine and steal the boat would know how to jump start a diesel. But if the boat drags or needs to be moved it can be.

If people are going to steal you stuff they will. Most security is an illusion (ever looked at the locked door in your house and taken note of the easy to break glass to reach in and unlock)?