Safe & Secure on Board ¨Locked In¨

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by bobconnie

I do have gun's aboard, in a soild mounted locked gun locker. But the contents of it are one 12 gauge hunting shotgun, and a 25-06 hunting rifle. NO Pistols of any kind. I have serveral flare guns one of which is a 10 gauge. None of these is available as personal protection! But I also have serveral cane knifes stowed about the boat ! We do lock up after dark, and have steel grates for our hatchs and companionway! So far this has been enough to keep us pretty free from theft, except for a few things lost from on deck! Winch handles binocuars and such ! We also have a seperate battrey powerd deck lights whitch we use everynight in any ancorage! Im 75 and athough Im BIG Im sure not a bad ass!! But I sure look the part with a cane knife in my hands! LOL. We sorta feel if ya lock up you are a LOT safer !! Just our 2 cents

Wow ! Where do you guys sail ? I think I have a rather wicked looking butter knife and a pair of chopsticks that could do serious damage to a plate of sushi onboard.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by Dale Hedtke

Further, how much of your time and energy do you want to put into protecting your property? Certainly it depend on where you are and just how valuable the property is, but I'm not one to be overly concerned. Have I had things stolen? Yes, and I didn't like it, but there are bigger fish to fry so to speak.

You must have missed the pictures with the blood running over the cabin sole. It's not the material things that matter so much as living to tell !

[AnchorageGuy]

As you can probably see, it depends on where you cruise. We have been aboard for 23 years and cruised the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coast, northern Caribbean including the DR and Cuba as well as the Western Caribbean. Prior to Susan and I becoming a cruising couple, I cruised the pacific coast from San Francisco to Cabo San Lucas. We always lock ourselves in at night. If you consider most incidents that have been reported, the common element is the perpetrator entering through an open hatch. It's just foolish in the world we live in today. We don't do anything unusual like bars on the hatches, etc. We also don't carry fire arms. In all of our travels, we have never been boarded nor has anyone we have met along the way. Like us, most long time cruisers, lock themselves in at night. We're not fearful or overly concerned. It's just part of what we consider common sense cruising. Chuck

[Neptune's Gear]

Yes, these attacks happen. But there are many more incidences on land. If you look at the number of boats out worldwide, you are unlucky if it happens to you. By all means, take basic precautions, but don't let it put you off. IMO a home invasion is just as likely as one on board, even in your 'safe' areas.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[hellosailor]

How hard is it to lock a door? Anywhere?

Not very.

How hard is it to undo the damage caused by one drunk, one druggie, one thief, one have-not who wants your haves?

In the 70's we asked a landlord if it would be all right to install a deadbolt and plywood inside the front door and he thought we were crazy but sure, as long as we paid for it and did a neat job.

Six months later the county cops were advising people via the tv nooze to LOCK THEIR DOORS AND CARS because there had been such an increase in open-door thefts and crimes that year.

Yeah, crazy, install a lock and let it work. No one lives or visits in a place that is "safe". It is only "safe" until the bad guys figure out it is easy pickings, and sooner or later, they will. Your door is locked, the next one isn't...guess who they go after first?

I thank the victims for giving the bad guys an easier more attractive target.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by pablothesailor

I thought I would start a new thread on this topic.......

Do you lock yourself in on board at nite?? Should you?

Many who have Cruised far longer them me would argue & point to the many years they have cruised when they have NEVER had a problem!

I was brought up in a tiny Village with a population of just 65 people in the Mountains of Mid Wales, one of the most remote parts of the UK, I can remember as a child that no one locked thier cars & most left the keys in the ignition......No one would lock thier back doors, windows were left open, little children played alone in the street.........but that was 40years ago back in the mid 70s......I return to that same Village now in 2014 & cars are locked as are the houses, there was even the murder of a small child (Little April Jones, rip) in machynlleth!

So, is it not fair that much as we love the freedom that cruising can give us, how it puts us in touch with nature and different cultures...... We must now accept that the world has changed as the years have gone by, so the way we look at our security as we cruise should also change???

Thoughts??

What was the population then.

What is the population now.

[BandB]

We lock

We lock our home. We lock our car. We lock our boat.

[Jim Cate]

I make no value judgements on this subject, but we have been cruising in the Mexico/SW Pacific area for 27 years. We do not have bars, grids or other means of locking up besides putting in the hatchboards and closing the deck hatches (not a popular option in the tropics).

Only one time that we felt a bit threatened: Honiara (Solomon Islands) in 1998, just before the troubles there broke out. Not having a good lockup solution, we left. Not long therafter they found a headless body in the public market, a few hundred feet from where we were anchored!

Our losses from this cruising style: one attempted but unsuccessful outboard theft whilst in a secure marina in Manly Qld, one successful dinghy theft whilst on a mooring in downtown Hobart, Tasmania.

Aggravating, but not all that bad amortized over all those years of not hassling with security measures. Honestly, if I felt that cruising required the suggested degree of security attention, I might well find another occupation!

Cheers,

Jim

[goboatingnow]

Personally I have slept all over the carribean and the med , Us , Northern Europe with the washboards out of the boat. I much prefer to have a quick access onto the deck then worrying about the very rare possibility of someone entering the cabin. ( Which has never happened ) have I been the victim of petty theft, sure now and again , so what that's life.


Dave

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

, so what that's life.


Dave

I agree!!

Personally, I think my life more important than yours so I lock up.

I am safe. You are not. Anchored in the same bay you are at greater risk than me. So what? Thats life!


Mark

[ErBrown]

So not a cruiser...yet but to me it seems the best option is the proverbial ounce of prevention. I really like the options I've seen posted here (I think from Mark J but am not positive) of the custom made hatch boards with solid (chainlink style) grating. This isn't converting the boat to a fortress but seems like it would act as deterrent enough against a casual thief and still allows plenty of airflow.

To my mind this fits in the why not category. A relatively small cost that yields much more piece of mind without much added hassle.

[Mirar]

Hi all, In the early 80's we were boarded in the night while anchored off the "Pub" in Roadtown,BVI. The hatches were open to the sky, the dingy was ashore with friends and we probably looked like an easy pickin's.
Long story short, I zoomed out on deck rather than turning on deck lights, received a small hole clean through in the ribcage area, boarders left in a hasty manner and all returned to normal after a week or two of convalescence. For the next 20 odd years, I cruised the same boat ,"Candlewin" ,albeit with a bit more awareness of my surroundings. We never had an other incident, after spending many more years in Central America, South America and French Polynesia. We never even considered locking up while aboard. Now my new aluminum cruiser has a discreet bar across every hatch, a combination grid, escape ladder over the fwd stateroom in case of fire, and a bug screen grating on the full size pilot house doors. Paranoid? no, consider this that about 2-3 years ago on Vancouver Island where I live, a large black bear swam over to a sports fishing dock, climbed onto the swim grid of a powerboat, up and into the pilot house and attacked the owner. Fortunately there were others nearby and managed to drive the bear out with only a few lacerations to the skipper. I look at the process now as similar to putting on my seatbelt when driving the car. Maybe not necessary all of the time, but why not?
Cheerio, Greg Janes

[mikeguyver]

I guess first thing is not to tell EVERYONE on SN what you do....duh !
Second, What I do aboard my boat is none of your damn business.
Third, do whatever YOU are comfortable with, we aren't aboard your boat so don't try to satisfy us, we aren't your concern ,you and your crew are.
If you're worried about it, take some self defense classes and ask local law enforcement for some advice, they're usually happy to help or direct you to somewhere to get information....(makes em feel useful ......

BTW, if you're curious, come on aboard my boat late some night, I might be there....are you feeling lucky ?

[BandB]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

I am safe. You are not. Anchored in the same bay you are at greater risk than me. So what? Thats life!


Mark

As to sentence one "I am safe. You are not." You both are and you both aren't. It's all a matter of degrees. Does locking provide that slight edge? Perhaps. Does it make you feel safer? Perhaps.

There's no right or wrong, just what each of us choose. We choose to lock as we don't find it restrictive, but we also have air conditioning. If we didn't, we would probably leave a hatch or more open. Boating is just like every day life. Drive around the streets of any city and one wrong turn in a rental car can take you from safety to a total lack of it. There was just a boat boarded while underway in the Med and taken.

Life requires we balance risks constantly, but to assume no risks is impossible and to attempt a life of no risks prevents living at all.

So, locked but not under the illusion I'm all that much safer than the boat beside me. Maybe the secret is I position so they reach that boat first. lol

[RainDog]

I think that gets to the heart of it. I do not think anyone will change any minds.

Some see one scary picture and watch too much TV news and decide to barricade themselves in. Others look at the statistics and figure such incidents are so rare, it is not worth worrying about.

The first camp thinks the second is asking for trouble and lives in denial about the state of the world. The second camp thinks the first is needlessly living in fear and has delusions about their ability to protect themselves. Most people are probably somewhere in the middle.

The important thing is most here have not adopted the attitude that it is too dangerous "out there" and we need to stay at home in our suburban fortress. Most people are at CF because they are interested in discovering the world and are willing to accept whatever risks that might entail.