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EllesBelles · 31-10-2014, 07:40

1. Read Noonsite and listen to other cruisers and avoid the areas where there have been problems.

2. Install a security system with deck sensors that trigger your spreader lights and other designated lights to turn on, and some kind of sound (like a barking dog or warning announcement or simple alarm). We also have sensors that trigger the alarm if certain things are opened like hatches, clips on canvas, etc. There are lots of options.

We bought our security equipment from Ken Murray's company in NY and found him very good to deal with:

Flagship Marine Security - Since 1983
www.boatalarm.com
Tel (516) 487-9560
Cell (516) 782-8482
Direct (516) 625-3954

rwidman · 31-10-2014, 07:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by SweetSerenity

Any suggestions for boat / personal security systems?

Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

My "security system" is to lock the boat if we're away from it or sleeping on it and to stay away from risky places as much as possible.

As far as personal security, stay away from dangerous places and be aware of your surroundings.

Neither is perfect but both have worked for me so far.

dianaofburlingt · 05-11-2014, 20:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vulk

A confident attitude and letting the people around you know you have a shot gun works wonders.

I would not inform anyone I did not know well of the presence of any firearms or weapons on my boat. The day they see you go into shore without them is the day your boat gets broken-into.

dianaofburlingt · 05-11-2014, 20:13

Best 'onboard security' idea I know of is to have a (marginally) non-lethal weapon aboard that appears intimidating 'in the right hands'. I studied kendo and can wield a baseball bat, boathook, saber or foil with lethal-looking confidence (well; actually it is lethal; but I've never had a reason to actually demonstrate that!). You step onto my boat (in defiance of the sign I keep on the rail) and you are met with (as the sign says) 'deadly force'. That means the end of a blunt or pointy weapon before I come out of the companionway. One flinch the wrong way and you get it in the neck... which sends you overboard.

Calcutta makes a very nice little miniature aluminum bat sold as a fish bat. It looks exactly like my daughter's little 28" softball bat, but about 18". I don't have one yet-- for now just the 28" one-- but intend to get one. (West Marine sells it.)

An aside-- during the days of (the original) Miami Vice, ER surgeons in south Dade were more concerned about injuries from baseball bats than those from machine guns. Little guns like a Mac-11 or Uzi have small bullets, easy enough for surgeons to pick out. But gang-fight damage from blunt instruments does far too much to skulls and brain matter; the operations are much more delicate and touch-and-go. And a baseball bat is perfectly legal to carry down the street... or to store on your boat. Just say it's for fish, or (jokingly) 'for recalcitrant crew', as I like to say. You get a laugh and they stop hassling you.

When leaving the boat, the policy of sailing and socializing with known and trustworthy fellow sailors shows its worth. As you meet people you like and can trust, you will recognize that you share a certain vulnerability and also a certain strength. Responsible yachties voluntarily policing for fellow yachties is absolutely the best form of security there is-- it's a community; and a community of people choosing to be united in caring for each other is, ultimately, omnipotent. You'd help each other in bad weather or in other need; right? --so why not in security as well?
Make friends, not enemies.

Yeti · 05-11-2014, 21:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Draikhyan

Or buy one of those blow-up dolls, dress it up and place it in the cockpit or strap it to the pushpit. Makes folks think someone is on board.

Is this something along the lines of "activating Otto"?

NoTies · 06-11-2014, 01:04

I really don't understand why you all bother trying to cruise at all if you are so paranoid about security. The "real" cruisers from the US and other gun happy countries I have met don't really care as they recognise the threat from violence pales into insignificance compared to the more real threat of the sea.

jeanathon · 06-11-2014, 07:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by NoTies

I really don't understand why you all bother trying to cruise at all if you are so paranoid about security. The "real" cruisers from the US and other gun happy countries I have met don't really care as they recognise the threat from violence pales into insignificance compared to the more real threat of the sea.

Were you asking a question here or just stating your superior opinion?

NoTies · 06-11-2014, 11:15

Simply making an observation.

rwidman · 06-11-2014, 11:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by NoTies

I really don't understand why you all bother trying to cruise at all if you are so paranoid about security. The "real" cruisers from the US and other gun happy countries I have met don't really care as they recognise the threat from violence pales into insignificance compared to the more real threat of the sea.

Yep. See my post #32 above.

nolagal · 06-11-2014, 11:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by NoTies

I really don't understand why you all bother trying to cruise at all if you are so paranoid about security. The "real" cruisers from the US and other gun happy countries I have met don't really care as they recognise the threat from violence pales into insignificance compared to the more real threat of the sea.

Or from home. When people ask me about fear of storms or "piracy". I get to just smile nicely and say "I'm from New Orleans darlin".

goboatingnow · 06-11-2014, 12:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by nolagal

Or from home. When people ask me about fear of storms or "piracy". I get to just smile nicely and say "I'm from New Orleans darlin".

I could make a quip about building below sea level !!!, remember the golden rule, your house needs to above the storm surge and away from the sea shore. ( remember that dutch peoples). Nature laughs at our attempts to circumvent it.

SeaGlub · 06-11-2014, 12:27

I haven't heard of anyone doing this before, and again there's no single absolute solution, but a different non-violent deterrent we went with is a switch to a horn at the spreaders also connected to our spreader deck light which we can switch on from our sleeping quarters. We connected both of these these to a flasher fuse so that when we hit the switch our deck light will flash on and off and our fog horn will alert anyone nearby. Again, this is just a deterrent and hopefully enough to scare away any nighttime intruder.

k9medic · 06-11-2014, 12:29

I just found an entry from my boating log from a trip I took in July down to the SW area of Florida:

" just had to defend my vessel from an attempted hijacking while docked in the marina. Fortunately I was able to thwart the attempt before they got too far and they only made it onto the deck. Had I not been able to do so, I would have had to summons the boat's security detachment (aka Ethan and Garrett) and those two otters would have not known what hit them."

Ethan and Garrett are my 8 and 9 year old adventurous boys.

On a serious note though, We lock the doors when we are on board and when we leave. I have carried a firearm professionally for the past 16 years. It goes with me everywhere yet even in a pair of swim trunks and a t-shirt no one knows it's there. At the home dock, we all keep an eye on each other.

Security and safety is more about mindset than anything else.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nolagal

Or from home. When people ask me about fear of storms or "piracy". I get to just smile nicely and say "I'm from New Orleans darlin".

I know what you mean. The first time I visited Willie Mae's Scotch house I wanted to run the stop signs getting there.