Does Anyone keep a Safe Onboard?

[simonpickard]

Hello all,

I was just wondering what people do to protect their documents / money / camera / laptops, etc?

I was thinking of getting a waterproof safe that I'd (try) to hide somewhere out of the way. Was wondering if anyone eles does this? Pro's / con's?

Would a safe attract more interest than just trying to spread items around the boat hidden?

[svmariane]

We have a safe that is built-in, just inside the top-most step of the companionway. It's convenient in case of abandon ship. We keep our cash, traveler's cheques, passports, birth certificates, debit & credit cards inside. With pin numbers written on a piece of waterproof paper. Oh! And all our gold doubloons, too!

The combination is L1, R2, L3

[MarkJ]

I spread and hide.

But cameras and laptops etc are too big for a safe anyway, and too much of a hassle to secure three times per day.

So its just money and passports etc. hide them, theres plenty of places in full view where things can be hidden. A trained customs guy will find them, but doubtful a crook will.

[Richard5]

As when the conversation turns to firearms (FTW!) or other valuables, discretion is the overriding rule. I neither confirm or deny the possible existence of such items.

[nimblemotors]

A safe is very heavy, maybe not an issue on a big boat, but more an issue is if found, the bad guys can just force you to open it. I hide my valuables amoung my dirty underwear,
and inside old paint cans.


I'm lying about the paint cans.

[boatman61]

Cruisers without safes get kicked to **** or killed... coz they don't have safes..
but criminal's are convinced they do have em.. and the other stuffs a decoy.. happened to someone anchored in Colon 2012..
Must read CF..

[JPA Cate]

Met a metal boat that had one built in. No names.

Ann

[Salty Skipper]

My safe is...well quite safe....I screwed in an eye bolt from the lower most point of my fiberglass keel. The money dangles from a five foot 1/4 inch stainless cable from the keel...a total of $4.5 million dollars is stored there in vacuum sealed bags.......Thanks grandpa, mom and dad!

[Palarran]

We have a really good one for laptops, camera's and phones. It holds quite a bit and is not heavy nor expensive. I through bolted it into a major panel and there isn't a good chance anyone is going to get it open.

So we keep all our valuables in the safe and 1/2 the money. Boatman's right, there are a lot of crooks who want to see the safe and quite frankly, I've got no problem showing them to not risk anything with my family.

[simonpickard]

Palarran,

Do you have a link to what model you have?

I agree, hopefully this stops anyone just trying their luck. If anyone ever took it to the next level of.. Laptop or your life... Well, I can replace a laptop.

[Pelagic]

A Waterproof Fire Safe is a great thing to have on board, more for important documents rather than lots of cash.
I would hide well, but not bolt down in case I needed to remove from a sunken hull.

[nauticalnomad]

Originally Posted by simonpickard

Hello all,

I was just wondering what people do to protect their documents / money / camera / laptops, etc?

I was thinking of getting a waterproof safe that I'd (try) to hide somewhere out of the way. Was wondering if anyone eles does this? Pro's / con's?

Would a safe attract more interest than just trying to spread items around the boat hidden?

I dont keep my valuables on board.. I have them buried on an island with the coordinates tattooed on my back by way of map..

[Palarran]

Originally Posted by simonpickard

Palarran,

Do you have a link to what model you have?

I agree, hopefully this stops anyone just trying their luck. If anyone ever took it to the next level of.. Laptop or your life... Well, I can replace a laptop.

This was it.
Stack-On PS-508 Extra Wide Strong Box Safe with Electronic Lock - Amazon.com

It's big enough for a wide screen laptop, several in fact. I wouldn't bother with a fire safe as they are really heavy and chances are you won't recover anything after a fire anyway. To elaborate on my location, the safe is actually sitting in somewhat plain sight, I had a cover made out of floral fabric and set a decorative plastic flower arrangement on top of it. You just lift up one side and unlock it. Very easy access. You can see it over by the window without the flowers on it

[captain58sailin]

We have a safe on board with a couple of hundred in counterfeit currency and leave the door open.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Palarran

So we keep all our valuables in the safe and 1/2 the money. Boatman's right, there are a lot of crooks who want to see the safe and quite frankly, I've got no problem showing them to not risk anything with my family.

A tip for the truly paranoid:

Buy two safes. Hide one of them really well. Put a few hundred dollars and some carpy jewelry in the less well hidden one. Keep your boat papers, passports, real money, etc., in the better hidden one.

I wouldn't, personally, bother locking up laptops. They are in constant use so not really subject to being locked up. The main thing is to keep the data backed up somewhere in the cloud, and encrypt the hard drive. It's the data you care about, not so much the hardware. I always keep my last retired laptop on board for backup, in case something happens to the hardware.