For a newbie, the question of security pops up!

The yachting community cares for each other and as long as you have people on neighbouring boats you can feel pretty safe. You will also learn from others how to minimize the risks, but such little secrets should not be revealed here I think. I have survived five years of living on a yacht without problems anyway.

I went to work as a captain for the owner of a yacht back in the early 90's. I asked the owner where the keys for the boat were located and he said he kept them at home.
He thought it would be more expensive to repair a teak door than to risk something stolen. As a yacht broker I find many yachts that are unlocked, I think a boat may be more secure than a regular house.
I see that you are from NYC and security there and in places like Miami has to be tighter than most ports.
Tucker Fallon

I agree that at anchor alone in cove one does feel quite like a sitting duck. Luckily for me, I'm not a big fan of anchoring. I think that having a properly secured but available hand gun on board any boat is a not a bad idea.

I have owned medium to large powerboats from age 16 to current age 50. Only one boat did I ever lock. It was a sportfish boat with a very attractive piece of bronze sculpture that was easily seen through the window, and easy to snag. Otherwise, I have never locked a boat and have lost to theft only a few insignificant items.

Boaters do look out for one another.

Homeless man steals yacht from ultra-exclusive club

A homeless man who took the $900,000 motor yacht Delirium for a joyride quickly settled into the lifestyle of the rich and famous.

After a daring daylight departure from the ultra-exclusive Royal Vancouver Yacht Club, he helped himself to drinks and tried to cook a steak -- directly on the element.

His adventure began when he somehow cleared security at the club's heavily gated Stanley Park docks last Friday morning.

First he tried to break into the Majestic but then took Delirium, a 65-foot Jefferson pleasure yacht, for an eight-hour joyride in English Bay.

"He enjoyed a few bottles of wine, watched TV, and tried to fry a steak right on the element," said Laurie Case, whose husband Jim is a shareholder in Delirium Yacht Charters Ltd., which owns the vessel. "It was truly amazing."

Officials at the yacht club didn't think twice when they saw Delirium head out to sea about 7:30 a.m.

But when Jim Case got a call from a buddy later that day -- telling him his mega-yacht was cruising in English Bay -- something didn't add up.

"My husband phoned me and asked me if I had lent the boat to anyone," said Case.

Then the authorities got involved.

The RCMP chopper flew out to find the wayward sailor.

The RCMP marine squad set out, and so did the Vancouver police marine squad, with four members of the Emergency Response Team on board.

The coast guard also stepped in.

The first attempt to intercept Delirium involved a loud-hailer and the chopper, but the skipper was nowhere to be seen.

So the Vancouver police marine squad boarded Delirium and found an apparently empty boat.

After a few minutes they found the skipper attempting to hide from the five different agencies now hot on his nautical trail.

Case said he was shocked that a homeless man could steer the vessel single-handedly out of the tight marina slips.

"Getting out of that myriad of docks, this guy had to have some seamanship skills," said Case. "I would almost bet that he has a background as a commercial fisherman or a tugboat captain.

"The people who saw the ship leave said he did a masterful job.

"At the end of the day, he treated it with respect. It had to be cleaned, but there was no malicious damage."

Boat detailer Cathy Smith gave Delirium a little TLC yesterday to return it to its pristine state.

"How does a guy just steal a boat?" sighed Smith in amazement. "I cleaned it up just a week ago.

"Now I'm cleaning it up again."
Charged with theft over $5,000 is Joel William Jackson, 37, of no fixed address.


The Province
Published: Tuesday, June 27, 2006

motives?

lets face it....

"Locks only keep honest people out".

and it is right...
ON a empty vessel the cost of repaires are far more expensive than the replacement costs of most items...

ON a occupied vessel then a lock can give you time to get a weapon.

personally i am toying with the idea of a motion detector as no one wants to sleep locked up in the tropics.

Your best protection is the area where you reside. Goes for home, boats or anything else. Boating tends to breed a culture of honesty, even with some people who are less so in their everyday lives. Locks do very little good since most of your most expensive stuff is sitting right out in the open on the bridge (radar, chartplotters, radios, etc.). Here on eastern Long Island theft from boats is almost unheard of although we had a guy hitting marinas a few winters back. The fool tried to fence the booty on E-bay and was caught. The further west on the Island you go (towards the city), the more likely you are to find theft. However, the boating community is realatively small, marinas are large and docks are long. People there tend to notice strangers, especially ones with ill-intent on their minds. It's a long walk back to the car with an arm full of electronics or a full pillow case. Thieves tend to be stupid, but they also tend not to be the most daring soals. A lot can happen on that long walk off a pier, and there's no place to go unless you plan to swim.
I've found that the most common theft in marinas are hose nozzles, and that generally just someone who borrowed it and forgot which hose he took it off. I go for the $1.99 plastic specials and always keep a spare or two on board.

Last Sept. (after Labor Day) I was onboard in Sag Harbor.

I always keep a shotgun onboard but as it was nearing the end of the season I had taken it home.

2:00 AM. me, my 14 y.o son and my 10 y.o son. are asleep. I am awakened by the thump that can only be the sound of someone jumping from the dock into the cockpit.

I come up and there are 2 drunk 20-somethings on my aft deck (I have a motoryacht). I had a fit and [forcefully] ushered them off the boat (one went in the water). I don't think they were anything but drunk mischief-makers but it's quite possible they would have done damage had I not been there.

There are thieves and then there are idiots who would never break into a house but for whatever reason think it is OK to invade someone's boat.

Thankfully, it is not usually an issue but you do have to be aware of the possibility.

This morning I was greeted with the sight of our 14' tender hanging peacefully in its davits devoid of its' Honda BF-30 Fourstroke.
We are berthed on a Tee dock at a marina with 24hr security at the gate and two watchmen on dock duty all night. The stern is almost directly under a high intensity lamp and I had even neglected to shut off the spreader lights last night.
Two of us were onboard sleeping. My mate said he thought he heard a noise about 2am but ignored it. At first I was upset with him for not investigating.
When he told the cop about hearing the "noise" the cops response was "thank god you didn't get up". The gang thought to be responsible are known to be well armed and organized.
If your solution is to have your own gun you better be prepared to use it - hopefully the culprit won't be just some intoxicated skipper getting on the wrong boat or a misguided teenager.
My insurance company has already processed my claim. No one got hurt, or killed and you won't have to watch the drama play out on TV.
They were no doubt wearing hoddies...

A bar lock that goes across the OB's transom screws is a good investment. Other than that I'd have to agree with the cop although I'm the type to get involved and possibly getting myself killed. To shoot someone for stealing an outboard will probably cost you a lot more than the motor is worth. Save that for when your life is actually in danger.

I had the motor off last week for a $500 tune-up. It was a good handful for two men to lift off while on the hard. The nylock nuts took a large breaker bar to loosen. When I reinstalled the motor I put four new nylocks on the bolts.

Out stern is high. The dinghy was a good four feet above the waterline. I always thought that the davits were my security. Now I know they made for a convenient working height from a center console pirate-boat.

Good lighting is always an asset when working around heavy equipment so I guess they appreciated the security lighting and spreader lights.

Wish they had taken the tender instead but they obviously were turned off my the soft tube...

I once sold a 150hp OB to a guy. He picked it up and carried it to his truck. I prayed that motor treated him well, cause I didn't want him to come back mad. Criminals tend to not be the sharpest tools in the shed as evidenced by how hard and for how little profit many of them seem to work. Most would be so much better off putting that effort into an honest endeavor.

I often have had the same thoughts.
It took me two trips back to the boat plus one trip to Sears before I got the motor off for servicing. I had a man helping me and we debated for five minutes how best to wrestle the beast so as not to strain ourselves.
These guys arrive with just the right gear, work silently and finish the task in minutes.
With that kind of planning and precision why don't they start up a Jiffy Lube or something? Can it be as simple as not wanting to pay taxes?

This is ALWAYS the case when you decide to go forward. A piece of equipment is not worth someone's (theirs OR yours) life.

I was of the mind that four nylocks was as good as any outboard motor lock I had seen. They can be a real bear to loosen but obviously these guys were well equipped.
Any time I hear someone engaged in this kind of activity I'm just as likely to roll over and make a note to email my agent in the morning. Not interested in getting shot over $4000 worth of Japanese technology.
Turns out they lifted a 60hp 4 stroke off of a motoryacht in broad daylight the week before.
Hate to say where on the north east corner of Puerto Rico I am, since it is not necessarily the fault of the owners of the marina reportedly slashing the security budget by 60% over the last year...