Boat Security

[O'Mali]

Hi Allan,

I wouldn’t think they would trash your boat because of an alarm going off, more likely to panic them.

Your problem lies with the weak point on your doors….the timber frames.

The best thing is portholes, steel doors , steel frames and welded hinges. Keep the locking devices discrete and cover all the gaps so crow bars don’t fit in anywhere. I also think cratch covers help in one way but give them cover whilst carrying out the dirty deed.

 

If you do fit an alarm, make sure you connect up the 12v before your isolation switch or they could just switch it off.

[zenataomm]

As somebody has already mentioned a dog. Whilst on the move my 8st German Shepherd can be quite rude to strangers. Youngsters invariably ask "Does he bite?" I always answer "Yup"

 

After my boat was broken into on its mooring, nothing stolen but hundreds of ££'s damage to doors and frames, I simply stopped locking it, but hung a neat notice over the door that said: -

Inside is a booby trap made from a strong spring and razor wire, you will bleed it will hurt

 

Not been broken into since, neighbours either side have though. One day I'm afraid I'll forget to disarm it before I enter, but that will be my fault.

[blueprince]

electricity, for those times when a dog is not enough.

 

N.B. you can be prosecuted for this, though if you use something low voltage like an electric fence 'pinger' you probably won't be, remember to isolate from the water though or anyone going past will probably vandalize your boat anyway, with nice long wooden poles, and it wouldn't do much for your zincs either.

[Nickhlx]

electricity, for those times when a dog is not enough.

 

N.B. you can be prosecuted for this, though if you use something low voltage like an electric fence 'pinger' you probably won't be, remember to isolate from the water though or anyone going past will probably vandalize your boat anyway, with nice long wooden poles, and it wouldn't do much for your zincs either.

 

 

I thought electric fence things gave a hell of a belt - so thousands of volts - the spark jumps approx 5+mm !

 

Nick

[blueprince]

I thought electric fence things gave a hell of a belt - so thousands of volts - the spark jumps approx 5+mm !

 

Nick

 

Yep, you can tell by all the dead beef, amps!

[Nickhlx]

Yep, you can tell by all the dead beef, amps!

 

 

... Only milliamps....

 

Nick

[Kristian]

OK, Heres my thoughts, Do you have mains electric? If so have two low energy lights on timers to come on during dark times and a radio tuned to Radio 4, which is mostly

talking giving the idea people are on the boat.

Also dont throw away any old shoes but leave them on show in the well deck or on top of a tug deck, again to give the idea the boat is occupied.

And lastly join the residential boat owners association, which is £15 per year even if you dont liveaboard, the reason is you get two large window stickers,

you may have seen them? The point is a thief is less likely to break in if the boat appears to be lived in or occupied.

Hope this helps, Kristian.

ps hope you catch the bastard, give him a smack (or more) from all of us on the forum.

[Baloo]

I do not live on my boat and the break in happened when the boat was unattended. I am certainly investing in stronger padlocks etc but as has been mentioned by several, thieves will get in whatever you do. That is why I am looking at electronic detection systems linked to mobile phones. I do have a mobile signal at my mooring but get very poor satellite TV and broadband reception. The mooring is in a shallow cutting. I am looking at the Nautilarm system. Has anyone experience of the reliability of this unit in a poor signal area. If a mobile phone works will the alarm message be sent?

Hi Allan, sorry to hear of your break-in.

I have included the Nautilarm V2 system on my fit out project. on the whole i'm quite happy with it after a couple of teething glitches.

In answer to your question, yes is you have mobile coverage on the relevant network then the alarm message will be sent. There are various extras you can add on to the system, if you have a look at their website, such as externally mounted antennas (just a small box the size of a 10 pack of fags - ours is mounted on the roof for optimum coverage but it might be an idea to mount it in a hidden location as if an educated theif targeted the boat his first move shoud be to smash the antenna off! ),waterproof siren for internal or external mounting although again the wires are easily accessible to be clipped, bilge water detector, external status led ( to indicate the presence of an alarm system). up to 4 PIR movement detectors Gps locating as well.

The alarm has a battery backup in case of the master switch being turned off.

The system communicates with up to three phones via text. It is also capable of operating a relay to switch on electric circtuits for anything you can wire up .. perhaps say a bilge pump or even cental locking doors via text or by the key fob.

You can text the alarm to ask it what its status is in respect to phone coverage, back up power, sim credit, battery voltage. You can arm / disarm the system via text say if you forget to set the alarm before you leave.

You can call it to listen in on a microphone to any noises coming from within the boat.

The alarm will text you if there is an intruder or if there is high bilge water detected....

Think thats about it , hope it helps.

[AllanO]

Hi Allan, sorry to hear of your break-in.

I have included the Nautilarm V2 system on my fit out project. on the whole i'm quite happy with it after a couple of teething glitches.

In answer to your question, yes is you have mobile coverage on the relevant network then the alarm message will be sent. There are various extras you can add on to the system, if you have a look at their website, such as externally mounted antennas (just a small box the size of a 10 pack of fags - ours is mounted on the roof for optimum coverage but it might be an idea to mount it in a hidden location as if an educated theif targeted the boat his first move shoud be to smash the antenna off! ),waterproof siren for internal or external mounting although again the wires are easily accessible to be clipped, bilge water detector, external status led ( to indicate the presence of an alarm system). up to 4 PIR movement detectors Gps locating as well.

The alarm has a battery backup in case of the master switch being turned off.

The system communicates with up to three phones via text. It is also capable of operating a relay to switch on electric circtuits for anything you can wire up .. perhaps say a bilge pump or even cental locking doors via text or by the key fob.

You can text the alarm to ask it what its status is in respect to phone coverage, back up power, sim credit, battery voltage. You can arm / disarm the system via text say if you forget to set the alarm before you leave.

You can call it to listen in on a microphone to any noises coming from within the boat.

The alarm will text you if there is an intruder or if there is high bilge water detected....

Think thats about it , hope it helps.

Thanks for this.

I have almost decided to send off for a Nautilarm. The unit has both wired and wireless movement PIR sensors available. I would prefer a wireless set up. i presume these are as reliable as the wired type.

I do not have a shore power link up at my mooring and would be relying on the domestic batteries to power the system. Does anyone know the current drain of a Nautilarm?

I am also planning to fit a solar panel and I would hope that this would take care of the drain from the alarm when I am not running the engine or cruising. Lots of expense to keep out undesirables!

[Gary Peacock]

Obviously the more external wired PIR's etc you add the more it will consume.

[Semitrad]

Advice from my ex-detective friend. Thief approaches premises (house, boat, factory etc.) attempts entry and without causing obvious damage, activates the alarm. He then retires to a safe distance and waits while police, keyholder etc. arrive and inspect premises. Nothing found, the alarm is reset and all return to home. A little later this scenario is repeated. On the third or subsequent time the keyholder arrives and disables the alarm system then retires to bed leaving the premises vulnerable to the thief. Something to be aware of if you get "spurious" alarms.

[David Schweizer]

Advice from my ex-detective friend. Thief approaches premises (house, boat, factory etc.) attempts entry and without causing obvious damage, activates the alarm. He then retires to a safe distance and waits while police, keyholder etc. arrive and inspect premises. Nothing found, the alarm is reset and all return to home. A little later this scenario is repeated. On the third or subsequent time the keyholder arrives and disables the alarm system then retires to bed leaving the premises vulnerable to the thief. Something to be aware of if you get "spurious" alarms.

Not sure it is a particularly good idea to tell everone how to commit a successful burglary.

Edited March 28, 2009 by David Schweizer

[nb Innisfree]

Not sure it is a particularly good idea to tell everone how to commit a successful burglary.

 

We can only defend if we know or can guess where the attack is coming from. Probably more boaters than burglars read this.

[David Schweizer]

We can only defend if we know or can guess where the attack is coming from. Probably more boaters than burglars read this.

You are probably correct about the readership, but there is plenty of evidence around that suggests that a lot of boat burglaries and thefts are by other "boaters". I had my purpose made side fenders stolen, and my neighbour had the starter motor stolen from boat's engine, another neighbour had his generator stolen.

 

We have all moved from those unsupervised (but expensive) BW moorings since then.

[Nickhlx]

I am sure burglars know how to commit a successful burglary and posting details to help create successful burglars I think unlikely to induce people into becoming burglars....

 

However, I imagine some people may deliberately have other (silent) alarms, so when the "noisy" alarm has been disabled, the "silent" alarm is still active - maybe even "trap boats" The booby-trapped boat ( house) idea is not new ... strong spring and razor wire....

 

IMO burglars deserve at least what they get and it seems rude not to give them more than they might expect...

 

Nick

[nb Innisfree]

I am sure burglars know how to commit a successful burglary and posting details to help create successful burglars I think unlikely to induce people into becoming burglars....

 

However, I imagine some people may deliberately have other (silent) alarms, so when the "noisy" alarm has been disabled, the "silent" alarm is still active - maybe even "trap boats" The booby-trapped boat ( house) idea is not new ... strong spring and razor wire....

 

IMO burglars deserve at least what they get and it seems rude not to give them more than they might expect...

 

Nick

Gas. Only joking, I think...

[Nickhlx]

Gas. Only joking, I think...

 

 

Carbon monoxide released by PIR detection of unwanted visitors - can you get CO in cylinders ? Must investigate...

 

Hang on, don't burglars have rights ??

 

Nick

[nb Innisfree]

Carbon monoxide released by PIR detection of unwanted visitors - can you get CO in cylinders ? Must investigate...

 

Hang on, don't burglars have rights ??

 

Nick

Yes, unfortunately

[Jac]

Yes, unfortunately

 

I know of a very good fire prevention method used in various insurance offices, mainly to protect the vast amounts of paperwork.

It is a sysem that dispenses carbon dioxide or Co2 or argon or nitrogen or a combination of gas.

Only in the interest of fire safety of course, if however it was inadvertantly connected to the intruder side of an alarm.

Well it would be a little unfortunate for the unwary.

[bastonjock]

i often have to deal with cars that have been damaged by a break in,it takes a good thief about 10 seconds to break into a car,i generally advise people to leave nothing of value in the car and dont lock the door,and fit an imobiliser to stop it being stolen.The damage that is caused in the search for a car radio that will fetch 40 quid down the pub,often goes into the hundreds,fit a radio with a face off and take the face off with you.

 

For boat security,i have considered that when i swap my GRP jobby for a narrowboat,i will opt for a boat with port holes as opposed to windows,for when im away from the boat i will fit a steel over door and a padlock with a hidden hasp (no sawing to cut),add an alarm and a triggering mechanisim,i.e a chain that has to be removed to acess the doors,a recorded message of a couple of large hairy dogs barking and growling like mad will put a lot of thiefts off.

 

nothing however is unstealable.

[Naughty Cal]

i often have to deal with cars that have been damaged by a break in,it takes a good thief about 10 seconds to break into a car,i generally advise people to leave nothing of value in the car and dont lock the door,and fit an imobiliser to stop it being stolen.The damage that is caused in the search for a car radio that will fetch 40 quid down the pub,often goes into the hundreds,fit a radio with a face off and take the face off with you.

 

For boat security,i have considered that when i swap my GRP jobby for a narrowboat,i will opt for a boat with port holes as opposed to windows,for when im away from the boat i will fit a steel over door and a padlock with a hidden hasp (no sawing to cut),add an alarm and a triggering mechanisim,i.e a chain that has to be removed to acess the doors,a recorded message of a couple of large hairy dogs barking and growling like mad will put a lot of thiefts off.

 

nothing however is unstealable.

 

You will do all that then leave it tied to the bankside with two pieces of rope.

[Ex- Member]

We have steel doors front and rear plus all portholes. When back on the canal if leaving the boat for any period of time, we'll leave the boat by the stern. I'm planning to rig a s/steel bar that spans the pair of cratch doors internally and on to the bulkhead each side. This woud be almost impossible to break in unless some seriously heavy equipment was used.

 

With no need to use a padlock externally, it could also give the impression someone is in.

 

Similar to this but fitted internally and would be more elegant. http://www.dgsecurity.co.uk/GarShed_domestic.htm

 

The stern doors will be locked with a decent padlock, but we have a solid 2" marine ply door between the engine room and boat. This has a very good quality mortice lock with it's bolt going into the steel bulkhead frame and hung on 3 x 4" brass hinges screwed into the steel door frame. This can be key locked as we exit, then lock the steel stern doors.

 

If they did get into the stern engine room, they would have one hell of a task getting through this internal door. To add even more security adding a lock box like one of these

 

http://www.cjsupplies.co.uk/containerlocks.php

 

used for shipping containers are almost impossible to access unless you use Oxycetelene or can pick the lock. I plan to get one made by a welder as the container ones are too big but quite a simple design and bolt on to the existing steel doors.

 

A tracking system is a must IMO even with a boat as big and heavy as ours, and insurance costs should be cheaper over the long term.

[blueprince]

I've devoted quite a lot of time to this because I'm warped and twisted that way, but I can't come up with anything which could reliably booby trap your boat that would not also pose a serious hazard to your own health should you inadvertently forget about it, say by application of alcohol.

 

My final theory is this:

 

Most of your boat should be well secured as discussed earlier in this thread, however, one door should be noticeably flimsy, and lead to another very well secured door, that is obviously going to take some time to get through. In this chamber, one should conceal, poorly, a bottle of gin (or any other high proof liquid you can't stand to drink) suitably adulterated with whatever evilness you aspire to, laxatives, tranquilizers, or even methanol could be considered, though competent legal advice should be sought first.

As your uninvited guest rests, relaxes and partakes in preparation for some arduous door battering, the evil concoction works it's magic, leaving you, upon your return, the opportunity to either clean up, or administer a good kicking to their recumbent form.

 

I'm not seriously suggesting burglars should be poisoned and thumped, but I might change my mind if I get broken into.

[carlt]

"And when the airtight door closes behind them the nerve gas is released." (he laughs manically and continues to stroke the cat)

[Naughty Cal]

You come up with any better methods of securing it to the bank/towpath?