My neighbor tells me I am going to have a problem

[QC]

Re: My neighbor tells me I am going to have a problem

I live in LA. My boat is in the driveway without a lock. I really don't worry about it. If it get stolen it gets stolen. I have insurance.

Me too, me too and me too . . .

 

[KeyWestSkipper]

Re: My neighbor tells me I am going to have a problem

Interesting list of stolen boats around the country, with photos and status in most cases.

http://www.boatman.com/stolenDB/recover.html

Thieves don't seem to favor one type of boat, either, something to keep in mind I suppose.

 

[tallcanadian]

Re: My neighbor tells me I am going to have a problem

I too live in a small town and it is surprising to walk through the Walmart parking lot and see how many people leave their keys in the car. We too never locked our doors until the last few years. The town police here don't even have guns, but like many other municipalities, drug crimes are on the rise. Being an alarm installer, our home alarm business has increased 100% plus in the past 5 years. I now lock my boat trailer, cost like 15 bucks for a lock. How many times have people come up to me and say, ''I didn't think it would ever happen to me.''. But it can. Most break-ins here are in the garage or shed and quads, outboard motors, tools, etc, are taken. Most insurance companies recognize home alarms and offer a discount on insurance rates. Look into it. For the sake of a few bucks protect yourself. And most break ins are not random. You never know who is watching you and seeing what you have to offer.

 

[Fl_Richard]

Re: My neighbor tells me I am going to have a problem

I refuse to lock up my life. If they want in come on in.

Of course I live in Florida and all us crackers are heavily armed and the state backs us up with the castle law sooo... Come on over take my unlocked trailer on the side of my house and if your lucky you'll escape with your life

 

[tallcanadian]

Re: My neighbor tells me I am going to have a problem

You guys are lucky. Here in Canada, you get a fart jam and they arrest you, let alone have guns..lol.

 

[JimS123]

Re: My neighbor tells me I am going to have a problem

I live in LA. My boat is in the driveway without a lock. I really don't worry about it. If it get stolen it gets stolen. I have insurance.

That only makes sense if your rig is such junk that you know nobody would want to steal it. Or, you don't want it anymore and need the insurance money.

OK, so it get stolen. The insurance company pays very quickly, minus the deductable of course. And naturally, it was depreciated, so you don't really get what its worth. Then you go to get a new one and find out that you have to drop a few extra grand just to buy a boat that's half as good as what you had. To add insult to injury, when you get your new insurance policy they have raised your rates because you had a claim.

Ben there, done that.

 

[Noob82]

Re: My neighbor tells me I am going to have a problem

About a year ago, someone came into the boat canal of our development at night and carted off with 3 empty boat lift bunks. They simply cut the cables and hauled the bunks away.

I'd lock the trailer up.

 

[atx111]

Re: My neighbor tells me I am going to have a problem

A neighbor of mine had his boat stolen out of locked storage a couple years ago and didn't have insurance. He would head out to the local lakes on busy days to hopefully see it, but I'm sure it was chopped up and sold for parts the day it was stolen.

I have my boat in locked storage too, but I have a coupler lock on the trailer, it's insured, and since the storage place is 2 blocks away, I check on it a couple times a week. I even keep a coupler lock on my jet ski trailer which is in my garage.

If someone wants something bad enough, they'll get it, but I sure won't make it easy for them. I live in a somewhat rural area and hear of farm thefts all the time. Just because you live in the country doesn't make you immune to crime.

 

[cr2k]

Re: My neighbor tells me I am going to have a problem

For everyone to remember...

A friend of mine was so proud of the lock he put on his trailer coupler so no one could unhook his trailer from his truck, until I pointed out his receiver hitch had only a clip on the pin and anyone with a receiver hitch could just pull the pin and take the whole hitch and put in their truck and be off with it.

He has fixed that, since.

But there is a lesson to learn here.

 

[ifallsguy]

Re: My neighbor tells me I am going to have a problem

It also helps to have a reputation. I'm from Alaska and don't put up with a lot of cr*p. I caught some guy in my truck one evening and just walked up to him asking what he was doing. He said he was the owner and was taking the radio to get it fixed. I normally have a hunting knife on my belt, and just slowly pulled it out and threw it over this guy's shoulder, into a tree behind him. His eyes got really big, but his buddy, waiting in a car across the street yelled "you missed, now what are you going to do?". I just loudly said I needed it out of the way so I could get to the skinning knife I had in a pocket under the the hunting knife. The buddy took off in the car, leaving the guy with my radio down on his knees, pleading that I not hurt him.
My wife called the cops, who charged the guy with over a dozen break ins (and a deal since he turned in his driver and fence).
Me-I'm known as the crazy guy from Alaska YOU DON'T WANT TO MESS WITH. No more trouble in the neighborhood since then.

I was willing to back up my facing the guy since I have a black belt in tia quan do. And I did have a skinning knife in my pocket.

 

[atx111]

Re: My neighbor tells me I am going to have a problem

For everyone to remember...

A friend of mine was so proud of the lock he put on his trailer coupler so no one could unhook his trailer from his truck, until I pointed out his receiver hitch had only a clip on the pin and anyone with a receiver hitch could just pull the pin and take the whole hitch and put in their truck and be off with it.

He has fixed that, since.

But there is a lesson to learn here.

Oh yeah, for sure have a locking pin in your receiver too! I have a B&W ball mount(pricey!) and wouldn't be pleased if that was stolen either!

 

[tallcanadian]

Re: My neighbor tells me I am going to have a problem

Or, get one of these.....

 

[bruceb58]

Re: My neighbor tells me I am going to have a problem

That only makes sense if your rig is such junk that you know nobody would want to steal it. Or, you don't want it anymore and need the insurance money.

OK, so it get stolen. The insurance company pays very quickly, minus the deductable of course. And naturally, it was depreciated, so you don't really get what its worth. Then you go to get a new one and find out that you have to drop a few extra grand just to buy a boat that's half as good as what you had. To add insult to injury, when you get your new insurance policy they have raised your rates because you had a claim.

Ben there, done that.

I have USAA insurance. They are extremely fair with the price as I know what they have done in similar cases with stolen autos.

There is always a cost for everything. To me there is a cost for "worrying" about things you can do nothing about. If someone wants your boat they are going to get it, no matter what you do.

 

[JimS123]

Re: My neighbor tells me I am going to have a problem

I have USAA insurance. They are extremely fair with the price as I know what they have done in similar cases with stolen autos.

There is always a cost for everything. To me there is a cost for "worrying" about things you can do nothing about. If someone wants your boat they are going to get it, no matter what you do.

Oh, I couldn't agree more. I have enough to worry about already, and they are things that I DO have control over....LOL

Nevertheless, as others have said, no sense in making it any easier on the crook.

I have excellent insurance at a reasonable price. I get a 15% "loss free renewal" discount, which adds up to big bucks considering I'm insuring 4 boats. So, any theft makes my rates go up for at least 3 years.

My current family boat is a mint 26 year old Searay. Its insured at $6500, but would cost $30,000 to replace. That's the point i was trying to get across to the OP.

 

[itsaboattime]

Re: My neighbor tells me I am going to have a problem

Been a country boy all my life. Growing up I don't think there were locks on our doors.

As an adult I do lock up my boat and camper. My work truck, well, if it were stolen, I think after driving it a mile or two, they'd bring it back...........lol. The yukon, on the other hand, is locked in the garage.

We have 4 German Shepherds that are pretty much in charge of security here on the farm. If you don't belong here they aren't gonna let you outta the car.

Bottom line is if your worried about it, lock it up.

 

[Southern Appal]

Re: My neighbor tells me I am going to have a problem

I live out in the country too. Not way out, but people mind their own business here. Never had to lock the doors, left the keys in the cars. But new people moving into the area don't have that old time respect. Car was stolen one night; it was returned almost to the driveway. Now I lock everything except the house; it's too easy to get into.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: My neighbor tells me I am going to have a problem

The crime rate is up everywhere around here too.Although we live in a good neighborhood everything is locked up.
Our yard is fenced in and the gates are locked along with my 2 dogs.

I use these and really like them. One in my shop and another on the corner of the building aimed at the boat and travel trailer..
Along with motion lights,one on each building,one on a 20 foot pole behind the buildings and two on the house.If anyone comes over the fence the lights go on and the alarm in the house beeps..

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93068

 

[floatingwoody2006]

Re: My neighbor tells me I am going to have a problem

You guys are lucky. Here in Canada, you get a fart jam and they arrest you, let alone have guns..lol.

I don't know what "fart Jam" is, but it sounds particurly nasty to me..Possibly a better defense to begin with..

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: My neighbor tells me I am going to have a problem

You can lock and disable every part of the boat, motor and trailer. IMO you are a victim of a crime that hasn't been committed yet, b/c you have to unlock and reassemble everything to use your own boat. And chain down that trailer, and drive off forgetting to unchain it--you're a victim at that point!

Like all boating matters, there is no one size fits all. Most thefts are crimes of opportunity--a visible quick grab. So if the boat can be left out of sight from the road, great. A cover works wonders in this regard too.
A simple padlock on the tongue will cause 90% of the theives to move on; the ones who will cut it would deal with about whatever else you have (except the dogs or alarm system). A lock "just enough to keep an honest man honest" is usually all you need. Maybe a little more if you are going out of town for a while.

I often use a boat repair place in a small town out in the country. Their open field for boat storage could be a shopping spree. But it means I can pick up or drop off my boat any day or time--a convenience that works well for both of us.

 

[j_martin]

Re: My neighbor tells me I am going to have a problem

Here's my security warning poster.