It's starting to get annoying each time I visit the boat (in a gated storage facility, mind you) it seems things are missing... Nothing major (yet). a few extra pieces of cordage (which have since been secured inside the cabin) which I presume people used when moving items in/out of the facility and forgot to return...

Any thoughts on some rudimentary security to document who may be visiting? As mentioned, everything that's loose is in a locked cabin (out of sight).

I suspect they may try to use some of the miscellaneous lines I have tying down items, but I am concerned that perhaps halyards and other lines may be in danger of being "borrowed".

It is hopeless to imagine anything would be enforceable (and the storage agreement waives facility responsibility), but ideally I'd love something I could submit to the facility to encourage them to pay more attention. My only leverage would be bad press on the various web areas... but would love to give them the opportunity to correct any issues I am able to document first.

Not sure if the facility is near wi-fi so constant monitoring is probably out (air card would be expensive, no?).

Perhaps a game camera?

+1

What stops them from taking the camera?

I wondered about that, too... But if I mount on masthead, it's 8 feet beyond the stern and about 10 feet off the ground when it's sitting on the trailer...

So you could probably mess with it if you had a stepladder, but I don't think these are hardened criminals... yet.

And maybe I'm just being paranoid.. there aren't any other loose lines (that aren't attached to things non-sailors would identify) laying around... But they DID have to climb on the boat to find those lines they borrowed....

I miss my old barn. Kept out of sight, under cover, for free... too bad the property owner moved....

I always thought that caltrops in tall grass provided a great deterrent to theft.

Strip the boat of anything that can disappear, including/especially the halyard and anything else that can be "repurposed" by non-sailors. Hopefully they'll leave the tiedowns and bungees alone...

How often are you sailing this boat vs. "visiting" it, BTW?

Mike

I was afraid of that, Mike....

Halyards are internal and replacing them with a runner might encourage repurposig the lesser quality line which would leave me having to re-route a long internal run

As for usage, I consider this the "off" season for me. T-storms and fluky light winds are the norm until about September (oh, and hurricane thingies, too). The rest of the year I use the boat about 1-2 weekends / month. Race probably 2-3 times / yr. It's a dead-boat society member...

This storage facility is closer to home & office, so I have the opportunity to "visit" possibly 2x per week if needed. Not that it would prevent anything...

But yes, I'll recheck and remove anything that can get legs easily (gas tank, cordage, blocks) and lock or otherwise secure the rest..

or just F* it and spend $350,000 on a house with a yard

hmmmm... I like that line of thinking...

The people taking this stuff probably aren't major criminals. They're likely people that just haven't thought through the entire act of taking this or that off your boat (otherwise, major expensive stuff would be gone). They're probably looking for a quick fix to their own problem and haven't considered you or what you have to go through to deal with whatever they've taken. Place some signs around your boat that bring to mind the fact that they are impacting someone else and not just a "thing". Whether or not they're funny, passive aggressive, or just plain old aggressive it will probably fix it.

If that doesn't do it, I'm all for electrifying the trailer with a cow fence energizer (got a plug nearby?).

A sign that reads "This boat is property of Joffrey Baratheon" should be a good deterrent :P

they must be landlubbers... other boats are here but they didn't take the fender sitting right next to the rope.

The rope had a clear PVC sleeve (where it would rub the hull when I tied the boat with it) that they actually removed and left laying on the pavement next to the boat (BOTH lines).

That was my first clue something was amiss...

maybe a nice boat cover will work best for several things... sun damage, petty theft, and I could live in there when momma kicks me out for being an idiot myself

Sounds like you have two things working against you (besides the obvious low-lifes who don't respect other people's property): The availability of useful things and the potential appearance that the boat is abandoned if it rarely moves.

Could you replace the halyard with a monofilament runner or two? If you leave it and they take it, it will be expensive and difficult to replace.

Mike

Just hook it up to an electric fence power supply. Enough to get their attention, but not enough to send anyone to the morgue. A few other nice booby traps could be fun

I was thinking of just pulling the halyard all the way up to the sheave (right now it's shackled to the mast base), coiling up the line and stowing in some sort of canvas bag attached to the mast (so the line itself is out of sight).

But knowing me I'd hoist the mast and fasten the forestay before I realize I didn't return the halyard shackle back down to the mast base

I'm thinking I'll try the game camera for $50..

And maybe a boat cover, although I doubt that would keep determined people out.. maybe just keep temptation out of sight for the petty thieves?

I used a game camera a little over a month ago to catch a junkie stealing our tools from a jobsite.Now he's a jailbird junkie. The thing to remember is that they turn on (I used video mode) every time it senses movement and can fill a memory card rather quickly in an area where there is traffic.You'll have to check it and delete the card often. They also usually have a molded in loop so you can lock them closed and to something. Set it a little ways away from your boat and camouflage it with whatever is around. the thief probably won't even see it unless it's near what he's stealing.

That's what I was thinking.... it will be at the masthead which is behind the boat and might not be where someone would look...

Might paint it silver to match the mast.. Hiding in plain sight type of thing...

Would have to fashion some sort of bracket to mount it where the windex goes (which I remove for trailering anyway)... shouldn't be difficult.

How did you catch your junkies? Were the photos good enough for the police to recognize faces?

I think the $50 Tesco one is 3MP resolution...

i would talk with the managment of the property. ask to be moved near the office or video cameras
if they wont help, find another storage facitlity with better fencing, video cameras

I would get a tarp or boat cover as well.

I was debating moving, but the agreements with the other storage facilities all read the same "no responsibility, blah, blah, blah".

They also clearly state "Video surveillance cameras NOT monitored". I don't know exactly what that means other than they're either too lazy to actually keep data, or those cameras are fake.

And moving to another facility would cost an additional $125/month. yeeowch.

So, while I search my ideal solution (out-of-sight storage, preferably under cover) a boat cover may be the next best option.

Sat it in the locked room , amongst the tools. Very good video. Someone on the job recognized the guy from them. He then had the gall to come up to us watching the video with the cops, and tell us he ran some thieves off. best part is he was still wearing the exact same clothes as in the video. Police can't use the vid to arrest ( go figure) but used it to get a search warrant which led to the arrest.
At the mast head it very well may be triggered by the wind.