Your boat is your pride and joy, right? Which means there's probably one boating website you'll never ever want to visit - www.stolenboats.org.uk. Recognising a name on the list at that site must feel like the end of the world - yet how many of us are relying on just a flimsy lock to keep our most precious investment safe from harm?
If you think of it, some of the chances we take with boat security are really scary. Just because we're trusting souls doesn't mean the rest of the world is. Nor is our craft always as protected as we'd like it to be. Even in a marina with 24 hour surveillance, things happen - electrics can fail, leaks start, and is anywhere ever really safe from intruders?
All of which is preventable of course, with a good alarm system. In fact carrying on without one is false economy. For instance, would you still say you couldn't afford one after your boat sinks at its moorings? Oh, you mean it can't happen? Well, yes, but try telling yourself that when it does.
Luckily, there are remote alarm systems that are really quite sophisticated. And when you think of how often our prized possessions are completely unattended, thank goodness there are. Like the one that sends a message to your marina management or harbour master's office: “Yacht Lucinda at berth 38B has experienced a bilge alarm at 21.17 hours, please check and advise owner” - with a similar text to your own mobile at the same time.
Inevitably, because you're not always around to look after your property, a boat is probably more at hazard than a house or car - so it makes sense to at least use the protection measures you would use for them.
An alarm? At www.secureboat.co.uk you can get a motion-activated one that barks an alert in your own voice, simultaneously reaching you on your mobile. It can even be triggered if someone snaps off more than two poppers on your cockpit canopy.
Or how about a ID tagging system like you have on your car? The advice at www.home-security-action.co.uk is to apply an electronically coded 14 digit Hull Identification Number that is extremely difficult for thieves to remove or destroy. If you're still unlucky enough to have your craft stolen, police can track it, or the trailer you might be using to transport it via the GPS monitoring device you can also install.
Of course the constant worry owners have away from the boat is if everything is properly secure and shipshape. Both www.bridgeworkltd.co.uk and www.harbourcall.co.uk can provide a simple monitoring system to take care of issues like the weather your boat is facing, the level in the bilges, state off battery charge. Pretty well all of these are programmable so you can take correcting action from your mobile phone - despite being several hundred miles away.
Other devices are equally easy to obtain and make a huge difference to your peace of mind - intruder mats, for example, which trigger an alarm if stepped on - or, a more obvious precaution, installing an ignition immobiliser.
Whatever you do, do something - because sooner or later you will regret it if you don't. Above all, use the common sense tricks the police have been drumming into us for years:
Display a notice that the boat is protected.
Fit strong locks on main and fore hatches.
Fit locks on all cockpit lockers - and lock them.
Always remove ignition keys and don't keep all keys together.
Keep valuables out of sight.
Draw curtains and blinds before going ashore.
Secure outboards and dinghies so they cannot be removed.
Mark all your stuff with indelible felt tip.
Make an up-to-date list of all ID numbers on your equipment and keep it in a safe place.
Get to know boat owners around you so you can all keep any eye on each other's craft.
Be on good terms with your marina manager or harbour master and be sure to report anything suspicious.
