First time a thief broke into my boat

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opie
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Joined: Tue Nov 16, 2004 5:40 am
Sailboat: MacGregor 26X
Location: Wilmington, NC

First time a thief broke into my boat

Post by opie »

Well, it finally happened. I store the boat in a lot and saw it last weekend for the first time in 60 days or so. Someone cut off my $1.50 lock, took off the hatchboard and opened the sliding hatch wide. Nothing was taken because we don't leave anything valuable. My sails and ropes were not pawn-able I guess since they remain. I think that maybe a homeless person broke in looking for blankets and a warm space on some night when the temp was very low. No vandalism at all, but boat was full of leaves and some rainwater. Just a thought, but if I had one of those super-HASPS the burglar would have had to pry the fiberglass apart to get in and I would have had a much more expensive repair than the cost of replacing my cheap padlock.
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Knot Tied Down
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Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2011 4:40 pm
Sailboat: MacGregor 26X
Location: Lake City, MI

Re: First time a thief broke into my boat

Post by Knot Tied Down »

well thats both a good and bad thing... It's easy to get into these and the lesson learned is to do as you did...don't keep anything of value in there. I was working on mine today, and decided to lock it up in the yard since my heater and tools are in there over night. Thanks for sharing, and hopefully it doesnt happen again, even if there wasnt anything stolen or vandalized.

Dustin
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Russ
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Re: First time a thief broke into my boat

Post by Russ »

Glad to hear nothing of value was lost or damaged. I agree. Cut the $1.50 cheap lock if you want to get in rather than bust up my fiberglass. That's why I keep a cheap lock on there. Easy to get in if you are so inclined. I really don't want to slow down a determined thief.

Years ago, my Hunter34 was broken into. Foolish me took the wheel off and stowed it below thinking I don't want it to get stolen. I'm sure there is was some cool looking go cart with a shiny chrome wheel attached someplace.
Hardcrab
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Re: First time a thief broke into my boat

Post by Hardcrab »

A year or two ago, someone attempted to get into our boat in a mast up storage lot.
It looked like they tried to just twist off/break the hasp "U" piece with a long screwdriver or something.
The lower screw did break through the fiberglass on the sliding hatch, but the other one (upper) held and they gave up, apparently. Never did get in. Mangled the hasp "U" piece and messed up the fiberglass hatch lip pretty badly.
Look on yours to see how close that factory lower hasp screw is to the edge of the hatch.
Easy to bust the entire corner out.

Rather than replace the crazy factory bent hasp, I bought two of the cast SS type hasps from WM.

To get the same "offset bend" final results, I cut spacer pieces from a thick white poly(?) cutting board to move the flat WM hasp aft so as to match the hatch aft overhang with the companionway door.
I also added a second hasp on the port side to match the factory stbd side.

It works and looks great. The door also stores better with that factory bent hasp now gone.

But more importantly, I used squares of 1/8" aluminium as backing plates to keep all of the hasp screws from being pulled out again.

Anyone concerned with the security of their hatch might consider the backing plate or bigger washer idea, at least to remove that construction weakness for the thief.
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DaveB
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Re: First time a thief broke into my boat

Post by DaveB »

Thats good thinking as any 24-36inch bolt cutters would have snaped the lock. The cheap locks are only good for the Honest theft. Better to have them gain access than to do serious damage to the fiberglass and latch and less problems if they are fustrated getting in and may trash the boat.
A cheap $32 harbor freight bolt cutter cuts thru even harded steel and stainless steel and I have had to do it many times at my job at a water park were outside vendors would put there padlock on.
Dave
opie wrote:Well, it finally happened. I store the boat in a lot and saw it last weekend for the first time in 60 days or so. Someone cut off my $1.50 lock, took off the hatchboard and opened the sliding hatch wide. Nothing was taken because we don't leave anything valuable. My sails and ropes were not pawn-able I guess since they remain. I think that maybe a homeless person broke in looking for blankets and a warm space on some night when the temp was very low. No vandalism at all, but boat was full of leaves and some rainwater. Just a thought, but if I had one of those super-HASPS the burglar would have had to pry the fiberglass apart to get in and I would have had a much more expensive repair than the cost of replacing my cheap padlock.
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