Thieves in the early A.M.

[RogerJuntunen]

We were on our way to the Delta recently and stopped at a motel in Redding California. I had told Cheryl that day that I should start sleeping in the boat while travelling. She thought that was silly, and not necessary. Anyway, after discussing this at the motel -"naw, we don't have any trouble here." and having the motel manager guide me between two yard lights, I wake up at 5:00 a.m. for some reason, and find the boat being robbed! The scum bag had even found a key for the door that I had hidden in a side pocket, and was working on the thievery mostly from the prone position. Because I broke up the party not much was lost but It could have been a disaster. Also, in my pumped up state, I could have been hurt myself. No, I couldn't catch him, which may be lucky, because I don't know for sure if he was working alone, and he sure had a good route off the lot through a dark area.

Do any of you C-Brats use any electronic sensors While travelling? What Advice can you provide? What are your experiences? I have read about afew things on C-Brats, such a a lost trailer and a driveway robbery, but what precautions do most of you take? Relying on insurance is not a good solution for me and I prefer to take things like this personal, and someone might get hurt. To put it short, this episode freeks me out. Thinking back, Even the motel manager who showed me exactly where to park has me thinking. Thanks C-Brats and please help me calm down. (ha) Roger Juntunen

[SEA3PO]

Wow... I often leave my boat unattended at night while we stay in a motel... and Redding is usually not that bad a community..I often stay in motels there...and leave the boat...or motorcycle unattended outside..

You truly are lucky that you ran the rat off.... sure would have been nice to have caught him.... I hope you called the police and filed a report...I expect that would not please the motel folks, but might alert the police that the motel has a local thief working the parking lot.

I think I will take your advice and start sleeping in the boat more... Sue said I could just leave the dog in the boat...she is a good alarm...but she is my most precious possession and I would rather loose the boat than the dog...

Thanks for sharing and hope you enjoyed the Delta...great place.

Joel
SEA3PO

[tsturm]

The 3-S system works well here.
Shoot
Shovel
Shut-up
:wink:

[starcrafttom]

I love the three s's but you have to catchem first. most of us only know about the robbery after the fact. there are several cheap door alarms that you could place on the cabin door. it will at least scare them. I thank that a cheap critter cam would be fun. At least you could show it to the cops. they may not be able to us it in court but chances are good that they alread know the scumbag and can get him for something else.

[C-Hawk]

I have a wireless alarm that works good.
Just put the motion detector in the cock pit, and if any one (thing) enters, you know it. The one I have works up to ~150 feet, further if there is a clear line of sight.

[MOOSE]

Roger, I'm sorry to hear of your situation. I have a good Finnish proverb from WWII to share with you, but it may take me a while to figure out how to spell it. The loose translation is, "Get them by the neck, and put the 'puukko' in their back." You get the drift.
Al

[RogerJuntunen]

A quick note-the Redding police were fast and professional- I was impressed with them- report filed-lost items reported- the crook was on his second trip and already had a stash from the boat out and away, which we didn't find but did find a trail of stuff he didn't want when it got light. Roger

[Barry Rietz]

Roger,

I've been in your situation a couple times and sympathize with your recent unpleasant experience! Motel stays are always a worry and one method I've successfully used (so far successful!) is to install a simple car alarm with a "motion sensor". You can power it with the vessel battery and use a remote radio unit that goes off in the motel room, (or) sounds a siren or existing electric horn on the boat. The addition of a small flashing red "LED" in plain view by itself can be a deterrent. The installation is simple and very inexpensive. Radio Shack or any auto parts store sells them. Loads of good luck to you in the future!

[Sea Wolf]

Roger-

Sorry about your being the recipient of the bad side of our local hospitality!

There are folks such as these just about everywhere, anymore, but more in some more than others, and the drug problem has exacerbated things like this to no end in Northern California!

There is no way to stop a determined thief with time and opportunity, of course, and common wisdom is to make it difficult enough to stop crimes of opportunity and keep those folks who a generally honest, or at least law abiding, from being tempted.

We face the same kind of problem with moored boats in marinas, boats stored in storage yards, and even around our own homes.

Two simple steps are to 1) add an extra cam lock on the door, and 2) to replace the wood screws in the door with machine screws with lock nuts on the inside, so that a screwdriver cannot open the door from the hinge side by simply removing the screws. Since a thief can beak a window, that's about it, other than using an alarm system.

In that regard, my Sea Ray had a weight sensitive floor pad, a relay system, a siren generator, and a twelve inch horn up under the bench seat on the flying bridge. It was pretty loud, painful, really, but I finally disabled it after being called a few times by the marina operators about false alarms, and even inadvertently setting it off myself once! (It resets itself, but they don't appreciate the extra bother, etc.,).

Feel free to post my photo on your cabin door if you like "Welcome to my C-Dory, you........."

Maybe some others will have additional ideas....


Joe.

[billtwymank]

Lowes has a big display of home motion detectors with remote control/s made by GE.
We use them in our motel room for computer laptop protection, in rental cars when unattended while travelling, or even on the beach with our beach supplies.
I also post a sign saying Security Alarm On.
Likewise it is great to use inside the boat at all times.
Make an insurance claim and you get nicked by them for three years.
The motion detectors are very cheap insurance with a loud noise.

[NewMoon]

Makes me think I've been lucky. Haven't stopped at a motel with the boat in years - always pull my "wierd RV" into a campground. Generates some enjoyable conversation too. We carry a Good Sam campground directory to make this easier.

[cemiii]

I've been pretty lucky with using a storage cover and a lot of tight tie downs at hotels. While it would be pretty easy to get in if one wanted, I think that it at least takes away the ease of scoping out what's in there worth stealing. As well, it might make it more uncomfortable for a thief inside to see if anyone is coming and tougher getting out.

Very expensive reels and tackle go in the room with me as well as the kickers cowell and as funny as it seems I've spray painted one of my SS props black so it looks like a much less expensive aluminum from any distance.

Thought about bear spray on a trip wire but I'm sure I'd forget and end up in ER.

Heard of a boater having his tanks syphoned at an I-5 rest stop near Red Bluff as he and his family slept 20' away in the attached SUV....ballsy.

[hardee]

There have been several threads here that address alarms for use on the boats. Go up to the "search" button, and type in "alarm AND remote" to get started.

Roger, sure sorry you had to experience the less than nice type there. Hope he gets what's coming, soon.

Travel safe,

Harvey
SleepyC

[Ron on Meander]

i almost bought one of these Silvertip Marine alarms when we travelled to Mexico and across the states in 09. I didn't, and thankfully we had no problems with theft of any kind with either the boat or the camper in a over a year of travel and over 43,000km towing Meander.
http://www.silvertipmarine.com/esp3000.php

[Doryman]