Tips to Keep your Boat Safe from Theft

Watching the various exploits of Captains Jack Sparrow and Hector Barbossa as they commandeer or “borrow” the Black Pearl, Jolly Mon and Queen Anne’s Revenge makes for quality entertainment. Thanks, Disney. However, in real life, boat theft is not a pretty picture. You may not own a galleon, frigate or even a ghost ship (if you do, though, we’d like to hear about it), but you still don’t want to risk having it stolen.

Photo: Captain Jack Sparrow (Facebook)

According to Geico and the National Insurance Crime Bureau, nearly 4,240 boats were stolen in 2019. Of those, 942 were in Florida. The next four are California (475), Texas (332), North Carolina (193) and South Carolina (147). Three of the top five cities are in Florida: Fort Lauderdale (43 thefts), Tampa (35) and Miami (33) (Florida is the Caribbean of the U.S., after all). The most common types stolen were personal watercraft, runabouts, utility boats, cruisers and sailboats. Apparently, the ghost ships and galleons weren’t that interesting.

We don’t want anyone to join this list of statistics. We’ve put together some quick and simple tips to prevent theft whether your boat is in the water, on a trailer or at a private boat dock for rent (even in Tortuga).

On a Trailer

Most boats are stolen while on a trailer. It’s easy to hook it up and drive away. There are several things you can do to thwart the actions of would-be thieves and modern-day pirates.

• Use trailer wheel locks. When the wheels are locked, it’s rather impossible to drive it away.
• Put chains and locks through the wheels from one side to the other.
• Install a GPS asset tracker if the boat does get stolen.
• Ground anchors attach to concrete or wood. Chains, locks and other holding devices are then attached to the anchor to keep the boat secure to the ground while on the trailer.
• Hitch and tongue locks, also called Trailer Coupler Locks, protect the trailer at the hitch. Use in combination with wheel locks to prevent someone from unhooking the trailer from your vehicle.
• Consider a removable tongue or hitch assembly for your trailer. Then, you can simply take the tongue off while the trailer is parked. Thieves don’t normally carry around extra tongues.
• If kept at your house, store the boat in a garage or behind the house. Place it in a position where the trailer’s tongue is not easily accessible.
• Take off one of the trailer wheels.
• Remove the battery.
• Use chains and locks on any and everything you can.
  
  

Items on the Boat

Photo: Pxhere/CC License

If your boat is too big to trailer and is kept in the water at a marina or boat slip rental (or in a boatyard over the winter), you’ll want to make sure property inside the boat stays where it’s supposed to be. Even the 18th-century pirates were usually after the merchandise rather than the boat itself.

• Take important items (especially expensive tools, gear and equipment) that can be removed with you, like handheld VHF radio and GPS devices.
• Pack it up. Don’t leave fishing gear and watersports equipment out on the deck of the boat. Out of sight is always your best bet. Things like life vests, coolers and such aren’t as expensive to replace, but they should be stored out of sight.
• Make sure all your gear is marked with your name and even the hull number of the boat.
• Keep a list of everything on your boat as well as photos of the boat.
• Don’t leave the title, registration and insurance information in the boat. Keep these items in a handy (and waterproof) bag that you can easily grab and go. You can keep this in your ditch bag to make it super convenient.
• Don’t leave keys on board the boat, even at a private boat lift rental. Take them with you. Regardless of how great you think a hiding place is, it isn’t. Be safe rather than sorry.
  
  

In the Water

Boats kept in the water, whether at a private boat slip for rent or in a marina, have the least amount of theft risk. These places have security cameras, lights and other people and boat owners out and about.

• Continue to follow the above suggestions for storing gear out of sight. It’s easy to hop on board and quickly snatch items (unless you’ve got that zombie crew working overtime).
• Lock the boat to the boat dock rental with a steel cable and lock (Jack sadly forgot to do that).
• Invest in a basic alarm system. A fancy high-dollar state-of-the-art system isn’t necessary. The sound of the alarm is enough to ward off potential thieves.

We hope you’ve found useful tips to prevent your boat from being stolen from your driveway, a storage field or a private boat dock for rent. Let us know if we missed anything.