Crime

[Guest]

Hi all

There has been a couple of posts recently about crime on the broads on various forums, mainly about theft from boats etc. Just wondering, do actual boats ever get stolen or is there a market for stolen boats? I would imagine there is a way of identifying a boat even if the name and reg number has been changed, a bit vin plates on a cars, or am I wrong?

Just wondered as with all the boats you see for sale on ebay can you be sure it's not someone else pride and joy that has been stolen and had it's identity changed, either from the Broads or on another waterway.

Michael

[Antares_9]

Yes, boats do get stolen and not just old sheds worth a grand or two from up a fetid dyke or island that then appear on eabay either. High value boats go missing around the world on a regular basis, probably destined for Eastern Europe, South America and Africa just like the high end cars, tractors and other plant that goes astray.

[senator]

There are a lot of identifying marks on a boat, there will normally be a hull number which is engraved into the hull, engines will have a serial number that will be linked to the hull ID and then dependant on what was fitted at the factory it is likely that all the nav kit, heater etc, serial numbers are all recorded.

The problem is that nothing is centrally stored in the manor of the DVLA and there is no legal requirement for the numbers to be there at all.

Maybe it is time for an insurance data base to record identifying marks on a central server that could be checked by anyone. As David says they can and do go missing and if the boat is stolen with its own keys the insurance probably won't pay out either.

Hands up all those that leave their ignition keys on the boat.

[loribear]

hi all i have hired a boat where you could'nt take the keys out of the ignition, as it had been welded in because people were always loosing them, but it made me feel uneasy about leaving the boat moored up on it's own for too long, so we never went very far, which spoils your holiday abit. lori

[Guest]

Get some magic marker & put marks on the inside of the GRP so if you boat ever gets stolen all you need is a portable black light doesn't have to be in massive letters just where it needs to be & as little bit big enough to make out....

Jonny

[Guest DAYTONA-BILL]

From things i`ve read in the past, it seems that on rivers and canals, the most likely boats to get stolen are mostly "trailable" boats, or equipment, whereas on coastal waterways, any boat is a much easier target. I think it`s mostly due to ease of disposal, and that trailable boats can be towed to another yard and quickly "re-identified" in some way making them less easy to spot, whereas around the coast, even the largest of boats can be quickly slipped from their moorings and motored across the channell or North Sea to Europe, where they can then be "re-identified". I think the best form of security devise would be a statelite tracker system which would be able to be hidden away somewhere very inaccessable to hand or eye. Any of the forumites that may have this system fitted, please DO NOT say so in reply to this posting, because you never know if unscroupulous eyes are reading . Regards to all ...................... Neil.

[Hockham Admiral]

When Mary-Jane had a classic Lotus Elan I fitted a kill switch which immobilised the ignition. (although this wouldn't have stopped it being trailered away).

Similarly it doesn't take too much ingenuity to fit a 'secret' switch of some sort into the fuel or starting systems on a boat! (if you're that concerned).

On the Norfolk Broads I'd say you could only steal a boat if you had a wet shed you could hide it in until you erased all traces of it's past history. Even then our Jonny would most probably eventually suss you out!

[Guest]

When Mary-Jane had a classic Lotus Elan I fitted a kill switch which immobilised the ignition. (although this wouldn't have stopped it being trailered away).Similarly it doesn't take too much ingenuity to fit a 'secret' switch of some sort into the fuel or starting systems on a boat! (if you're that concerned).

Me too. I've fitted secret switches to every car, motorbike, and boat that I've ever owned, even the more modern cars with chipped keys. (Why ?, because it makes theft much more difficult even if someone manages to get my keys, as seems to be very prevalent now with cars, where houses are burgled just to get the key fob.)

I think Neil was right with the vulnerability of trailer-able boats, they could be hundreds of miles away a few hours later, and long before they were noticed as missing. Anything really new, of common design could be worth thousands, even if it's just a Dory or sailing Dinghy.

Senator is also dead right with the lack of any central records, or need to prove ownership or original purchase. The cure would be a sort of "DVLA" for boats, but that would undoubtedly incur more costs, and maybe even a national "Boat Fund License"