Marine Loss Adjuster Paul Field shares some important theft prevention advice for owners of trailer boats and PWCs.

There are few things more disheartening than when your pride and joy is stolen. There can be an emotional reaction associated with the violation of your home and the distress of losing your craft and equipment that you’ve worked hard to afford and enjoy. Recently we’ve seen a general increase in theft that isn’t limited to the marine space. Unfortunately, stolen PWCs and small craft often aren’t recovered. When vessels are located, in many cases they will have been converted or are found in poor condition that’s a far cry from their pre-loss state.

Small trailer craft and PWCs are usually assembled from various components. So, when craft are stolen, they can be converted within a very short time frame from removal. A new paint or a wrap, engine swap or a different trailer: all these are easily changed to alter the appearance of the craft. As Loss Adjusters, we’re commonly asked what customers can do to better protect their craft. Making your boat or PWC harder to remove will reduce the likelihood of it being stolen. To assist our boating community, this article will share some advice to help increase your security awareness and protect your pride and joy.

When storing your craft it’s important to consider:

  1. Is the storage location observable from the open road? Thieves will often scope a location ahead of time. If possible, store your craft in a place that’s obscured from view, as this could help prevent it being targeted by thieves.
  2. Does the trailer’s position in relation to the driveway make it easy to connect it to a vehicle? When a trailer doesn’t need moving to hook it up to a tow vehicle, it makes it easier for thieves to quickly vacate the property with your craft.
  3. Does the trailer have a wheel clamp and tow ball lock? It’s worth purchasing them. As with many things in life, you get what you pay for when it comes to wheel clamps and tow ball locks, so it’s important to buy quality equipment to help protect the investment you’ve made in your craft.
  4. Is the storage location well-lit with good security sensor lighting? It’s also worth considering installing motion detectors and cameras. There’s some great technology available now at relatively affordable prices. These security systems are often linked to your mobile phone and will send alerts and trigger alarms.
  5. If your boat or PWC trailer is stored on a concrete pad, consider installing an eye bolt in the pad and chaining the trailer or wheels to the ground. Yes, bolt cutters could be used by thieves to separate chain links or padlocks. However, the key takeaway to consider here is that the noise associated with cutting chains and padlocks will make the removal of your craft riskier and more difficult for criminals.
  6. On a related point, make the craft generally noisy to move. The strategic positioning of chain security around draw bars, axles and wheels will draw attention when your vessel is being tampered with and can be a good deterrent.
  7. Consider the location of where other vehicles are parked at your home. Where possible park your vehicle directly in front of the craft to prevent its removal.
  8. Be mindful of what you have left within your vessel. Easily removable electronic equipment can attract thieves. Fishing gear also shouldn’t be left within your vessel. Remember, if it’s easily removable by you, it’s easily removable by a thief.
  9. Beyond electronic equipment, consider what other components could be stolen. We have seen fuel thefts lately, so consider locking fuel caps to prevent siphoning.
  10. For smaller trailer craft, make sure the outboard is locked to the vessel.
  11. There are a variety of great GPS trackers on the market, so consider installing them in hidden locations on your craft and trailer, even inside an engine cowling.
  12. Keep a photographic record of your craft on your phone or a USB. Take clear photos of your vessel and update these images regularly. Mass production vessels can often look similar, so pay particular attention to any custom details on your craft. This may also help identify your vessel if found.

Thieves will often target specific local areas, so working together as a boating community and talking through security issues with members of your local boating and fishing clubs can be vitally important. As vessel owners, the best thing we can do to protect our craft from thieves is to put practical measures in place to make the removal of our craft more difficult. Considered planning and awareness of security lighting, storage location, locks and access in and around the craft goes a long way to preventing easy removal and theft.