Boat almost stolen

[Kordin]

Hi all. I have recently joined the forum and have learnt
lots about boating and offshore fishing from the members here.
I am posting this to warn other members to take precautions to secure your boats if like me you keep
them at home.
On Wednesday night I received a call from my neighbour telling me that
someone tried to steal my boat. I was quite surprised because it
is quite difficult to get the boat of the yard with some manoevering required.
In addition the boat is parked behind a heavy sliding gate.
The thieves had lifted the gate off the rails, manoevred it out of its
parking and towed it out of the yard. Luckily they could make the turn
into the road and the port side jammed against my neighbours wall.
Luckily my neighbour woke up and disturbed them while they were trying to
get the trailer beyond my neighbours wall and they unhitched the trailer and left.
Thanks to my neighbour and awkward driveway I can fish another day. So be warned if you
live in the Durban area. Apparently the thieves used a dark grey Isuzu double cab bakkie. There
were four of them. Anyway more to spend on security and less on tackle and fuel.

[Searaider]

Close call .My advice is to chain the wheels.

[PH]

  Sorry the hear about the unsuccessful  attempt and credit to the neighbour . Thanks for the reminder to be ever alert these days. Especially with the festive season upon us.

[John F]

Shew that was a close one! One can never be too prepared... get a dog (s), chain the boat, electrify the chain and trap it with a giant axe and a 2 ton spiky ball!

[CLS]

You were lucky, a few weeks back a trailer was stolen from the DSBC while the guys were fishing at night.

[WalkersKiller]

 

Sorry to hear about this, at least they couldnt run away with your boat...

[Kordin]

It's that time of the year when crime seems to  increase. What a wake up call. I still can't believe my luck. What troubles me is where the market for these boats and trailers is? It just does not seem like a random or opportunistic crime

[TUNAMAN]

It is that time of year and set to be the worst yet. Please be carefull and make sure your loved ones understands this as well.

Kordin really glad they did not come right. It would be a tragedy.

[Mudcrab]

Lifting a gate of its track is as old as the hills thats why I've alarmed my gate so the alarm will go off if the gate is moved 2cm in any direction.another problem we have in the area where I stay is the theft of gate motors.The thieves gain access to the motors by lifting the gate.

[Toppie]

Came across this trailer locking device at Roadque (Pretoria - Silverton 012 8041967) and with this thread in mind went ahead and purchased one for R157.63. Roadque sells trailer parts and components wholesale to the trailer building industry.
 
Next day saw same advertised on Cape Town Gumtree for R520-00 http://capetown-westerncape.gumtree.co.za/c-Boats-Jet-Skis-boats-jet-skis-Trailer-Lock-W0QQAdIdZ335630208
 
Although not invinceable it will act as another deterrent against an opportunist seizing the moment and hitching your trailer and driving off. Apparently it's fairly new on the market.
 
My wheels (and sparewheel) are also chained with fairly heavy chains to the trailer chassis.
 
Anybody interested look around your area and see/compare prices if you dont come right or price ridiculous, contact me and I will help from this side.
 
The red colour one I bought and the other as advertised on Gumtree:
 
 

[Kordin]

Thanks for all the suggestions on security. I have made a lock for the neck of the trailer with a bolt that slides through it with a hole drilled on the other end. A padlock is inserted through the hole so that the trailer can't be connected to a tow ball without first removing the lock and bolt. Also bought chains and locks to secure boat to a concrete pillar and for wheels and axles. Padlock also put on closed end of sliding gate so it cannot be lifted off it's rails. Hopefully this will be enough to discourage them.
 

[Manuel Junior]

 :shre:  Toppie Nice post!!!