I just got back from the boat after a call from the yard manager telling me that my companionway was open and he thought I was broken into. On the 30 minute drive out there I imagined all kinds of damage and theft, and called insurance while en route to ask them the procedure for filing a claim. When I got there, I was surprised to see that while the boat was in fact broken into, lock cut and cabinet contents strewn all over the place, I could only be sure of one thing missing - a recent pack of flares! I'm not sure if a foul weather jacket is missing. I have to search around home to see if I took it off already. They tossed aside a relatively new inflatable PFD, left the year-old VHF, and anything else of value (not much, thankfully, as I took most off the boat when it was put on the hard in November). Yard manager thinks it was likely just kids looking for money, booze, or anything else to have a good time with, hence only taking the flares. He said sometimes they take fire extinguishers, just to shoot them off. So, this leaves me wondering - anyone have any great ideas for boat security in a relatively unsecure yard? What, aside from taking everything off (I've now brought home the VHF, PFD, flashlights and winch handles), can you do to discourage theft, or is it just something that is going to happen at some point?
