This is a quick security guide for narrow boat owners

By having good security in place means you can protect your canal boat from criminals. Just like owning a car or house you need to ensure you are making your boat as safe and secure as possible.

As with home and car security: the basic same rules apply for anyone living afloat. Securing your canal boat will give you peace of mind and make it harder for thieves to target your canal boat. Spending some time and money will be a worthwhile investment in the long run.

Starting point – Moorings

If you moor in a secure marina like Venetian marina in Cheshire, they will probably have other residential moorers, security lights and people living on site or nearby. This will give you a great amount of peace of mind and you will properly need just the basic security measures such as locking your canal boat whilst you are away.

If you are using unsupervised marinas or mooring along the canal towpath you will need to take more serious security precautions.

When mooring in busy areas consider using chains to tie up your boat. The juvenile prank of casting off a moored boat is one that apparently entertains enough people to make it a big problem in some areas.

Doors, hatches and windows

These areas need to be taken seriously as all these are access points into your canal boat. Make sure the doors are made from strong solid timber or have steel skins if the wooden doors are not as solid as you would like, this will give them extra strength. If you want full security then you could add steel door bars.

You can protect your windows by fitting lockable narrow boat window shutters, these will require a little bit of welding and fabrication, but we think it’s a worth well job when mooring outside a secure marina, where your boat could be more vulnerable. Also make sure the windows are fitted with good lever locks.

Alarms, Immobilisers and CCTV

There are a number of products that will be suitable for your narrow boat and depending on your budget and requirements this will dictate which ones are right for you. The more advanced alarm systems can send you a text message if an attempted break in is dedicated. Our chandlery here at Venetian marina will be able to advise you on many of these products. There are wide range of web-enabled cameras available that can record any activity at your mooring. Footage can even be viewed remotely on a mobile phone or computer / tablet.

Day to day advice

Try to keep your valuable’s out of sight and preferably off the boat altogether when you are away for periods of time, if you permanently live aboard we realise this wouldn’t be possible. To stop people peering into your boat, keep the curtains or blinds closed on the towpath side.

Secure anchors, gangplanks, ropes and gas bottles. Fit a lockable filler cap on your fuel cap. If it’s not secure then there is an opportunity for it to be taken.

Insurance

Make sure you are covered if the worse should ever happen we have been working with Collidge and Partners for many years now, you may want to speak to them directly about a quote as they specialise in Canal boat insurance.

Security is no more or less important for your home, caravan, car or narrow boat. It’s just something we all need to address. As with other security get the basics in place and then spread the costs of doing more as you go along. If you wish to talk to anyone at our marina about canal boat security please give us a call.