Fuel Theft

[OBXTucker]

With the price of diesel and gas going through the roof, do any of you feel the need to secure your fuel caps with locks? At $4.00 per gallon, I figure I have a small fortune in fuel aboard. It wouldn't take much for someone to pull aside, drop a tube and pump a few thousand dollars from her tanks....

If you do secure your tanks, what do you use?

 

[Passages]

Gas theft from smaller boats is fairly common but I can't imagine someone trying to get away with that on your 58.

One of the empty homes I am working on had it's fuel oil stolen. Someone broke in through a window, cut the line between the tank and furnace and hauled it off in jerry cans. Spilled a bunch on the floor and my crew was hired to do the environmental clean up.

 

[captddis]

"the environmental clean up"


Was it on concrete or dirt? Seems like on concrete a few absorbent pads and a bottle of degreaser is all that is needed.

 

[Passages]

Its a bit more than that. Getting the oil up is the easy part. The house was closed for the entire winter and now has mold throughout the finished basement & part of the upstairs and everything reeks of #2 Fuel oil. Getting the smell out of the house is going to be fun. We gutted the basement and wiped down the living areas with deodorizing cleaner. We now have dehumidifiers, air scrubbers and large capacity ozone generators operating.

Yeah, I'd call this an environmental clean up.

 

[Angela]

I once worked on a lawsuit (we represented the oil delivery company who spilled). That smell could never be gotten out of that house. It, too, had a basement. They had to bulldoze it, remove the debris, and remove the surrounding contaminated soil. Sometimes, it just can't be cleaned up.

 

[captddis]

Its a bit more than that. Getting the oil up is the easy part. The house was closed for the entire winter and now has mold throughout the finished basement & part of the upstairs and everything reeks of #2 Fuel oil. Getting the smell out of the house is going to be fun. We gutted the basement and wiped down the living areas with deodorizing cleaner. We now have dehumidifiers, air scrubbers and large capacity ozone generators operating.

Yeah, I'd call this an environmental clean up.

Agreed.

 

[saltshaker]

I once worked on a lawsuit (we represented the oil delivery company who spilled). That smell could never be gotten out of that house. It, too, had a basement. They had to bulldoze it, remove the debris, and remove the surrounding contaminated soil. Sometimes, it just can't be cleaned up.

My sister had converted from oil to gas and they never capped off the oil fill even though the tank was removed. When winter rolled around the fuel delivery truck showed up and pumped over 500 gals of fuel oil into the basement before they realized something was wrong. They were away when it happened but got a call from the oil co. Driver was concerned because he pumped over 500 gals into a 500gal tank. Fortunately for my sister, she had a copy of the letter cancelling her contract with the oil co. Not an easy clean up by any means. Unfinished basement with concrete floors and walls.

 

[MikeP]

Frankly, I can't imagine this as a possibility. It's hard for me to imagine someone could insert a hose into the fuel filler and pump fuel out of a boat with all the live-aboards around unless they were all "in on it." I wouldn't (don't) worry about it at all.

Reminds me of the the early-mid 70's when everybody ran out to buy conical springs to be inserted into automobile fuel fill tubes so a hose couldn't be inserted/syphoned. Made a lot of money for the spring makers! Of course, at that time, gasoline tripled in price in a matter of a few months (or less) - far more dramatic than what's happening now.

The springs may make an appearance again...

 

[DeeRow]

I have a funny story. A few years ago when the price of fuel spiked up, my wife and I went cruising the canals in our dinghy at sunset. As a birthday present, a friend and neighbor had recently given me a battery powered stick on bow light for the dinghy so that I could be legal during our sunset cruises. We ended up tied to their dock as the sunset. The friend said that prior to my birthday he could not find a stern light, but since my birthday he had purchased the light. He went to get the light. Soon after I turned on the light and stuck it on the top of the dinghy motor, we noticed a boat approaching the dock. The dock was 150' long and there was only 3' of water at the end so boat traffic to close to the dock was not common (except for flats boats which the approaching boat was not!). About 30' away the boat turned and it was a county police boat. A voice from the dark said that he was going to cit me for not having a stern light but now that I had one, he could not (besides I was tied to the dock). We all laughed. He then told us that the primary reason for his patrol was to watch for people stealing fuel as there had been a recent rise in thefts.

I did find this product, http://www.tanklock.com/ , to lock the fuel fill. The policeman said that all the thefts were from boats on "wide" water, not on canals where my boat is docked. I decided to not buy the locks. I do wonder how the locks will hold up being exposed to salt water.

 

[MikeP]

Here's another good story - relayed to me by one of the guys involved at the time - though not fuel related.

In '04 there were a lot of "break ins" on moored boats in Northport (NY) harbor. So the Northport police set up a "quiet" patrol. They left their real harbor patrol boat tied up at the Northport dock so the bad guys would see it there but then quietly "cruised" the mooring field all night in a small boat with an elec motor/oars. Not spotting any miscreants they went back to the harbor patrol boat at sunrise to find that the batteries had been stolen...

 

[SeaWhisper]

Frankly, I can't imagine this as a possibility. It's hard for me to imagine someone could insert a hose into the fuel filler and pump fuel out of a boat with all the live-aboards around unless they were all "in on it." I wouldn't (don't) worry about it at all.

Reminds me of the the early-mid 70's when everybody ran out to buy conical springs to be inserted into automobile fuel fill tubes so a hose couldn't be inserted/syphoned. Made a lot of money for the spring makers! Of course, at that time, gasoline tripled in price in a matter of a few months (or less) - far more dramatic than what's happening now.

The springs may make an appearance again...

I agree with MikeP... they would have to run a hose 10 to 12 feet before reaching the tank. Since I'm on board most of the time. My fuel caps are secured by Smith Wesson

 

[OBXTucker]

It would definitely take a little effort on my boat, there's no doubt about it. I also have cctv that's motion activated. Good news/bad news is that our marina is very quiet - but everyone knows everyone.

I may still look at adding some of the locking fill caps.

 

[Red Hatt]

Jeff, Where do you buy a lock for diesel fuel caps? I have found locks for gas caps but not diesel. I have and several other boat owners have had fuel stolen from their fuel tanks on Carters Creek last year. If anybody knows where to buy the cap locks PLEASE post it here. Thanks

 

[OBXTucker]

Perko makes them. I'm away from the office/computer, I'll post a link shortly.

 

[rsmith]

Frankly, I can't imagine this as a possibility. It's hard for me to imagine someone could insert a hose into the fuel filler and pump fuel out of a boat with all the live-aboards around unless they were all "in on it." I wouldn't (don't) worry about it at all.

Reminds me of the the early-mid 70's when everybody ran out to buy conical springs to be inserted into automobile fuel fill tubes so a hose couldn't be inserted/syphoned. Made a lot of money for the spring makers! Of course, at that time, gasoline tripled in price in a matter of a few months (or less) - far more dramatic than what's happening now.

The springs may make an appearance again...

My daughter had them punch a hole in her tank with a ice pick. According to the cops the theives put a oil drain can under the car or truck. The kind that has the seal plugs so you can take the oil to be disposed of. They carry several of these and just stand around while they fill them selves. No suspisious hoses to carry around and no gas breath.
If I was going to steal fuel out of a boat I'd just take the whole damn boat like the Somali Pirates do.

 

[MikeP]

"If I was going to steal fuel out of a boat I'd just take the whole damn boat like the Somali Pirates do."

Good One!

 

[bobk]

I agree with MikeP... they would have to run a hose 10 to 12 feet before reaching the tank. Since I'm on board most of the time. My fuel caps are secured by Smith Wesson[/QUOT

My tanks are in the keel, below the water line, so a siphon is not going to work...... unless it is going to a sub?

Bob

 

[Walter P]

I agree with MikeP... they would have to run a hose 10 to 12 feet before reaching the tank. Since I'm on board most of the time. My fuel caps are secured by Smith Wesson[/QUOT

My tanks are in the keel, below the water line, so a siphon is not going to work...... unless it is going to a sub?

Bob

going to a sub? I'll have you know that Yachtsman Willie don't use no stinkin siphon.

Walt

 

[yachtsmanbill]

YUP!!! I found out that oil floats on water alright! ws

 

[OBXTucker]

Need to have it shipped in from the UK, but this looks like a nice quality product. Anyone have any idea of the deck and neck size of our Hatts in MM's?

http://www.seascrew.com/product.cfm...NLESS&framed=y&prodid=0000000953&l=0000000139