Secure Forward Cabin Access

[SkipRocks]

I’m not totally satisfied w how the fwd cabin access is locked & secured when we’re away from the boat. Even though you can’t get in, the double hinged door can still be pushed in at the center.

Can someone please post photos of how the door was originally - or is supposed to be secured?

Thanks

[kerrye]

I think my A25 door is original. It's secured with a single dead bolt type lock activated by a skeleton key. Fold down headroom piece is secured with a barrel lock. Not sure what you mean by double hinged door being pushed in.

[kerrye]

A poor picture of the lock assembly can be seen in the first picture in this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=28&t=9119&p=56910&hilit ... eer#p56910

[WillieC]

Skip Rocks' model is an A27, and all y'all A25 owners know how fancy THOSE boats are!

Some A25s have double hinged doors.

IMG_1372.JPG

Kerrye, the upper door barrel lock is missing from ours. I assume it is on the forward cabin side, providing privacy when occupied. When you get a chance, could you post a picture of it? I, as I think the OP is trying to do, am trying to figure a way to more securely lock the forward cabin. Yes we have the original skeleton key for the main door but the upper portion simply flips up and miscreants of the smaller size could crawl over. My preference would be to figure out a way to lock it from the pilot house, thus securing it while away from the boat. It would have to be somewhat sophisticated, not a simple hasp and padlock, so other evil doers couldn't lock someone inside the forward cabin. Think prankster pre-teens angry at siblings. We have a few of those loose in our brood.

Skip Rocks, sure the main door could be kicked in, but the A25 model has a substantial lip on the bottom sill that would make that hard to do. Take two or three kicks instead of one. Maybe the A27 lacks that feature and could easily be modified.

[kerrye]

Boat is in NY. I'm in Denver so no picture Barrel lock is on the right hand side on the aft end of the flip down panels and slides into a hole drilled into the right side fiberglass door coaming.

[tego]

Skip, That's the original setup for securing the forecabin door. It sucks as far as security goes but I've never had a problem. If you are in a bad area, it would be easy to install a full- width bar on the inside or possibly a keyed barrel lock on the upper edge that would engage the slide-in hatch board on top. Ben

[WillieC]

Thanks, Kerry. I have similar holes, mildly disguised, on boat indicating your description.

[Beta Don]

I've never owned a boat that a swift kick and/or a medium sized pry-bar wouldn't gain access to in 30 seconds or less

My thoughts have always been that I would like them to do the least damage getting in they could possible do, so I usually put a two dollar padlock on the one dollar hasp and let it go at that

If you beef up everything to make it harder to get it, I think it would only serve to make them think you must really have some good stuff in there, which would probably just make them bring bigger/better tools with them next time

But then, I've never had to keep any of my boats in a place that gave me worries . . . . and I've never been broken into

Don

[DesertAlbin736]

I'm not quite sure how the top folding section could be pushed in either since it folds up in the middle & the edges rest on top of the sill.

Albin Portside Cockpit.jpg

But if someone was determined enough to break in & had either an ax, crowbar, or rudimentary lock picking skills it wouldn't be that hard. All the really valuable stuff like electronics is usually at the helm station anyway. Thieves are getting pretty brazen these days though. The other day our local news did a story showing someone actually hooking up to & stealing a whole RV travel trailer right from the owner's driveway in broad daylight. Of course the thief looked right into the owner's home security camera & got his face broadcast on the 6 & 10 o'clock TV news, so that earned him the nomination for a Darwin award.

[dkirsop]

Around here all they have to do is look for where the owner keeps his "spare" set of keys hidden and unlock the door or take the boat while they're at it.