Trespassing revellers, opportunistic thrill-seekers, and determined intruders—captains reveal the unexpected challenges of protecting yachts from unwelcome visitors...
The chains across the dock were no deterrent. The “trespassers will be prosecuted” signs gave them no pause. The fact that there was no boarding ladder didn’t faze them. The group of men from the wedding reception on shore opened the side boarding gate, hoisted themselves on board the 93ft ex-presidential charter yacht Honey Fitz and clomped all over the soft teak with their hard-soled shoes, trying every door and taking pictures of themselves on the decks that were recently restored to Kennedy’s era.
At home nearby, watching the game, Captain Greg Albritton received an alert on his phone. For the third time in six weeks, he had to return to the yacht, review surveillance video and confront the trespassers among the wedding guests.
“It’s not a big deal, they didn’t hurt anything,” was the response from the wedding party.
“Would you say that if they broke into your $10 million home and walked around? It’s the same damn thing,” the captain told them.
“They were drinking,” the mother of the bride offered.
“I don’t do that when I’m drunk. Do you want the owner’s address? Maybe you’d like to go to his house in Florida and see how that looks as well?” the captain countered.
With Honey Fitz docked behind a wedding venue, Greg constantly has to deal with trespassers, and he finds the attitude that “it’s just a boat” frustrating. “Boats are worth a lot more than houses most of the time. And there are a lot more things to steal and hurt,” he says. Furthermore, Honey Fitz has political connections, having served under five US presidents. “In these political days, you have to assume that anybody who breaks onto this boat is there to do some vandalism,” he says.
“Groups of up to six people have patrolled the vessel, trying to open doors; they steal items of deck hardware from lockers and try to pry open hatches and doors”
Captain Guy Booth of 192ft PHI knows a thing or two about intruders — and political motivation as well. His yacht has been docked at Canary Wharf for so long that it comes up in a Google search as “tourist attraction in London, England.”
PHI was subjected to a temporary movement restriction order in March 2022, due to the owner’s Russian passport. The owner was investigated and cleared of having any political ties, and his other yachts have been free to sail in Europe, yet in the UK, PHI’s detention is based on a loosely worded regulation pertaining to “a person connected to Russia.” A side effect of the extended dockage outside of a marina’s secure environment is the number of opportunists who try to board. Guy notes close to 20 incidents.
“On every occasion, groups of up to six people have patrolled the vessel, trying to open doors; they steal items of deck hardware from lockers and try to pry open hatches and doors using bars, poles and whatever they have brought with them,” he says. “They kick and shoulder-barge windows and doors, and have on occasion physically barged aside both male and female members of my crew. Several times, they have made their way up onto the roof of the yacht and sat consuming alcohol and smoking, presenting an enormous risk to their own safety; a fall would be catastrophic.”
Most are deterred by spotlights and alarms; the crew have had to chase off a few. In addition to the security cameras and alarms the builder incorporated during construction, the crew have found a lower-tech solution available on Amazon to be effective: rechargeable battery-operated motion-sensor lights and audible alarms. They place them around the yacht and on the quay, controlling them via the hey! app.
In one of the most worrisome incidents, in September a group opened the crew side-entry door and were pushed away and locked out by the chief engineer who happened to be standing inside. Not dissuaded, they spent the next 20 minutes doing everything they could to get inside the yacht. “It’s very troubling to think about. They knew the vessel was manned and they wanted to get inside anyway,” Guy says. PHI had been surrounded by security fencing that intruders were able to climb around. After that, Guy says they put up much more serious fencing at great expense to the owner.
While this incident appears to have been fueled by nefarious intent, most of the intrusions have been opportunistic, much like the trespassers on Honey Fitz. “They’ve been youths thinking that ‘hey, that looks like fun. Let’s climb on that and have a look around,’” Guy says.
The police, though, take it seriously. “If you enter onto somebody’s yacht, it would be like entering into a home,” says detective Jason Wood of the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. “If somebody climbed aboard and passed out drunk on the deck, it could just be a trespassing, or it could be bumped up to a burglary if something was taken or if they damage something while entering. If they physically attacked someone, it would be a burglary battery or a home invasion.”