locking up the dinghy

[Froggy_130]

I’m guessing you all haven’t heard of the market in very expensive stolen racing bikes. Some pretty exotic cable type locks are regularly cut off in short order by bike thieves, using battery powered angle grinders with metal cutting abrasive wheels. And you thought the expression “gone in 60 seconds” came from a Nicolas Cage flick.

[O C Diver]

The ultimate protection is a Lehr outboard. No thief that knows anything about outboards will steal one. For those that don't, Lehrs only run about 20 minutes between repairs. Yes, I've been having more problems with it, again.

You know you own a Lehr when you leave the key in it and hope somebody will steal it.

Ted

[foggysail]

Ted—- you must remember the SEAGULL outboard! They were also safe from theft.

[Comodave]

A friend of mine put a whole bunch of patches on his dinghy and made it look like it was ready to fall apart. He said no one ever wanted to steal it because there were always ones that looked much nicer than his around.

[Bay Pelican]

Originally Posted by Comodave

A friend of mine put a whole bunch of patches on his dinghy and made it look like it was ready to fall apart. He said no one ever wanted to steal it because there were always ones that looked much nicer than his around.

I also am guilty of this deception. The interesting comment from friends was that I used cheap one part adhesive rather than the much better and more expensive two part adhesive. Difficult to grasp that I wasn't stopping a leak.

A friend on a Nordhavn actually ordered a new hp decal for his outboard to drop it from a very desirable 25 hp to a 9.9 hp.

Another friend had his 8 year old daughter paint his outboard cover with a couple of childlike designs, just to reduce its desirability.

[Larry M]

When we were in Central and South America, the money was in the outboards. Frequently, the stolen dinghies would be found the next day with the transoms cut off or the dinghies on the beach minus the OB. There was no market for the dinghies. The outboards went to the inland lakes or to another location.

You’d hear sometimes on the morning nets about someone loosing their dinghy the night before and then find out they didn’t hoist it or it was just tied off behind the boat with a painter. A pretty easy target for a swimmer with a knife.

[AusCan]

I've never locked mine. But I've never been anywhere that has a dinghy dock.

We did lose some of the contents of the dinghy one time when the surf caught us off-guard and flipped the dinghy upside down. Now I use some light rope to tie a plastic kit box in place. Usually things are fairly safe in our dinghy.

[Maerin]

We lock our dinghy when we're in an area where it's prudent. The outboard always has a motor lock on the clamps, it would take a lot of effort to remove that lock. For the dinghy, we have a chain bolted to the lifting eye, the chain stays in the bow locker, we pull it out if we feel it's needed. The bolt that secures it to the dinghy is covered with 5200 so a wrench can't be used on it without cutting it away. The chain is long enough to reach to a dock, and a combination lock to whatever secure point. For a less robust approach, we have 2 jacketed stainless cables made up with eye loops crimped on the ends to allow looping through the lifting eye and then to a secure point. We can loop both cables in series if we need more length like on a beach, etc. The idea is to make it more trouble than the one next to it. If we're in an anchorage that warrants it, we'll use the cable lock to a pad eye on the transom as a deterrent. A determined thief won't let it stop them, but the idea is to make it more trouble or at least noisey so we can hear it and then the deterrent becomes the rack of chambering a shell in the Mossberg. Or Molly barking. Molly's ferocious.(not )

[firstbase]

Originally Posted by Comodave

A friend of mine put a whole bunch of patches on his dinghy and made it look like it was ready to fall apart. He said no one ever wanted to steal it because there were always ones that looked much nicer than his around.

There is no such thing as crime prevention. Only crime displacement. They are going to steal SOMEBODY's dinghy, break into a house, vehicle, whatever. No preventing it. Use something, anything, to try to make them move on to an easier or better looking target and trust that if they REALLY want your dinghy, vehicle, etc. in particular then it is gone.

[TDunn]

I don't lock my dinghy and I leave the oars in it. I do take the motor off and keep it on the boat, but only because it doesn't get beat up as much and that is where the solar panel I use for charging the battery is. Of course here in Maine we don't lock our cars or houses either except during the height of tourist season (July and August), when we lock our cars if we go to town. I never lock my truck in the winter because the locks tend to freeze.

[HopCar]

I used to make stainless cables for locking dinghies. I’d use Nicropress sleeves to put a thimble in one end of a length of 1/4” stainless 7 X 19. Then i’d slide clear vinyl hose over it and install a thimble in the other end. The advantage is you can make it any length you need and it’s lighter than chain. It’s hard to cut 1/4” stainless cable with cheap bolt cutters. The vinyl hose is large enough in diameter that the thief will have to cut it off before he can get cutters on the cable.

Stainless chain is much harder to cut than regular chain. There is special harden chain that is probably harder to cut than stainless but it seems to be cad plated and will probably rust pretty quick.

[dhays]

Originally Posted by foggysail

Ted—- you must remember the SEAGULL outboard! They were also safe from theft.

Unless someone needed a light anchor.

I always counted on our Seagull to quite at the worst of times. It never disappointed.

[Group9]

Originally Posted by Froggy_130

I’m guessing you all haven’t heard of the market in very expensive stolen racing bikes. Some pretty exotic cable type locks are regularly cut off in short order by bike thieves, using battery powered angle grinders with metal cutting abrasive wheels. And you thought the expression “gone in 60 seconds” came from a Nicolas Cage flick.

Nothing is going to stop every theft. I watched a locksmith pick one of those "Club" steering wheel locks in about ten seconds! Talk about a letdown.

Our dinghy protection method is a combination of the,
1) don't make it look too valuable, theory (stickers on outboard, wooden, gray painted oars, and our boat is cosmetically challenged), and
2) a fifteen foot vinyl coated 3/8 inch steel cable which we run from the motor through an eyebolt (Boston Whaler 11) in the dinghy, through the gas can handle, through large eyebolts screwed and 5200'd into the ends of the dinghy and then chained to a large immovable object on shore or dock, or to the boat at anchor, with a heavy duty, corrosion resistant, lock on each end.

Never lost anything so far.

[siestakey]

Originally Posted by Larry M

The engine, dinghy and gas can are all locked together. We have 4, SS, Master Locks that are all keyed the same. I had a combination lock before but in the dark it was a pia.

The cable we bought at Ace Hardware for ~$20. It’s 15’ by 3/8”. The eyes are big enough you can thread one through the other.

We also removed the Tohatsu factory decals and added a few of our own. So far, in 20 years we’ve never lost a dingy or outboard.

We do ours similar to Larry only use one of those round storage unit locks a little harder to cut also use a lock alarm

at our home marina it is not used at all though

[Gdavid]

Multiple references to 5200 securing and/or hindering hardware removal. Everytime I use the stuff it reminds me of the Debeers line ”A Diamond is forever", oh yeah well 5200 is a pretty firm commitment.

[Benthic2]

With a pair of wire cutters, and a little patience a regular 3/8th bike cable can be cut in about 10 minutes......

[foggysail]

Originally Posted by Benthic2

With a pair of wire cutters, and a little patience a regular 3/8th bike cable can be cut in about 10 minutes......

Sure, never the less it is a deterrent especially when there is nearby unlocked, easier to steal stuff available.

[Group9]

Originally Posted by Benthic2

With a pair of wire cutters, and a little patience a regular 3/8th bike cable can be cut in about 10 minutes......

We had a pair of cutters when I worked at a power line company one summer, that would cut two inch thick steel guy wire cable like it was butter.

There is no deterrent that works with every criminal. But, playing the odds, almost anything that makes the average thief go to any trouble at all makes them move on to easier targets.

If they weren't that lazy, they would have a job instead in the first place.

[MYTraveler]

Originally Posted by foggysail

Kind words just will not prevent dinghy theft. You never know who is in need of YOUR dinghy besides yourself until it is gone. Today’s dinghy along with an outboard can cost thousands of dollars and. there is no need to leave it unprotected. Those of you who do not lock in my opinion are just playing a waiting game.

I agree with you. That's why I have insurance. Although I have never locked the dinghy, I have avoided sketchy docks and put the boat up on the dinghy dock at night if at anchor in a sketchy area. That said, if someone steals my dinghy, unless they are smart/lucky enough to keep my radio off, I can get an DSC automatic position reply quite easily.

[Bay Pelican]

Originally Posted by MYTraveler

I agree with you. That's why I have insurance. Although I have never locked the dinghy, I have avoided sketchy docks and put the boat up on the dinghy dock at night if at anchor in a sketchy area. That said, if someone steals my dinghy, unless they are smart/lucky enough to keep my radio off, I can get an DSC automatic position reply quite easily.

Another problem in the English speaking eastern Caribbean is the police attitude that just because you found your stolen dinghy doesn't mean you can have it back. While it is contrary to the written law there have been times when the police have taken the position that it is a civil, not criminal matter, if the person in possession of the dinghy states that he bought the dinghy/outboard from a third party (usually for cash and doesn't remember who the seller was). Try wading your way through the court system in one of these countries.