locking up the dinghy

[seattleboatguy]

How do you guys and gals lock up your dinghy at the dinghy dock? I assume that one of those bicycle cable locks would do, and I assume that longer is better. What about when you leave the dinghy on the beach for a walk into town? Thanks.

 

[drillguy]

We use the cable lock from one of the bikes at the dinghy dock.
We have a light chain that is plastic coated about 15' long for a longer reach to bridge abutments, trees, telephone poles, whatever.

 

[sunchaser]

I have never locked up the dinghy. Must be the WA and BC honesty factor. In AK, so long as the bears can't start the outboard, we're safe.

 

[Shrew]

It will vary from region to region. We boat in South Eastern CT (Watch Hill), RI (Newport; Block Island, Naragansett Bay), and Long Island (Montauk, Sag Harbor, Greenport), MA (Cape Cod and Islands). We've never locked out dinghy or motor.

Then again, most of the folks in those areas make more in interest than we make in income.

I met my financial planner this week. I noticed his business card said "Wealth Management. I told him, "I'm not sure I feel comfortable calling my collection of crap "Wealth".

 

[Bay Pelican]

Two factors to consider. In some places, Caribbean for example, 3/8" chain would be recommended as the dinghy thefts are frequent. Some have hydraulic chain cutters. Good friend lost a dinghy and outboard which was chained with 3/8" stainless.

Second, check with your insurance agent if you are covered for a loss if the dinghy is not locked up.

Also lock the motor to the dinghy. In many places in the Caribbean also lock the gas tank.

 

[Gdavid]

What I do would not stop a truly determined thief but it may slow them down or pick a better target. I run a long bike cable lock throught the metal handle of the outboard motor and whatever solid part of the floating dock or pier I can. I also have a cheap pad lock connecting the transom clamp handles together so they can't be loosened easily. If I can't get the motor close enough to the dock to bike lock it without taking up a lot of room, I just run it through a metal D ring which of course could be sliced right off but it may slow someone down. On a beach that I was nervous about, I have taken the spark plug wire with me and hope the dinghy is too much trouble to carry off.
My best protection is probably being a cheap enough dinghy to be unattractive to anyone with taste. It is a cheap Chinese inflatable sold on ebay, I love how they try to name them similar to a established brand. I doubt the Chinese businessmen were familiar with Jewish culture when they branded their product Bris. It always gives me a chuckle.

 

[Marlinmike]

We actually got one of the dog cables (I guess some people cable their dogs outside), we also have a lock on the motor. You can also find that plastic coated cable in a hardware store sold by the foot and make up fittings to suit. Basically keeps the honest people honest, but a real thief (like in the islands) would make short work of it.

 

[smitty477]

It will vary from region to region. We boat in South Eastern CT (Watch Hill), RI (Newport; Block Island, Naragansett Bay), and Long Island (Montauk, Sag Harbor, Greenport), MA (Cape Cod and Islands). We've never locked out dinghy or motor.

Then again, most of the folks in those areas make more in interest than we make in income.

I met my financial planner this week. I noticed his business card said "Wealth Management. I told him, "I'm not sure I feel comfortable calling my collection of crap "Wealth".

We have typically cruised in these areas as well as up the Hudson. There are times we lock the dinghy up with a jacketed cable and good lock - usually when we are away for a longer time and based upon the area.

 

[koliver]

When I have to park my dinghy in a sketchy marina, I sometimes take the key with me, as taking mine without being able to start the outboard would be a giant PITA. As Tom (Sunchaser) mentioned, must be a BC thing.
If I anchor off at a rocky shore, I leave the key in place, so that if my dinghy is blown where it shouldn't, I want anyone nearby to be able to affect a rescue uninhibited by the weight and size of the outboard.

 

[Shrew]

I run a long bike cable lock through the metal handle of the outboard motor and whatever solid part of the floating dock or pier I can. ......... If I can't get the motor close enough to the dock to bike lock it without taking up a lot of room, I just run it through a metal D ring which of course could be sliced right off but it may slow someone down.

Ugg. This is as bad as the folks who tie up with <1 ft of slack in their painter. Leaving so little slack or tying sideways is like taking 2+ spaces. I'm sure you're a nice guy, but know that we mutter obscenities under our breath when we encounter such behavior. We tend to find it slightly inconsiderate.

I'll note that you DID say '...without taking up a lot of room' but honestly, unless that cable is 15 ft long, you will always be taking up too much room. It just might not be that busy when you do so, but no guarantees it will stay that way. We've tied up to a dinghy dock with only one other boat. Then come back to find them 2 deep and we're crossing through dinghies to get to ours.

 

[Larry M]

...Also lock the motor to the dinghy. In many places in the Caribbean also lock the gas tank.

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.

 

[FoxtrotCharlie]

Great camo job on the outboard

 

[Gdavid]

It is a pretty long cable but still akin to tying up with a short painter and your point is well taken.

 

[Ex Sailor]

How do you guys and gals lock up your dinghy at the dinghy dock? I assume that one of those bicycle cable locks would do, and I assume that longer is better. What about when you leave the dinghy on the beach for a walk into town? Thanks.

Interesting post in as much that I see some exotic cables etc. attached to a cheap " Master " type padlocks which I can cut or bump the key in a heartbeat.
That said, I have a 6' + piece of " Cobra Link " with a cylinder / barrel type lock ( left over from my Harley days ) and all that goes through the dinghy transom and the swim platform. In the end, anything is better than nothing.

fb

 

[FF]

Our dink is aluminum and rows quite well.

The oars are locked to the seats with a key lock, a combination is hard to see in the dark.

Not locking the dink will have it used (not stolen) which becomes a PIA .

The speed in most crowded harbors is the same under motor or oars , so rowing is fine.

 

[timb]

does that rear decal have F U on it?

 

[Nightsky]

does that rear decal have F U on it?

I'm not getting the "Tohatsu" reference. Is this a particluarly desirable OB, that is frequently targeted for theft? My OB is a Nissan (made by Tohatsu). It is bolted to the transom so removing the OB alone would be a PITA for any thief. I do cable lock the OB to the dinghy to the swim grid for long periods of non-use, however. I don't normally lock the dinghy to dinghy docks, but I have on rare occasions.

 

[Larry M]

does that rear decal have f u on it?

f & u.

 

[foggysail]

Our dink is aluminum and rows quite well.

The oars are locked to the seats with a key lock, a combination is hard to see in the dark.

Not locking the dink will have it used (not stolen) which becomes a PIA .

The speed in most crowded harbors is the same under motor or oars , so rowing is fine.

Yes, and after the creep who used it especially if just returning to his boat, frequently kicks the dinghy free to roam around the harbor.

 

[foggysail]

I alway lock my boat while at busy harbors. I advised a friend to do the same when he first purchased his dingy and he ignored the advise. Sure enough, some clown at Oak Bluff’s Harbor used his dinghy for whatever. My friend was lucky to see it floating around in the harbor.

I use a plastic cover SS wire, the stuff life lines are made of to lock our dinghy. I loop tie the cable through the outboard’s grab handle, run it through the grab handle on the fuel tank and any life jackets left on board. Next I push the cable’s end though the bow eye and then lock it somehow to the dock.

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.

 

[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]

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]

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.