How to Make Dinghy Distinctive ?

[osirissail]

The best way to protect your dinghy/motor is to lift it from the water every night so that it is at least 9 feet off the water. I use a spare halyard for this. The 9 feet is determined by the height of the thief while standing upon the bow of his panga/pirogue. I used to lift the dinghy/motor to the top of the deck edge and lost a brand new 15hp Yamaha that way.
- - What doesn't work is the locks on the motor mount screws. A pry bar or piece of rebar will pop the handles right off the ends of the motor mount screws. Also a padlock through the motor mount screw handles doesn't work.
- - Lifeline cable as a dinghy or motor leash can be cut with a nail file or finger nail clippers. Stainless Steel chain - thick link - seems to slow them down.
- - Normal padlocks also are only a nuisance as they are easily cut with bolt cutters. And - the local diver I hired to clean my boat bottom in Trinidad recounted to me how several locals lost their motors when the thief swam out from shore to their boat carrying with him a set of bolt cutters. The thief got two motors that night.
- - ** What is needed is an idea that will lock the motor to the dinghy so that bolt cutters or a pry bar will not allow the two to be separated. I have seen advertisements for replacement motor mount screws that have a key lock "nut" so that the screws cannot be turned. However, the advertisement contained a price between US$100 to US$150 for a set of these.
- - There has to be some ingenious way to solve the problem other than physically bolting the motor to the transom. Every motor does come with two mounting bolt hole tabs but putting permanent bolts and nylock nuts seems a little too much.

[cat man do]

Originally Posted by osirissail

And - the local diver I hired to clean my boat bottom in Trinidad recounted to me how several locals lost their motors when the thief swam out from shore to their boat carrying with him a set of bolt cutters. The thief got two motors that night.

What I'd like to know is how he could swim back to shore with an outboard, let alone 2.

[osirissail]

He swam out to the boats and cut the dinghy chains and then used one dinghy to tow the other. Later the dinghy's were abandoned - without their motors. They swim to the boats as by swimming they cannot be easily seen or heard - and if you see them leaving all you see is your dinghy leaving.

[schoonerdog]

Before we went cruising we bought a brand new outboard... and a few days later we combined fun friends, lots of rum, and plenty of colorful paint.
The result -- The Electric Kool Aid Acid Dink! (our at least outboard)

We never worried about anyone trying to walk off with it. And we still have it now, paints all peeled but she's still groovy!

[CaptPatAg]

I went to a place that makes cable slings for cranes. I had them make up a piece of 3/8 stainless cable about 12' long. I use a UFO type lock on the dock end and a combination lock on the tender end (in case I loose the key). I also have a lock on my outboard wingnuts, and the flat black paint and reg numbers too.

[imagine2frolic]

No matter how hard we try. A thief is not deterred if he wants something. We sometimes have to depend on a wee bit of luck. That we are not in the wrong place at the wrong time.I am a target at the dinghy dock, but there's no getting the dink off the boat at night without me knowing it......i2f

[Bash]

my strategy is to anchor near someone with a shiny new dink, preferably with a center console, a roll bar, and something larger than my 8hp engine. Thieves will surely bypass my 17-year-old dink, which is always restored to the davits at night, in favor of something with a bit more flash.

[sck5]

paint the seams in the inflatable with the paint that is used to seal pinhole leaks. Make sure the paint is a different color and splotch it around a couple of other places too. Leaky seams are a terminal problem in many inflatables.

[Vasco]

In the Bahamas more dinks go walkabout than get stolen. Only in Nassau do I haul the dink at night. Everywhere else it's fine.

Now Miami is a different story. A few years ago they were going out in scuba gear and stealing dinks. A cruiser saw one drifting upwind and raised the alarm. I always haul my dink there.

[David_Old_Jersey]

The answer is...........British Seagull



British Seagull Outboard Motors



They don't make 'em like that anymore

Apart from the desirability factor and the oil sheen - the weight alone should put them off

[endoftheroad]

How about some NRA and pro gun stickers?

[capt_douglas]

Home built, human powered tenders seem to be less desirable than any form/color of inflatable or motor. The thieves go for the motors and generally ditch the inflatable. Unless it's got lots of goodies or is a nice RIB.

The best solution is to put the tender away every night. Putting the tender on the davits is far less effective than laying the tender on the cabin top.

[chadlaroche]

My Jack Russell knows when there is a squirrel within a 1/4 mile ....seems worth the 30lbs of dog food a month; and she has a NRA dog tag ......

[barnakiel]

Ours is (was ;-))) bright red Bombard. Very eye-catching.

b.