Dinghy stole with new outboard - AGAIN - what do you use?

[team karst]

In our cruising grounds, thieves hate inflatables and mercs. We have 2 of each.

[Mike OReilly]

For some unknown reason, thieves don't seem to like mine: Portabote and small, crappy-looking outboard.

(In reality, I cruise in an area where almost no one locks anything, so not really a good guage. Maybe the answer is to find a better place to cruise)

[FabioC]

I feel for your loss.
You are not saying exactly where in the PNW you are, but we have seen a huge uptick in this kind of theft (stealing "necessary" equipment, like dinghies, engines, but also cars, catalytic converters, etc., you name it...).
It can become exasperating.
I am not sure there is a solution, just a combination of anything you can think to make the theft more difficult and/or disposing/selling the stolen goods more risky/less lucrative.
In addition to all the things that have already been suggested, one think to look at is whether you can hide a GPS tracker that alerts you in real time if the dinghy is moved, or after the fact gives you at least some information on its whereabouts (a thief would eventually discover it, but it may not be immediate). There are several devices on the market, maybe you can rig something appropriate for the dinghy/engine.

[wholybee]

Don't have the nicest dinghy, or the easiest to steal. It sounds like you had a really nice dinghy, with a nice new engine. You mentioned that the outboard was locked to the boat, but was the boat locked to the dock?

I use a steel cable with loops crimped on each end. One padlock to attach it to the engine, and another to attach it to a dock cleat. It would be very easy to cut, but as it is often the only boat locked up adn my outboard is old, why would a thief bother? Hint, if you have a new outboard, paint the cover to make it look old. Use a bright color so it will stand out if someone else has it.

Another idea would be to hide some airtags in the engine. Somewhere they wouldn't be quickly found just by removing the cover. Then you could track it if stolen.

[PLANET EXPRESS]

Some 5/16 G4 chain won’t be cut with bolt cutters they will scissor and spread ruining them. Cutting it you have to cut link completely in half, with hack saw takes quite a bit of time and with grinder hope battery is good. So just leaves the lock good ones are very expensive and in salt water environment better lube it with some tefgel real good. Lock it where you leave it and you’ll find it where you left it. Sorry someone took your stuff.

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by Shanachie

A hacksaw will cut through anything you can use in a couple of minutes.

While it is true that anything can eventually be defeated, it is not true that a hacksaw will cut through anything usable in a couple of minutes. Security chain, available from several sources, is extraordinarily difficult and time consuming to cut with hand tools. Paired with an appropriate padlock, it will exhaust the patience of most thieves.


I've used the lighter weight of the two security chain products available from Tulsa Chain:



https://www.tulsachain.com/security-...ecurity-chain/


Now, that stuff is heavy and expensive, and you don't want to carry around a 15' length of it to use at the dinghy dock, but a shorter piece may be one piece of the puzzle in some situations.


I would add that I do carry separate insurance for my dinghy, that would cover most of the loss in the event of theft.

[CarlF]

It is interesting that I have never locked the dinghy (or outboard to the dinghy) in my 50 years of owning one kept in Massachusetts, Maine, and the Bahamas Family Islands. Never stolen. Nor do I personally know anyone who's had a dinghy stolen in those places.

I do lock in Florida.

[Chotu]

These days I chain mine up but I get yelled at about it sometimes. Check the dinghy etiquette thread for reasons I guess.

Pretty hard to balance between trying to make it convenient for others and trying to keep your stuff from getting stolen.

Basically I chain my outboard to the dinghy dock. I don’t really worry much about the dinghy itself.

[dannc]

Originally Posted by Jammer

While it is true that anything can eventually be defeated, it is not true that a hacksaw will cut through anything usable in a couple of minutes. Security chain, available from several sources, is extraordinarily difficult and time consuming to cut with hand tools. Paired with an appropriate padlock, it will exhaust the patience of most thieves.
...

Yep, and make sure the chain and lock hasp has a large enough diameter that most bolt cutters cannot fit around.

There is not a perfect solution but there are good enough solutions for most of the time.

Later,
Dan

[JPA Cate]

As others have described. Lock the motor and tank to dinghy, chain dinghy to dock. Where we left the dinghy during our house sit, ours was the only tank that wasn't stolen in the second round of thefts last winter. The person was identified (there is a camera), and the police know who it is, but there has been no prosecution, pretty disappointing. People steal stuff cause they want it. More people are becoming poorer. The theft problem will remain, probably becoming worse.

Sorry it happened to the OP. It is really terribly inconvenient when one's dinghy is stolen. Last time it happened to us, it meant having to go into a marina till we could replace dinghy and motor, so it was an expensive exercise for us, too. I don't think the people who did it would have cared about it. We were able to locate the dinghy hull, it had been set afire. Jim scraped off all the remaining burned hypalon, and eventually we were able to re-tube it and replace the motor.

Ann

[AKA-None]

You could get one of those locks where the hasp is completely surrounded by the lock
Search for round lock on your favorite search engine

[team karst]

Next thing u know, rust will defeat attempts to UNLOCK [emoji15]

[wheelerwbrian]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

Ironically, in the B'mas with countless 1,000's of boats there, never locked my dinghy up ever...not once..never had a problem...

As my father used to say (and he was a doctor) "I'd rather be lucky than good."

[sinnerman]

How about installing a small GPS tracker on the dingy/motor as a backup in case they are stolen?

[SV__Grace]

Our system for securing our dinghy and outboard-

1. 20 foot Master Lock Python Adjustable Cable Lock

(great lock that allows you to thread the cable through a narrow hole in a small dock cleat, we use a second one to lock our kayaks to the deck)

2. Outboard engine lock

3. Self discipline to lock the dinghy each and every time to the dock, boat, or tree/rock (on a beach) whether we think it's needed or not.

Sure, a determined thief can cut or break a lock, but most thefts are crimes of opportunity by desperate folks without tools.

We also lock our Torqeedo battery via a cable lock to the outboard engine lock. That thing is expensive and easy to grab and resell.

We have a 30 foot length of chain in a canvas bag we use for locking the dinghy on the beach to rocks/trees using a padlock.