Thieves in Viequez, Spanish Virgins Warning

[zeehag]

shiny attracts rats. so do engines. be safe.

[rpoint16]

Originally Posted by svBeBe

Just a short word...which city in the USA has absolutely no car thefts???

Please do not eliminate any place around the world because someone stole something, or because someone says that theft is commonplace. If you choose to leave a $7,000 dinghy and motor unattended in a strange place, be sure that you have proper insurance.

Bill

I am speechless.

[bobconnie]

Ahh we always PAINT a new dingy as badly as we can with lousy colors with a big rough brush !!, always mess up the motor cover to make it look old !! a dingy and a outboard could be a years wages to some folks in the places we cruise ! but a ulgy dingy is the last one to be ripped off!! we always lock it to !! works for us !!

[osirissail]

Having cruised to every island from the Bahamas to Trinidad for 7+ years, I have heard of dinghy and/or dinghy motor thefts in every island. I even had my own brand new Tohatsu 15hp stolen in Carriacou. And the boat was lifted out of the water at the time.

So I have been very selective in where and how I chain my dinghy to something ashore. And also chain the motor to the hull of the dinghy. Motor bracket locks are worthless. If I didn't need to remove the motor from the boat for boat storage on deck, I would have through-bolted the motor to the dinghy transom permanently.

All in all, dinghy/motor theft is a real problem everywhere and I suggest everybody put some thought into how they are going to secure their dinghy/motor to minimize the problem. And if the anchorage does not have someplace on shore to really secure the dinghy, I move on to the next anchorage - or - row in without a motor.

[svBeBe]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

Yep. Lock your dinghy and secure it if you are in a country full of thieves. The good news is there are also countries where you just leave the dinghy on the beach or at the dock UNSECURED and imagine what it is still there when you come back some time later!

b.

Where are these countries? Starting in 2006, we circled the Caribbean twice before crossing the South Pacific, down to NZ, back up to Vanuatu, New Cal, Oz, Indo to Thailand to Sri Lanka to Cochin to Male Maldives. Now in eastern Med. Have visited 48 countries, I think was the last count. In every single one of them, dinghy theft was a possibility. Happened in some places more often than others, but happened everywhere we have been thus far.

Lock it when visiting ashore; lock it when floating behind your boat at anchor; and lock it when lifted on davits or lifted alongside at night.

And lock it using a titanium cable, not lightweight chain that can easily be cut with decent-sized bolt cutters.

Judy

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by svBeBe

And lock it using a titanium cable, not lightweight chain that can easily be cut with decent-sized bolt cutters.

Judy

Titanium cable sounds like a really good idea. Any dinghy thief with the least bit of initiative is going to come with bolt cutters or some tool that could quickly cut through most common locks, chains and cables.

Did not know such a thing existed, at least not at a price that mortals could afford. A quick google search did not show sources, at least on the first page or so. Any suggestions on where one might buy one of these?

Thanks
Skip

[Ram]

Originally Posted by bobconnie

Ahh we always PAINT a new dingy as badly as we can with lousy colors with a big rough brush !!, always mess up the motor cover to make it look old !! a dingy and a outboard could be a years wages to some folks in the places we cruise ! but a ulgy dingy is the last one to be ripped off!! we always lock it to !! works for us !!

my current dink engine lost it cover in a storm - this works well also-

[svBeBe]

"Titanium" cable is a brand purchased at Budget Marine in the Caribbean. It is a black-pvc-coated stainless steel braided cable that is about 3/8" in diameter. Because the stainless steel wires that make up the braid are so small, bolt cutters do not work. It requires either a cutting torch or lots of work with a hacksaw. A major benefit to this cable is that it is extremely flexible.

Bill

[Ram]

Originally Posted by svBeBe

"Titanium" cable is a brand purchased at Budget Marine in the Caribbean. It is a black-pvc-coated stainless steel braided cable that is about 3/8" in diameter. Because the stainless steel wires that make up the braid are so small, bolt cutters do not work. It requires either a cutting torch or lots of work with a hacksaw. A major benefit to this cable is that it is extremely flexible.

Bill

Hi Bill
I would think a battery drill with a metal cutting disk blade will make fast work of this "Titanium"also-i have a new 15 hp Yamaha & dink in Fl and what I going to try is put the spot hug inside the engine cover and insulate it from the heat of the engine- this way can track the engine location- its $150 a year and about $300 initial outlay - along with a good cable something like you have-

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by svBeBe

"Titanium" cable is a brand purchased at Budget Marine in the Caribbean. It is a black-pvc-coated stainless steel braided cable that is about 3/8" in diameter. Because the stainless steel wires that make up the braid are so small, bolt cutters do not work. It requires either a cutting torch or lots of work with a hacksaw. A major benefit to this cable is that it is extremely flexible.

Bill

Thanks. Have read about the fine braid cable before. First time from the motorcycle riders in the US. I think it does defeat bolt cutters but agree with Ram, angle grinder or other techniques might defeat the cable easily but perhaps with a bit more noise. Also, how are the eyes spliced in to the end? If there is just a crimp fitting or something similar then the ends would be the weak link.

What about case hardened chain? I have heard that is pretty tough and would take a large bolt cutter to defeat.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by zeehag

to minimize thefts of dinghies there are certain measures to take in prevention...such as locking to boat AND raising out of water.. ALWAYS do this.. and lock dink to boat while lifted..

too many are not locked yet complain of thefts....

Yes...but the OP was onshore with theirs locked to a log.

[LeaseOnLife]

Yep. Lock your dinghy and secure it if you are in a country full of thieves. The good news is there are also countries where you just leave the dinghy on the beach or at the dock UNSECURED and imagine what it is still there when you come back some time later!

b.

+1

We don't lock our dingy, almost never. Didn't have a problem on our circumnav.

We have one of the smaller dinks, <10ft, sunburned PVC, nobody wants it!

A large outboard (>= 15HP) is attractive to the locals. Having a smaller engine, less than 10HP or even less then 5HP makes it unattractive for the locals.

The only real problem we had, was Poly-/Mela-/Micronesian kids using our dink as a trampoline.

I do recommend having a Kayak or sturdy row-dink on board.

Dirk

[Knucklehead]

is there a LOWJACK, battery type, for dinghys?

[osirissail]

I believe "LoJack" requires a shore based network of stations to work. It is not likely you will that on off-shore islands and small island countries and even 3rd World countries.

Maybe "RAM's" idea of a SPOT system somehow attached in a hidden place on the outboard motor and/or dinghy might work. But the process of protecting, mounting, locating the antenna could be quite a challenge.

Small hp motors are just as attractive to thieves as the bigger ones. It was explained to a cruisers meeting in Georgetown, Bahamas that the thieves turn in 3 - 5hp stolen motors to exchange for a larger hp one they can use. But at least, in the eastern Caribbean, any and all size motors are being stolen primarily to exchange for narcotics, so size makes little difference.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by zeehag

dinghies are stolen world wide. i thought ye meant REAL thieving.....

I'm sorry but to me that IS real thieving. I don't want my dinghy and motor stolen. That would be a big loss to me. In Florida it would be grand theft.