This seems to be a reoccurring topic. Thankfully I have never experienced the thefts that so many speak of.
I have been to Vieques quite a few times, and hopefully I will be there again next week. I have never had any trouble in my time there. With that said, after reading so many posts about Dinghy's that grew legs and walked away, I started locking mine up. To be honest my
dinghy is probably not worth stealing and perhaps that has been to my advantage. Thieves seem to like nice new shiny things much more so than multi-patch sun faded small h.p. dink like mine.
I can honestly say that I have ever felt unsafe while walking the beaches of Esperanza even in the wee hours of the morning. It is a great place to visit and I would not let some of these stories send you away.
Do your due diligence and remove valuables, lock up your
Dinghy and if you can, pull it up near others dinghy's,
safety in numbers right?!?
Best Wishes and Happy Sailing!