Theft Of Outboard Motors.

[Vasco]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

season, will not cover the dinghy in the Bahamas. I guess theft is pretty bad.

Actually I have yet to meet a cruiser who has had his dink stolen in the Bahamas. You'll hear a lot of lost dinks. Many don't secure their dinks properly. Every year I hear of two or three dinks that have gone walkabout and never seen again. A few are recovered, especially in GT but most anchorages elsewhere are not as well contained as GT. Bahamians don't want your rubber dinks with the little 15 or 20 hp. Too puny for them. Worry about theft more in Miami or anywhere along the ICW.

What does get stolen is the fancy center consoles with the 1000hp of outboards hanging on the transom. These are stolen regularly. Year before last a Hatteras had his tied alongside and locked and it was gone in the morning. He rented a plane for the search and they found it on the west side of Great Exuma but the three 300hp engines were gone.

So don't worry about dink theft in the Bahamas. Worry about securely tying up your dink when you return late in the evening after a long happy hour on another boat.

[flyingfin]

Thru bolt the engine to hull and use a McGard outboard motor lock bolt,

Or buy one of these locks

http://rowkraft.com/shop/stazo-smartlock/

Or with a new outboard I would use both!!! Leaving a small un-locked outboard outdoors is like dropping a thousand dollar bill on the sidewalk in a big city, someone will grab it quick

[Paul L]

A good, bold looking lock is great for deterrence. Not leaving the dinghy in the water is next in deterrence. Adding an electronic alarm adds too. But all these are only deterrence. I've seen a dinghy on the shore with it's transom cut out so the outboard could be carried back to a shop to remove the lock without drawing attention.

[akprb]

Stickers.........lots :-)

Brand new 25hp Yamaha we took the cover and beat the hell out of it then covered it with cool stickers from all over the place. I loved that cover and even tried to buy it back from the new owner.

That and we put one of those sliding bars that goes over the handles and a padlock kind of tucks inside it.

Cheap padlock rusts into a ball quickly and the only way to get it off is with a grinder, trust me :-)

[leandroflaherty]

Good solid lock. Lock the boat. Lock it to the mothership when home.. and my secret weapon. A Spot Trace stealth Satellite tracking device inside the cowl. They may take the motor, but Ill know where.. and so will police.

[Bean Counter]

Some suggestions which may be already covered:

1. A motor that big should be through bolted on the transom. You could put lock nuts (like ones to stop your car wheels being stolen). I have heard though in Florida they take a chainsaw to the transom.
2. Bolt Cutter resistant chain and padlock that also goes through dinghy pad eyes and locks to jetty or main boat. This stuff rusts - don't know whether it galvanizes or not, maybe put inside a plastic pipe/hose.and seal ends.
3. Put white duck tape on various places to indicate cowl is trashed
4. Change decal to 6 or 8 or 9.9 HP.
5. Stick a fuel filler cap on top of cowl to make it look like an integral tank for small outboard from a distance
6. Is it electric start? If so put in alarm circuit that trips when cable is disconnected. You can also run the earth wire inside that pipe with the chain - alarm could be in the dinghy or the main boat. If dinghy is on davits they would have to discover the lead and bypass it before lowering the dinghy.

7 GPS tracking chip - under lower cover plate - now getting expensive and technical.

A thief who has the time to examine all these devices no doubt will be able to circumvent them, but one or all should reduce opportunistic theft or make it too hard and look for easier pickings.

[Ken Z]

take your fuel line with you. reverse the spark plug wires, put a cigarette butt in the spark plug socket to insulate the spark.

[Valmika]

Originally Posted by Fence Man

Also, does anyone have any tricks or deterrents to discourage or hopefully prevent the theft of the outboard and / or tender.

Put Mercury decals on it.

Or Mariner decals

Or just paint it some ugly flat paint and paint the lower end with some corrosion colored paint

[martinworswick]

at work(construction sites) we use something like this -https://www.citi-box.co.nz/product/shipping-container-lock-box-bolt-on/ -that covers the padlocks on our containers,the padlock has its keyslot on the side and its a real PITA to open even with the key-iv'e threatened to grind the whole thing off more than once!
not sure how adaptable it would be for a dinghy but anything that makes it hard work is going to help,or like others have said make it undesirable to steal-you can buy decorative rust paint that looks real good-https://i.ytimg.com/vi/VvoFNAHVR9A/maxresdefault.jpg-who wants to steal something that looks like its ready for the scrap heap?.
maybe random chinese lettering decals will help the illusion-https://sc01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1Ll4EKpXXXXabXpXXq6xXFXXXz/4-Stroke-Outboard-Diesel-Engine.jpg

[Jhhastie]

First, make sure it is insured. Second, if you are a sailboat, mount a digital camera (used for hunting) high out of reach and test it. Third, find a lock with a shackle that is case hardened and has a rotating pin inside that is also case hardened to thwart saws. Finally, put a notice by the motor that says you are alarmed.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by ranchero76

No bumpers in this lock, real life thieves wouldn't bother dealing with it unless your dinghy worth million. Of course, other bits must be adequate too.

Checked the net and found several videos showing how to defeat Abloy locks. Bosnianbill takes a hammer and a 5/16" bolt and punches the key cylinder out in a few seconds.

Also didn't see them testing resistance to an angle grinder. Wonder how long it would resist a grinder with a coarse cutoff wheel.

[nhschneider]

We bought a new Yamaha 15-hp 2-stroke when we were in Thailand and the first thing I did was remove the decals and replace them with 'Komat'su' decals (they make heavy equipment). I also had a piece of stainless steel tubing cut and drilled so that it covers the clamp bolts and is secured with a padlock.

Our dinghy goes up on davits every night - regardless of where we are - and we never make an exception.

We have cruised in many remote locations since then, crossing the Indian Ocean, Madagascar, South Africa, the Caribbean and more without anything being stolen from us.

Fair winds and calm seas.

[Symphony]

I always pull my dinghy up for the evening. I always worry if I have it tied to a dock while ashore.

tracking device sounds like a good idea - but what type of tracking emission is effective in less-developed parts of the world? cellular? wifi? 9Ghz satcom? not realistic. and cost might be prohibitive.

maybe a surveillance camera that records that last 48 hours is a better idea. in case of theft you review the previous recording and show that to the police or village chief. Locals usually know the trouble makers.

best might be motion sensor with bright lights for the boat. and a pressure sensor with horn on the dinghy. surprise of lights or sound is a deterrent.

[seandepagnier]

I would like to add the most obvious suggestion:

row your dingy.

[Nani Kai]

Originally Posted by Fence Man

Also, does anyone have any tricks or deterrents to discourage or hopefully prevent the theft of the outboard and / or tender.

Put Mercury decals on it.

That would keep me from stealing it!