Stealing the dinghy - some thoughts

[mct]

I recently had another dinghy stolen, in St Martin. It was locked up, on a skid, in a marina behind locked gates with the bung removed, but they still carted it away.

Have you ever had to steal your own dinghy? I mean, lost the keys whislt it was locked up. I did this in spain and in the carib, and in both cases i got help from people who didn;t ask if it was mine - i was determinedly trying to break the cable or the lock.

If you have no tools at all, you can pound your way through 10mm cable (the sort they sell at bike shops, nice and stronger the 6 mm stuff, loop the looped ends together) in about 15 minds with a sharp rock a bit bigger than your foot.

If you can borrow tools, usually a hammer is the chosen weapon, or so i thought at the time, and batter away at the smallish lock for say 10mins, and eventually it will crumble.

Incidentally - nobody says a THING whilst you are concertedly battering away at your lock. Nobody says "is that your dinghy?" even though they have no idea if it is or isn't.

More recently I had to break through a rather bigger 25dollar combination lock, meaty looking thing, had some ooh security rating you know... and having a small 5dollar crowbar to hand...i snapped it open at the very first attempt. Leading me to realise that just about any so-called "locked dinghy" is only protected from very pathetic thieves, apparently often kids who are almost impossible to prosecute.

So here's an idea - launch an attack your own locked dinghy with reasonable tools at I reckon you'll be away in under a minute, maybe less or a lot less.

I am minded of the two guys in the jungle who meet a tiger and turn to run. One says to the other "You don't really think we can run faster than a tiger do you?" and the other says "No, but I only have to be able to run faster than YOU".

So i suppose whatever everyone else has got choose something a *bit* stronger looking than that.

I watched one dinghy dock or a blustery night during which three dinghies would have vanished had i not gone after them - and in all cases the dinghies were cats adrift by others trying to get to their own dinghy, retying the remainder not so securely and hence 5 mins later it drifted off. So your lock is only to deter the very casual thief, or the more common and even more casual drunk/incompetent other hottie, I think.

However, if you leave the dinghy vaguely-easily accessible for several days, as I did, bolt-cutters are not a huge investment for a free dinghy for not-suite so casual thieves. They only need a large screwdriver for most padlocks, and a crowbar ("jemmy") even for the larger ones.

More serious gear is to be found at the motorbike shops, I think, not so easy to attack but it becomes unrealsitic to haul massive chain and giant locks, really. The tiger story always applies if there is another dinghy, it seems.

[Hud3]

A friend of mine had his dinghy stolen in the Marigot harbor. He went to the police and told them he would offer a reward. The dinghy was returned to him later that day by the gendarmes, who claimed the reward.

[Dockhead]

A good additional defense is not only to have your long just a little stronger than the others around, but your dinghy just a little uglier . . . Works for me

[Abrain]

Is there a cheap alternative or dinghy security? I agree locks are easily broken and chain is heavy, is there a tracking device one can employ? I seen an ad for a keychain accessory that tells an ipad its location. I wonder if something lie this could be used...

[Vasco]

If someone is determined to steal your dink they will!! I use lifeline wire and a cheap combination lock. If you want to guarantee that your dink will not be stolen keep it on your davits!

[atoll]

we carry 2 tenders,a 3.5m rib with a 25hp and a small rowing dinghy,the rib stays with the yacht and the person onboard acts as chauffer and picks up those on the dock,or rows back to get the rib to pick up the crew on the dock in dodgy areas

no body ever tried to steal my rowing dinghy......if things were particulary bad i would take the oars with me

[ssanzone]

ProductInformation

u r using the wrong lock... a rock (or bolt cutters) are not getting thru the correct product.

-steve

[colemj]

Yes, there are products like that out there, but you won't be locking a dinghy to a dock with a 4' chain that needs to be doubled to lock. Well, you may lock a dinghy that way, but you will piss off everyone else using the dock.

Mark

[mct]

Originally Posted by ssanzone

ProductInformation

u r using the wrong lock... a rock (or bolt cutters) are not getting thru the correct product.

-steve

But bolt cutters will get though the dinghy fittings, very easily. So no point in kryptonite stuff if you are tying it to dink - they're meant to lock up a motorbike or suchlike which is even harder to cut.

Theyre after the outboard and might well chuck the dinghy. Druggie types get $100 dollars of drugs for your $1000 dollar motor. They don't care if the dinghy is ruined or cut about to get the motor.

To the other poster, there have been dinks taken from davits so lifting isn't always a guarantee. But specifcally, if they see the dink on the davits, and STAY on the davits for many days, it's then that it's a target. Keep it moving, using it - less of a problem.

[nimblemotors]

if they want the motor, then use a motor that nobody can sell.
We call this 'security through obscurity'.
I'd suggest a DIY made electric outboard with hidden batteries
inside your oars.

[Hudson Force]

I never stole my own dinghy, but I did have an ocassion to "steal" my own cable locked bicycle in front of a grocery store near Baltimore's inner harbor. After grocery shopping I could not find my key and had to carry all back to my boat. There, I collected my 4 foot long cable cutters that I keep for a rigging emergency and walked back to the grocery store. An officer in a police cruiser was parked about forty feet away while I took the cutters to the lock cable. I was prepared to identify myself and my ownership of the bicycle, but nothing was said. I simply cut the lock cable, strapped the four foot long cutters across the basket and rode my bike away with no question asked.

[Celestialsailor]

I've thought about putting an access plate in the floor of my dink and when I beach, unscrew the cover and take it with me.

[BattleDuck]

I think the easiest thing would be if you stand on the beach with a big sign saying, "$5 dinghy tie-up and security". Then after you've got about 10 dinghies tied up (and $50 bucks), just ride off and tow them away. I can't think of an easier way to steal them.

That's what the OP was asking, right?

[zboss]

We made our 20 foot run about look like a gansta boat by using a non-matching engine fairing with gansta lettering on it. We regularly leave the boat tied only using line and no one goes near it.

[sailr69]

Originally Posted by zboss

We made our 20 foot run about look like a gansta boat by using a non-matching engine fairing with gansta lettering on it. We regularly leave the boat tied only using line and no one goes near it.

I like the idea of painting it all pink! who would like to steal a pink dingy or pink motor. lol