Theft protection devices for dinghy?

[geoffschultz]

Having done that passage, I can assure you that your concerns are valid. Petty theft in Costa Rica is a national sport. more passports (and anything else left unattended) are stolen in Costa Rica than in any other country. However, that applies to a lot of other places.



Get yourself a locking bar that goes over the dongles for your outboard. We use a Kryptonite crush-proof cable that impedes people cutting it with bolt cutters, but they can clearly cut the lock. This is all about deterrence.


Lock and lift your dinghy at night. As we always say, "Lock it or lose it!".


-- Geoff

[vpbarkley]

I use a 20 foot length of 3/8" stainless chain. The chain is irremovably attached to the outboard using a custom security device I manufactured. The chain is threaded through the dinghy's subfloor and locked to the boat or dock. Both the chain and security device are made of 316 stainless.

[HeywoodJ]

Originally Posted by CarlF

Many dinghy “thefts” are because they weren’t tied up properly and drifted off. Always tie up to the boat with two lines.

Once upon a time I woke up to a 2AM bump in the night. Went up on deck to find a nice RIB with 20HP outboard bumping alongside the boat. Grabbed the boat hook, tied it up, went back to bed.

At 9 the next morning got on the local VHF cruiser's net to notify the fleet (no distinguishing marks on the dinghy to tell me to whom it belonged). Found out the owners had caught a ride with someone else earlier in the morning and had been at the police station for the last hour.

[rslifkin]

Even if theft isn't a concern, I always hoist the dinghy at night so we don't have to worry about it. Plus, if it's tied behind the boat in the water we have to hear it bumping against the swim platform right behind our heads.

[jazzgtr]

We "paint" our outboard, with rust stains, oil leaks and crazing, to look old and crappy, haha, no-one touches it.

[chrisr]

Originally Posted by HeywoodJ

Once upon a time I woke up to a 2AM bump in the night. Went up on deck to find a nice RIB with 20HP outboard bumping alongside the boat. Grabbed the boat hook, tied it up, went back to bed.

At 9 the next morning got on the local VHF cruiser's net to notify the fleet (no distinguishing marks on the dinghy to tell me to whom it belonged). Found out the owners had caught a ride with someone else earlier in the morning and had been at the police station for the last hour.

while ago we rescued a dinghy floating past us. had a boat name written on it and we spent the next hour cruising around looking for this boat.

next day there was a F/B post from someone nearby missing their dinghy. turned out they had brought the dink 2nd hand but not gotten around to changing the name !

i know some don't like putting their boat name on the dink as it is an indication to thieves that no-one is at home, but if you want your dinghy returned please make sure there is something on the boat that will allow a finder to get in contact with you !

cheers,

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by H0BBES

I would add, use a Disk Detainer lock as they are a bit harder to pick. Also, an Apple Airtag hidden on the motor or dinghy can help in the even it's stolen.

FWIW: "Lock Picking Guides: Types of Locks and How to Pick them"
➥ https://www.ukbumpkeys.com/pages/loc...w-to-pick-them

[Franziska]

We use one of these.

ABUS 24IB/60 Discus Padlock with Stainless Steel Shackle, Keyed Different https://a.co/d/0XR7snN

At least they are not so easy to pull open as normal padlocks. Harder to get a bolt cutter on too when attached to the boat and heavy chain.

[Kettlewell]

We use one of these.

ABUS 24IB/60 Discus Padlock with Stainless Steel Shackle, Keyed Different https://a.co/d/0XR7snN

Agreed, those are great, but they will attack the weakest link in your system. The lock, cable, and chain are just to make your dinghy unattractive to the casual thief, and slightly harder to steal than the one next to yours for the professional thief.

[Kettlewell]

i know some don't like putting their boat name on the dink as it is an indication to thieves that no-one is at home, but if you want your dinghy returned please make sure there is something on the boat that will allow a finder to get in contact with you !

In the USA just write your cellphone number on something with a Sharpie. I have rescued many floating dinks and you are right, they are almost impossible to return immediately to their owners. This summer I found one floating and I towed it a long way back to my boat yard. Ended up alerting the boat yard and calling the harbormaster from the area where I found it. The owner eventually turned up to retrieve it.

[JPA Cate]

There are a few boats down here (in Tasmania) which have a mobile phone number visible from a dinghy. Of the two I'm thinking of, one has it on stanchions near the gate; the other has it painted on the inside of the dodger, and both are easily visible. One could certainly paint it inside the transom on a rib, or under the gunwales on a rowing dinghy.

In our experience, more dinghies go walkabout from not being tied up properly than theft.

Ann

[nuku34]

Years ago in a marina in French Polynesia, several yachties were having their expensive flash thong sandals stolen during the night from the dock where they had left them before boarding their yachts.
We nailed a pair to the dock next to a yacht with big ports. A few of us hid out on the yacht and watched as, just after dark, a young local guy walked down the dock barefoot, slipped into the thongs ... and fell flat on his face. We jumped out and hauled him in to the gendarmes.

"Don't get mad, get even"

[chrisr]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

There are a few boats down here (in Tasmania) which have a mobile phone number visible from a dinghy. Of the two I'm thinking of, one has it on stanchions near the gate; the other has it painted on the inside of the dodger, and both are easily visible. One could certainly paint it inside the transom on a rib, or under the gunwales on a rowing dinghy.

In our experience, more dinghies go walkabout from not being tied up properly than theft.

Ann

yes, we do this as well. both our mobile numbers are written on the inside of the sliding glass door from the cockpit to the saloon. easily visible

been doing this ever since we rescued a yacht that was dragging but in doing so, found it impossible to contact the owner

something everyone should do...have a nice easily visible and current contact number displayed

cheers,

[BlueH2Obound]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

There are a few boats down here (in Tasmania) which have a mobile phone number visible from a dinghy. Of the two I'm thinking of, one has it on stanchions near the gate; the other has it painted on the inside of the dodger, and both are easily visible. One could certainly paint it inside the transom on a rib, or under the gunwales on a rowing dinghy.

In our experience, more dinghies go walkabout from not being tied up properly than theft.

Ann

Yep, on the morning net recently in Bahia Santa Maria (MX), someone said, "Hey! Check behind your boat. There's a dinghy making a break for it, heading out of the harbor with no one aboard!"

Someone's line had come loose, someone else headed out and collected it and it eventually got returned to it's rightful owner . . . .Luckily it happened during daylight hours, and not during the night!

[s/v Jedi]

This is a lesson I had to learn twice: first when I was 14 years old and we lost a dinghy we had been towing (a buddy boat got it) and the second time aboard Jedi 25 years later when we lost our dinghy at night, while at anchor in a very remote area.

Luckily I could see it on radar and there was another boat with fast dinghy that I could talk towards it while watching both on radar.

That was 20 years ago. Since then here’s the rules we follow:

- a 10’ long painter of about 12mm double braid polyester. Always the end tied with a bowline through something it can’t get taken off without undoing the bowline. Then the painter taken double to shorten it up and tie some hitches with that loop. Never use hitches only.

- whenever the dinghy is left somewhere out of sight, like a dinghy dock, a second line is used. This can be a rope attached to a different attachment point on the dinghy or it can be a security cable/chain.

Lastly an anecdote: a couple years ago we had hurricane Isaias and a friend secured his dinghy with a big, strong painter (like 18mm rope) to a cleat on a dock. He saw me use two lines and later even bring the dinghy around into the mangroves.

After the hurricane his dinghy was gone and never found again. Also, the cleat he secured it to was gone. Tie it around something like a dock post, tree trunk etc. Don’t use carabiner clips or other hardware that can fail.