Have you moved up from
steel cable dinghy/motor
security to 8 or 10mm
Stainless Steel chain?
Go one step further to eliminate the padlock at the dinghy end of your chain. Install the largest omega-shaped SS shackle whose pin will just fit through the last chain link. Install the pin with Loc-Tite, cut off the pin's knob with a hacksaw and hammer both ends of the pin with a ballpeen hammer.
Make a noose of the chain through the shackle and slip the noose over your SS outboard bar lock or through the lifting handle. Eliminates one (salty rusty?) padlock at the
motor end of your
security chain. The chain can run through the handle of your
fuel tank too. We have another similarly attached shackle at the free end of our 15 ft 10mm stainless chain to accommodate a Kryptonite U shaped combination (keyless)
New York style bike lock.
This lock slips easily through a
dock cleat or over a 2x4 dock support leaving plenty of room for other cruisers lines/chains.
The long chain loops over the bow (with chafe sleeving) and into the
water, it's catenary weight holds the dinghy away from the dock to allow access for other dinghies.
We've found from sad experiences of other yachties that any stainless chain less than 8mm isn't sufficiently strong enough to resist simple cutting shears. We have 10mm SS chain on the dinghy and
motor, and 8mm SS chain on the
fuel tank.
Please don't me misled into believing that your dinghy and motor are perfectly safe from theft when hoisted on
davits or alongside with a
halyard. Chain them to the railing. Steel
cables, while convenient, are no longer a theft deterrent anywhere in
Caribbean.
Even in
marinas bad things happen! Similarly, we've seen plenty of nice outboards clamped to stern railings but not chained to the
boat in
marinas or on long term moorings, anchored and in
boat yards.
GPS trackers are not very expensive these days. They utilize limited range BlueTooth signals to allow you to track the location of your missing dinghy and stolen outboard.
So...you have tracked and found your outboard in someone else's possession.
Now what?
Will you physically confront them with accusations?
How will you prove
ownership to police?
How will you get to shore from your anchored boat while police impound your outboard and wait for a court date?
GPS trackers sound great in theory but really...isn't theft prevention with a robust chain a much more practical idea?
In other words, don't let your guard down " Don't be the low hanging fruit."
To the many naysayers asserting that even 8mm stainless chain can be easily cut with
battery powered angle grinders; at a cost of nearly $700US, it's not really a thing in most poorer Caribbean countries where we've cruised.
Would you use a Mr Bean padlock on your automobile? Then why
cheap out on your dinghy and outboard motor.
The whole
concept of dinghy security tethers is simply to encourage an opportunistic thief to bypass your dinghy and steal one with either a rudimentary lock or no locks at all.
To learn more about how we developed this dinghy chain idea, here is the original article published by Caribbean
Compass in 2017
http://www.caribbeancompass.com/ding...rity_2017.html