Understanding outboard theft vs. dinghy theft

[Chotu]

I use the same strategy. I take what is needed to run the dingy with me so it's unusable.

Originally Posted by Alita49DS

My son having achieved getting the dingy and outboard stolen whilst on shore in Ibiza, I am extremely sensitive to the issue. Not to say the cost.

Small petrol outboards have a standard safety cord anyone can buy for a few €. No security at all.

What I have done is to buy a Torqeedo electric outboard. Not only for security, but it has a major security advantage. When I leave the dingy ashore I now:

a. take the control handle. It is very light and fits into a rucksack. Without out it the unit is useless to anyone
b. take the handle of each of the aluminium oars. Which also fit into the rucksack.

No deterrent is absolute but I am hoping that is enough to put off most thieves.

Oh, and on the boat I was always taught to never rely on a single line. I use a clove hitch on each and then tie a bowline with the bitter end. So in practice four points of contact with the pushpit.

[Captain Bill]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I think your right on the 15+ motors.
This is what I did for that, and you know in a few years no one has figured out the HP label is incorrect? I’ve had one or two comments on that sure is a strong 6 HP, but even with the big three blade SS prop, no one has figured out it’s not a 6 HP motor
Of course at the dinghy dock the motor is always down so they don’t see the prop
Attachment 188477

When your dinghy was next to mine the other day I remember thinking that sure is a big 6 horse, it's the same size as my 15. Good camo!

[Donecomutin]

Me and my friend had a dinghy stolen not too long ago since it was tied off to the transom. Now we keep the Inflatable in a Dinghy Sling Davit. It would be hard for a thief to figure out how to release the inflatable since you have to be in the cockpit to do it. This also keeps the bottom free of slime. This works well for us.

[Amapola]

Unless in use, our dinghy stays on our cabin top cradle. We have a winch to hoist it. We did lose her once due to a poor tie up. We now have a snap shackle on the painter.

[Fred Taute]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I think your right on the 15+ motors.
This is what I did for that, and you know in a few years no one has figured out the HP label is incorrect? I’ve had one or two comments on that sure is a strong 6 HP, but even with the big three blade SS prop, no one has figured out it’s not a 6 HP motor
Of course at the dinghy dock the motor is always down so they don’t see the prop
Attachment 188477

Awesome solution, would love to know how you finagled getting this sticker?

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Fred Taute

Awesome solution, would love to know how you finagled getting this sticker?

Suzuki dealer.
They aren’t cheap though, way more than a sticker ought to be, but it’s the “real” sticker.
It was damaged one day at the dock.

[Tornadosailing]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I think your right on the 15+ motors.
This is what I did for that, and you know in a few years no one has figured out the HP label is incorrect? I’ve had one or two comments on that sure is a strong 6 HP, but even with the big three blade SS prop, no one has figured out it’s not a 6 HP motor
Of course at the dinghy dock the motor is always down so they don’t see the prop
Attachment 188477

This is brilliant. Theft of the motor has always been a concern of mine with the big 25 sticker just screaming STEAL ME! Time to see the local sign shop for a little vinyl sticker work.

Edit: Just ordered the correct stickers from boats.net. Way too expensive for two stickers, but I doubt I could get the local sign shop to design and cut them for less. Especially with the drop shadow etc. $30 for a little theft deterrent seems cheap enough.

[puffcard]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Suzuki dealer.
They aren’t cheap though, way more than a sticker ought to be, but it’s the “real” sticker.
It was damaged one day at the dock.

If a 15hp, just remove the "1" and make it look like a 5hp, know a couple of cruisers that did that. Also a vinyl sign shop could cut you a custom one for a small fee.

[LoudMusic]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

99% of dinghies that I have heard of that went missing, simply untied themselves and went on a trip by themselves, some people are sure they were stolen.
Many of the stolen dinghies are later found downwind.

I find this is often the case in non-dinghy theft as well LOTS of people blaming others for their own inability to keep up with their belongings. "Someone stole my phone!", no bro, you left it on the table at the restaurant. Learn to keep up with your stuff.

Dinghies are more prone to this because, as you point out, they can go on trips by themselves. Same as I used to say about my Houdini dogs They'd take themselves on walks from time to time. But I never accused someone of stealing my dog, even though THAT seems to be a common claim as well.

[mako]

Originally Posted by scallowayuk

Hi three years ago a friends donghy was ztolen in falmouth harbour antigua.a few dsys later we found the dinghy but no outboard.

His donkey was stolen?? Is that U.K. English or just bad autocorrect gone haywire

[hellosailor]

Jammer-
Said to say but you know, if it looks pretty, someone is going to pay attention to it and that makes it a target of theft. Folks have literally had their fingers lopped off because a shiny gold ring didn't come loose fast enough, and at least one man had his wrist cut off by a machete (in Florida) because he wasn't fast enough handing over his flashy gold Rolex.
Outboards? Fast ready market. You can always drop 'em in a shipping barrel and then, does anyone in Nigeria or Panama or anyplace else REALLY care what the numbers on it are?

You might want to either hit it with a wire wheel, then acid burn it and paint those spots with primer and "texture paint" to make it look like the engine is a piece of rusty old crap, or else paint it all a bright dayglo color making it harder to sneak off with. Your choice. But a good lock should be a no-brainer, even if you are giving the dink over to a valet parking service. (What, you park your own?(G)

Good locks are a whole other thing...collateral damage of YouTube. You can pretty much find out how to bypass any lock, quietly and quickly, in ten minutes online. And most of them cab be bypassed in the same ways.

Our US favorite, Master Lock, apparently are best used *only* as paperweights, they're that easy to move. Nothing under a hundred bucks seem to be significantly better, sad to say.

[jjorgenson3]

Love the number trick but a 25 hp to a 5 hp might be a stretch.

[Sojourner]

Just never be the lowest hanging fruit, especially if you are a particularly sweet peach

Yes to all the usual: raising dinghy, avoiding dodgy places, cable lock, identifiable/unique/defaced dinghy or motor.... only two things seem to be foolproof:

1) Those tile tracker thingies. I'll get one before heading out of the Med, but they cost 10 bucks a month to run and I hate contracts, so not yet.

2) This outboard lock I found. STAZO. Dig the pic....hardened, drill-proof lock, 4or5 mm thick walls with the entire outboard clamp contained inside. This little cube weighs something like 2 kilos. I challenge you to remove it with an angle grinder in less than 15 minutes. A lock, almost ANY lock, through those metal tubes over the handles are cut in literally 5 seconds. This is fireworks for far longer than the average thief wants to be lit up with. You only need one, but I have two. That's 30 min of hard-core angle grinding. No way they wouldn't pick on someone easier for just a quick motor job.

3) Mind you this is locked to an all aluminum dinghy. Once the outboard is secured to that transom (even thicker), it's just a matter of securing the whole lot by thick cables at the boat, leaving it in watched or secure areas with a thinner, longer painter cable, and/or lifting at night. It's also highly unique, never seen another one, so not really able to be hidden, certainly not a target by other boaties who couldn't handle this beast in any case Slap a GPS tracker in it later and she ain't goin nowhere, or rather if she does, hells comin soon thereafter

[wingssail]

Maybe we've just been lucky, but in 20+ years cruising, in 35 or more countries around the globe, we've never had a dingy or motor stolen. Our current mercury 15hp is 20 years old and sort of beat up, but runs perfectly.

The dingy is rarely left in the water. More often is it raised on a halyard midships from the mast head. The lifting bridle is SS wire, hard to slash with a machete and long enough so that the halyard is out of reach from someone in a panga.

There is also a heavy wire security cable though the bow eye of the dingy and back to the transom and padlocked to the two motor clamp handles. In dodgy places I lock that cable to the big boat too. If they manage to drop the dingy the security cable will surprise them and slow them down.

The halyard we use for lifting the dingy goes to a big winch and it is quick and easy to hook it to the bridle and lift the whole shebang. Usually we have the dingy lifted within 2 minutes of our arrival back to the boat. We can also quickly lift it further and swing it onto the deck. In a midnight departure from a squally anchorage it's fast and easy to swing the dingy onto the deck.

If we do, for some reason, leave the dingy in the water there will be two lines securing it, one of which is usually the security cable.

A determined thief can get our dingy, but not without waking us.

Harder to protect against is dingy theft ashore, but the long security cable around a tree or piling stops the kids (the cable also goes through the gas tank handle).

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by puffcard

If a 15hp, just remove the "1" and make it look like a 5hp, know a couple of cruisers that did that. Also a vinyl sign shop could cut you a custom one for a small fee.

Mine is a 20HP. Don’t think I would fool many into believing it was a 2 HP.