Dinghy Theft in PNW

[s/v Beth]

Originally Posted by colemj

Yankying the Canuck's dinghy, let's call it…

Mark

It's what I do in my spare time, at least when they aren't taking mine.

[dannc]

Originally Posted by St. Elsewhere

Based on this tread I just invested $15 in this. I have padlocks already. Now maybe I will sleep a bit better. Thanks for the advice offered about the risks I have been taking leaving the dinghy down.

Those are similar to what we use to secure our kayaks. I bought mine in HD or Lowes and they were designed to protect power tools from theft. I took the cable lock to the section of the store with bolt cutters and made sure they biggest bolt cutter would not fit over the cable. There are other ways to cut the cable but they would take time and likely make noise.

The brand I bought back then now has chains wrap in fabric for much higher security. Not quite sure what I would buy today.

Later,
Dan

[Bill Lee]

It was only us 4 (plus killer attack doggy) onboard. Everything was fine until 11:30pm when we went to bed. None of us used the stuff after I last took doggy to shore (say8:00ish). From a theft perspective - I agree that Reid Harbor is remote. It's about 4 nm to Roche and almost 11 nm to Friday Harbor (the next closest 'major' centre). That's a long way to intend to tow a dinghy and 2 kayaks in the dark.

[Bill Lee]

Originally Posted by colemj

Yankying the Canuck's dinghy, let's call it…

Mark

Is that the same thing as Canucking the Yank's dinghy?

[Cheechako]

I'm leaning toward the Sasquatch theory. I've heard they are fiercely patriotic and anti Canuck. Anyone know if they swim?

[IdoraKeeper]

Well now that's it! Sasquatch stole some beer from the campers at the north end of the bay and being intoxicated decided to swim out and see if there was more beer on the Canadian vessel. The dink was in the way and he couldn't get up on the swim step, so he untied the painter and released the boats. Soon he discovered that there was no beer to be had except some Kokanee which being a sensible beast he refused to drink. Where upon he disembarked and swam to shore and passed out on the beach.
Doubtless this Sasquatch was hairy and tattooed as well.

[colemj]

Originally Posted by Bill Lee

Is that the same thing as Canucking the Yank's dinghy?

Nah - that requires more beer!

Mark

[mikereed100]

Bill,

We live on the hook and recently bought a 14' tinny with Honda 15 hp for commuting. Too big for the davits so the first night we had it I tied it off to a bitt at the stern with a double cleat hitch. I am very proud of my knots but checked it twice as the wind had come up a bit. After gazing fondly at the dingy (and my knot) I went inside, had dinner and watched a movie. Before bed I checked the dinghy one last time and it was gone. We upped anchor in a panic and found the thing an hour later and 4 miles out to sea.

The thing is, a heavy dingy tugging at a short painter can untie the best of knots. I can't explain how, but the above episode was the second time this has happened to me over the years (insert blushing emoticon here). Now all my painters have eye splices.

[onestepcsy37]

I have a 10 foot stainless steel cable permanently attached to the dink so I can lock it up whenever and wherever I need to. Wont stop a determined thief but good for opportunists/pranksters.

Also a good backup for the poly line that we always use.

Sent from my GT-P3113 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[a64pilot]

FAA spent a few Millions a few years ago trying to determine why every once in awhile a very experienced, professional pilot would do something stupid and totally out of their norm, you know the kind of mistake that all of their friends would say they were incapable of.
They never have figured it out, best they could do was give it a name. SLOJ
Sudden Loss of Judgement, apparently none of us are immune to running that stop sign one day, you know the one you stop at every day on the way to work.
The way they mitigated it was to come up with crew resource management, on the theory that it's very unlikely that both or more crew members would get SLOJ simultaneously.

Point is, I bet you missed it, made a mistake, everyone does every now and again, none of us are perfect

[Bill Lee]

Of course it's possible that I screwed up and/or had SLOJ. I have experienced SLOJ - but not in patterned behaviour before. That doesn't mean it can't happen. However, part of my OCD isn't just the behaviour (three half hitches) but also checking and rechecking. Don't forget the dinghy was unused because of the battery issue since July 2 when we got to the Harbor and dropped it in the water. It also hung on during the windy day. I also checked it (visually) after taking doggy to shore each time (ok - maybe I'm more than somewhat OCD). Tinkerbell is too small to do it - but if Big Foot thought there was beer involved maybe he was quiet........

[Mark1977]

Yep....bigfoot for sure.....

[Bill Lee]

Hi Ann,
I just read your post #50. We bought the fuel jockey a giant box of baked goodies from the most awesome bakery in Friday Harbor in addition to our profuse thank yous. The homeowner didn't want anything but admitted liking beer. He got a 12 pack of Canadian beer and since his wife doesn't drink beer she got a bottle of red and a bottle of white wine. Her hubby (whom I dealt with) wouldn't tell me what kind of wine she likes - so we got both. We also gave them a nice card signed by 5 of us (wife, me, 2 kids and doggy paw print). Again, the silver lining was dealing with people who didn't have to go out of their way - but did.
Cheers,
Bill

[JPA Cate]

You know, Bill,

This whole episode worked out well with benefits to all. How really nice! I hope your dinghy never goes walkabout again.

I posted that none of our Insatiables had lost a dinghy, but one night, with the dinghy secured on someone else's boat, our dinghy did wander off. Found it the next day 3 or 4 n. mi. downwind of where we were. Embarrassing. Big strong Stainless clip had come undone while we were watching movies, never heard a thing.

I'm glad you got your stuff back, and ego more or less intact from CF battering. No one will know for sure how it happened unless someone fesses up. Unlikely, IMO.

Cheers,

Ann

[witzgall]

If you are so observant, how were the knots tying the kayaks to the dingy? Were they exactly the same as you tied before they went missing? If they were, I would say that supports the notion that the dingy came loose. If they were different, then somebody messed with them.

If they were untied, and not by your good Samaritans, then again speaks to outside involvement.

Chris