On The Hook

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Capandmrswood

When living aboard on the hook, and take the dingy in for a day in town, anyone have problems with theft of your boat,...or from your boat and also your dingy,...seems not good for things to be unattended for too long.

Quite often. Usually a fellow cruiser will yell at them or go over in the dink. Dingy's are often stolen, sometimes just found near the destination the thief needed to get to, other times the remnant is found on a beach somewhwere.... it's usually the motor they want. Still, We often wouldnt lock the boat if gone for a few hours only in a crowded anchorage. If gone for the day we would.

[osirissail]

Jimbo485's post #2 pretty much says it all. If you take you car/bike/whatever downtown and leave it unlocked with the keys in it (equivalent to dinghy outboards since they don't have ignition locks) you may or may not find the vehicle there when you return pretty much depending upon your "karma" in this existence.

So take common sense precautions and lock with chain and ss/padlocks your dink/motor/fuel tanks/etc. and most likely you will cruise a long time before losing anything.

All stainless (Inox) steel padlocks are well worth their cost but unfortunately are very difficult to find outside the French/European islands. I would suggest buying a supply of them in varying sizes from the internet before heading out for cruising. The typical USA padlocks just don't last in the salt-water environment which then ends up with you not locking your stuff because the damn locks don't work anymore.

However, I have found that the "quickie" dink to shore, run across to the boat parts store or grocery store to get single little thing usually involves "not locking up" properly and next thing you know it is gone.

Our experiences are that most thieves are quite lazy and will make off with the "naive" trusting cruiser's unlocked stuff rather than your "cross-chained" and secured dinghy, etc.

Same with the boat - locking the hatches and access ways external lazarettes tends to discourage most "lazy" thieves and they move on to the wide open and inviting boats.

Of course, overriding everything is knowing what areas/anchorages and areas of anchorages to avoid along with good relationships with local "boat-boys," and guides which can provide an extra level of "security" to your stuff and help ensure that it is still there when you get back.

[roverhi]

The way to keep things from being stolen is don't have things that are attractive to locals where they are a temptation. Outboards over 5hp can be used by local fisherman as a secondary engine and thus are a temptation. Surfboards and other gear that will appeal to the under 30 crowd are a temptation. You'll probably find in all societies that thievery is a practice primarily those under 30.

As someone once said, "Locked doors keep honest people honest." The serious thief will steal whatever is easy to get away We never had anything stolen but we took some precautions. We had a 15' length of coated 7x7 wire with nico pressed loop to a padeye on the dinghy and an eye on the other end that we could lock the dinghy up with. It wouldn't have stopped a serious thief but did the casual. Oars are something that goes missing too often. We drilled a hole through them and tied them to the dinghy. If you have a hard dinghy, there is a bronze piece that you can buy to lock them to the dinghy. We always locked the boat up when we left. We always had stuff on deck but they were in bags so weren't advertised what they were.

We had our inflatable dinghy wander off twice. Both times, we rowed upwind and found it. The painter must have come undone. Rather than wrapping the tiny 1/4" painter around a big cleat, tie a loop in the end and loop it over a cleat or a winch.

As others have said, leave a dink unattended around most docks in the US and you are asking for it to take a walk. Other places that you cruise to are so much less prone to thievery that our own back yard.

[gts1544]

Mark J, I am not a long range cruiser, in that sense, however I have been cruising the Puerto Rico / USVI / BVI waters since 1975, so that makes me somewhat knowledgable down there. Unfortunately, this situation has significantly worsened over the last 10 years and it is now necessary to secure your dinghy, even in daylight hours. That said, were I a long distance cruiser, I don't know that my procedure would change. gts1544

[MarkJ]

Gts1544, its amazing in all that time the outboard companies have not increased the security of their engines.

Remember when cars were the sa,e? Anyone could steal one in a moment and the car companies laughed because they could sell more cars? Now they all have top locking systems.

Mercury et al, should all have ignition disablers. Currently they are just cheating us!


Mark

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Gts1544, its amazing in all that time the outboard companies have not increased the security of their engines.

Remember when cars were the sa,e? Anyone could steal one in a moment and the car companies laughed because they could sell more cars? Now they all have top locking systems.

Mercury et al, should all have ignition disablers. Currently they are just cheating us!


Mark

Pull the fuse.... it can be moved to an easily got to place... don't just rely on taking the 'safety key' as a bit of line behind the 'button' will allow you to start her.
I have chain running through the tansom eyebolt and fuel tank handle, through the grab handle on the o/b and locked back on itself. The run foreward goes through every grab handle on the dinghy, over the bow and through the grab there... with 3 metres excess for locking when ashore...
I also lock it to the boat at night if/when left in the water..

[osirissail]

Besides having padlocks that do not rust/corrode and freeze up, having a convenient and clean material to connect your motor/tank/dinghy to the dock/whatever is also quite important.

When "stuff" gets dirty or difficult to use, then we tend to not use it and that then leads to setting ourselves up for the opportunity for thieves to steal. Along this line of thought, stainless steel 1/4" (6mm) chain has been, IMHO, the best way to protect all our dinghy system valuables. I used to use the stainless vinyl covered lifeline cable but it did not take long before the cable cover got torn and "meathooks" poked through. Also the whole cable thingie got grease covered and dirty/difficult to deal with. So using it was "every time" soon became using it rarely.

Stainless steel chain does not seem to have these disadvantages and we used it much more frequently. But interestingly enough, it seems its use inside the USA/islands is rather rare, at least as reflected in the prices charged for the stuff.
West Marine, etc. charges about US$14 per foot whereas the Euro Island stores like I.W.W. charge only US$9.36/ft and Budget in St Maarten only US$7.30/ft or about half the USA prices. When dealing with getting 3m or 4m (10 to 15ft) of the stuff that is a considerable price difference.

[AnchorageGuy]

We too have used chain but use 5/16 galvanized which is much cheaper. What would be the advantage of using stainless over galvanized considering the cost? Chuck

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Lagoon4us

A doggie scares most burglars, pity we can't get a detecter that growls and if aggravated further barks! No pissin', no feeding, makes good sense.

They make these!

Since studies say tat having security stickers on your house is almost as effective as having a real security system, I would bet that having a fake dog is almost as good as having a real one. Of course batteries for the fake is less expense than feeding the real dog.

[sww914]

If it doesn't look too good and most of them are locked, like in So Cal, I pass a cable through the cleat, the lifejackets, the gas tank, the outboard handle and lock to the eyelet in the dink. I also bought the cheapest 10' inflatable and a 20 year old outboard so that I would be down on the list of stealable dinghys.

[osirissail]

Originally Posted by Waterwayguy

We too have used chain but use 5/16 galvanized which is much cheaper. What would be the advantage of using stainless over galvanized considering the cost? Chuck

Easy - Rust! Galvanized chain links rub together constantly where they loop through each other - just like anchor chain. But with dinghy chain you use it more often and it moves more often and it is not long before the chain develops quite a bit of rust that then gets on the the dinghy staining it.

Stainless eliminates that completely and in my case the stainless 1/4" chain is just as bright and clean 10 years later as it was when I purchased it.

[o_q]

Originally Posted by Jimbo485

Uh oh, here we go again... You will hear everything on CF from guns and booby traps to friendliness and an invitation for thieves to take what they like.

You probably already do something for the security of your house and car. Just do the maritime version of the same. Don't ask the CF crazies and don't ask me!

Uh oh, here we go again... another post about making fun of gun owners

[Lagoon4us]

Originally Posted by Don Lucas

They make these!

Since studies say tat having security stickers on your house is almost as effective as having a real security system, I would bet that having a fake dog is almost as good as having a real one. Of course batteries for the fake is less expense than feeding the real dog.

Really, damn there's never an original idea anymore!!!! Agree about the stickers also dummy cameras.....

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Lagoon4us

Really, damn there's never an original idea anymore!!!! Agree about the stickers also dummy cameras.....

Stickers are great if the 'Perps' can read... let alone read English...

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Stickers are great if the 'Perps' can read... let alone read English...

I bet a sticker of a pit bull with drool dripping off it's teeth and a tape player down below playing a recording of a barking growling dog ............................. is the same in any language