Dinghy Security in the Exumas

[OldSailor1954]

I think we will be OK with an 8. I've got 50k blue water miles sailing, set 15 state 9 national and 3 world records racing powerboats...

The 11'-7" boat I designed and built that weighs 86 pounds did OK with the 25 horse we put on it. Nothing like a roll up dink but I went 83 mph with a prop I built myself. We beat the existing 2 cylinder world record for gas powered outboards by 7 mph.

Some would say the 20 on my 10 ft dink might be too much, but it works just fine.

Pretty sure we'll be OK but thanks for your input.

[akprb]

Tough story to hear as we too have had nothing but good experiences throughout the Bahamas and further afield. The only time we ever had anything stolen ironically was in the good ole USA. Two bikes that we found in the water about 20' feet from where they were locked up. Go figure.

We "stickered up" our outboard and ratted out or 12' AB. Took a brand new 25hp Yamaha and just started adding stickers from all over the place. Years later that cowling became a bit of a souvenir. Same with the dingy. Paint the transom some god awful dayglow and "customize" as you see fit. No one ever touched it and I never locked it up.

(yes, that's a hawaiian hula girl on the top of the motor!)

Hope all works out! Again, sorry to hear.

[OldSailor1954]

Thanks for your concern. I know things will eventually change in the Bahamas, just sorry to see it happening in my lifetime.

Jono's sister set up a gofundme site to help pay for a new dink, Jono said he was going to paint the names of everybody that contributed all over the dinghy... lol

I totally agree with having the most unique dink on the sandbar, prepping for my last cruise we had to glue the rub strip back on my dink. You can see the 5200 where it squeezed out all the way around the boat.... some may call that sloppy, I call it security. The cowl on my 2016 motor looks like it's 10 years old.

Things are working out for "Miss Adventure", thanks to our cruiser friends.

Sea Yawl Later !!

[moctrams]

How do you lock a dink to the beach?

[Cotemar]

Originally Posted by moctrams

How do you lock a dink to the beach?

You don't, but you can disable the engine from starting.

[OldSailor1954]

An open beach where you can see your dink, and what's happening around it isn't the issue. What I have found is when we go on a dedicated hike, we often land the boat near a structure or some point of interest like a tree or a big rock, etc.

If it's open beach there's not much of a risk, but if your going for a hike the trailhead often has some structure to it.

I'm sending 80' of 3/32" stainless 7-19 cable with the boat that is easily coiled in the dink anchor bag. If the thief has bolt cutters it won't matter, but you can't cut even a small SS cable with a knife or even regular pliers. If they are committed to stealing they will no matter what you do.... but if it's hard or takes more time than they thought it would to take your property, your probably OK.

If your committed to absolutes... you might enjoy something else, besides cruising, wouldn't you agree?

SYL, Rusty

[cgrabens]

Originally Posted by moctrams

How do you lock a dink to the beach?

We usually park next to a big piece of driftwood or pylon, and if nothing looks good on the beach we drag the dinghy up to the tree line.