Boat and Dinghy Protection from Chain Rodes

[Happ]

Originally Posted by Benz

It's harder to cut a cable with bolt cutters than a chain. And cable is lighter.

Many years ago I sailed into my home port mooring and launched the dinghy for dinner. We came back to the boat tied the dinghy to the boat and went to bed. The motor was secured to the dinghy through the lifting rings with wire cable and a good Masters lock. In the middle of the night I woke up hearing someone on deck saying he thought someone was aboard. With a winch in my hand I jumped out of the hatch to find 2 people. One on the deck and the other in a small boat stealing the dinghy motor. The guy on deck jumped into the water and swam to their dinghy and they sped away. They had gotten the motor by cutting the lifting rings out thus destroying the inflatable.

All you can do is try to stop the guy who sees an opportunity and takes it.

[Bluechart]

We use a heavy coated cable, run through a Masterlock Outboard Motor Lock , which locks the engine to the dinghy (and the engine to the stern pulpit when not on the dinghy.) (In the BVI’s, while on the hard, 6 outboards were taken during the off season, they could not get mine off the stern pulpit mount, Because the specific lock, does not allow bolt cutters, instead they tried Masterlock keys, and snapped off the key in the lock! That’s another story….)
Every night, no matter where we are, I hoist the dinghy out of the water, and lock it to the boat. (A byproduct is that we get no growth on the dinghy or outboard, like you would with the dinghy/engine sitting in the water!)

(My plan is to install a pull switch, to set off an alarm and lights if the dinging is lowered.)

And yes, I also lock the dinghy to the dock cleat, the cable run through the Masterlock, even though others sneer at me…..

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by Bluechart

And yes, I also lock the dinghy to the dock cleat, the cable run through the Masterlock, even though others sneer at me…..

Same here.

There are only so many times you can have thousand of dollars stolen from you before you start ignoring "etiquette."

[CaptainMike60]

Use old fire hoses. I went to a local fire station in a marine area. The have old fire hoses of various diameters. They cut and gave me several lengths of old hoses. Absolutely free. They will slip right over the mooring lines or chains (I haven't actually tried it on chains) Sew up the ends on both sides to keep it in place and it works great!

[sailjumanji]

BRNKL by Barnacle Systems. Security system. Laser sensors that extend a beam across the cockpit. When someone boards - which they will need to do to access the dinghy hanging high in the davits - they disrupt the laser beam, that sets off a loud alarm, and triggers a camera taking a picture. If you are monitored (about $20 per month), it sends an alert to your phone, as well as presents the picture. The system is also used to monitor batteries, bilge pumps, hatch sensors, etc.

We also use a heavy bar lock that covers the outboard motor clamps, which prevents the motor from being removed from dinghy. That said, I have seen instances where dinghy was stolen, run to shore, and they cut the motor off of the transom and trashed the dinghy. We also run a large cable lock thru the motor clamp and around the davits.

We've had catamaran friends who had their boat boarded during the night anchored in the Nassau harbor. Ours was boarded last year at about 2 am in the Nassau Yacht Haven marina. (They tripped the alarm and departed.) Except for when we are in Nassau or in a marina (infrequent, as we anchor almost everywhere), we sleep with the boat open. Having an alarm when someone comes into the cockpit at night provides an extra measure of security. Thieves can get thru just about any cable or chain in seconds, but very few are going to do it with a 110 decibel alarm going off.