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| Dinghy and outboard: without them, the cruiser is crippled |
February 23, 2013
Isla Pedro Gonzalez
Las Perlas Islands
Panama
Outboard theft is the cruisers’ plague. Since we entered the Caribbean over 2 years ago, not a week has passed without hearing of engine theft. Trinidad was the worst, at the rate of 4/week, but Panama is getting there.
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| There is no worse feeling than finding out that your outboard is missing |
This morning at dawn, the yacht anchored next to us was robbed of its outboard. The owner had done everything right. He had hoisted the dinghy on the davit at dusk, ran a cable through the engine handle and locked it to his stanchion. Yet, when he got up, the engine was gone. Early at dawn, after the moon had set at 0315 and before the security guard on the beach came on duty at 0700, sometime around 0500, the yachtie heard the rumble of an engine close-by but did not register it as a threat. Used to having a dog on board who barked at any intruder, he didn’t imagine that anything could be wrong. Meanwhile, the thieves had brought their panga beneath the hoisted dinghy, cut the securing lock, lowered the Yamaha 15HP into their panga and sped away. Easy as pie.
Lieutenant Oscar Miranda, the security guard for the Las Perlas development on Pedro Gonzalez, was understanding and helpful, called the local Aeronaval for a report, and arranged for a panga to take the owner to the main island of Isla del Rey to lodge a formal complaint. Whether the owner will file a complaint or not is up to him.
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| The thieves just cut the lock off and made away with the engine |
We just returned to the anchorage at Panama City and learned that 3 more outboards were stolen last week, and not even from the cruisers: from the locals!
So, how do you secure your dinghy, short of booby-trapping your stern?
1 – Hang it high… as high as you can.
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| On DOMINO, it would be difficult to work from a panga between the hulls |
** “Wet Bar” lifts theirs every night on the cabin roof.
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| Clear advantage of a cabin cruiser |
** “Interlude” hangs theirs very high
** In "hot" areas, we hoist our dinghy on DOMINO's cabin roof.
2 – Use a lock bar. This stainless steel metal bar locks over the outboard’s screws, making is impossible to unfasten the engine from the stern of the tender, short of sawing the bar.
3 – Instead of regular cable (or chain) and lock, use an all-in-one alarm cable. This device is made of a plastic-coated stainless steel cable whose terminal pin locks into the battery-operated alarm housing, creating a closed circuit. Should anyone attempt to cut the cable, a 120 decibel alarm sounds.
4 – Alarms are always a good idea, if only more technology.
- Motion detectors (ours is from PARADOX MARINE) and infrared beams;
- Pressure sensors installed under the platforms (for catamarans)
- A dog is always a good idea
5 – Booby traps. Remember Josh Slocum and his carpet tacks? Some cruisers string monofilament lines bejeweled with fish hooks, very nasty at night! Be creative!
Be vigilant. Any noise at night? Get up and check it out. Perhaps you’ll be too late and won’t be able to do anything, or your still might be able to raise the alarm.
Of course, you might have all the proper locks for your outboard and the rogues will stop at nothing: just steal the entire dinghy. Again, it’s up to us cruisers to make it hard for the pirates. More alarms, more booby traps. Make YOUR dinghy the hardest to steal in the entire fleet. As poor Gary said this morning: “We were four boats at anchor, and my outboard was the easiest to steal.”
Finally, whatever you do, never, never , never leave your dinghy in the water at night. There is no safe place in these parts. It’s a sad sign of our times, but that’s what we have to deal with.
Now, if you find some cool booby-trap idea, just post them as comments!
Until next post,
dominomarie