New ePropulsion eLite?
- Thread starter dgadee
- Start date
wonkywinch
Well-Known Member
That's what geem recommended in post #76. I'll take a look. My needs are for a deterrent against opportunists as the dinghy/outboard are packed and stored over longer periods.
Boathook
Well-Known Member
I use a "lockbar" across the clamps as supplied by nestaway. Seems fairly substantial but any force is likely to break the plastic bits on the screw clamps.
Boathook
Well-Known Member
I wasn't sure about that padlock so fitted an abloy I had.
ylop
Well-Known Member
The objective of an outboard lock is not to stop a thief with tools, it’s to make sure he does the minimum damage to the boat and your insurer pays out.
Mark-1
Well-Known Member
Yeah, they won't bother to cut the brass, they'll angle grind the fibreglass around it, the anchor point, or whatever looks quickest.
I have a tiny padlock which will prevent someone walking off with it unless they have a tool of some kind, but I'm hoping is little enough challenge that they won't take the angle grinder to the boat itself. I'm still not optimistic.
geem
Well-Known Member
Not my experience. I places where thiefs have no tools, they take the low hanging fruit.
Mark-1
Well-Known Member
Yeah, if they've got no tools the padlock will stop them. So, as Ylop says, the object is to stop the guys without tools whilst making it easy for the tooled up guys to get what they're taking without hacking the boat apart. Unfortunately GRP is the weak link.
geem
Well-Known Member
A hardened steel padlock is 10 times more robust than brass. I locked myself out of my boat a few years ago go when I had brass padlocks. I couldn't beleive how quickly I could cut that brass.Yeah, if they've got no tools the padlock will stop them. So, as Ylop says, the object is to stop the guys without tools whilst making it easy for the tooled up guys to get what they're taking without hacking the boat apart. Unfortunately GRP is the weak link.
In the Caribbean, dinghy theft is common. It only happens from unlocked dinghies or those with easily broken padlocks. Many cruisers use large diameter chain that bolt cutters can't easily get around. They use large, strong padlocks. I have never seen an outboard cut off a rib with a junior hacksaw!
Small egg whisk outboards are not desirable in the Caribbean. Thiefs want 10 to 30hp engines as this is what cruises want to buy or fisherman use. Lots of the larger engines are bolted to transoms and too heavy to easily run away with. These boats get stolen and the engines stripped off away from prying eyes. This is where big chain and super strong padlocks come in useful.
crewman
Well-Known Member
If you watch the Lock Picking Lawyer on You Tube most padlocks can be picked in seconds if you know what you are doing.
Sea Change
Well-Known Member
I don't think I've ever heard of an electric outboard being stolen out here.
Might be different in the UK I suppose.
wonkywinch
Well-Known Member
I signed up for an early version of Litelock via Kickstarter as the owner (Neil Barron) is the B-I-L of a colleage. It is quite secure looking but was concerned a battery angle grinder could eat anything so I view it more as a deterrent. I see LPL chomped through it in 16 seconds with a hand tool.
Boathook
Well-Known Member
Years ago I removed a cheap padlock by hitting the body with a brick. The padlock looked good but the internals were something else.Yeah, if they've got no tools the padlock will stop them. So, as Ylop says, the object is to stop the guys without tools whilst making it easy for the tooled up guys to get what they're taking without hacking the boat apart. Unfortunately GRP is the weak link.
nestawayboats
Well-Known Member
18V+ battery-powered angle grinders (with the right sort of blade on them) and hydraulic bolt croppers unfortunately make all attempts to deter the really determined (and tooled-up) thief a bit pointless.
When I was living in the Caribbean we'd occasionally find a dinghy on the beach with its transom slashed out of the tubes (and one where it'd been sawn out of a RIB hull)... so if you made it more difficult to remove the motor from the dinghy you'd just lose the dinghy too. A heavy lock and chain for the dinghy might help, just so long as you don't then lock it to something that can be spannered/cut/levered off the pontoon of course, and the attachment point on the dinghy is also up to the job
(NB Everyone will hate you if you use a short length of chain and thus "block the dinghy dock".)
However back to electric outboard security. Some kind of lock over the clamp handles - plus a cable run through the handle of the Torqeedo Travel, 903 1103 etc, or ePropulsion Spirit batteries - will probably deter the opportunist, or make them look elsewhere, as others have said.
And the insurance companies can only reasonably ask you to do what's reasonably possible.
When I was living in the Caribbean we'd occasionally find a dinghy on the beach with its transom slashed out of the tubes (and one where it'd been sawn out of a RIB hull)... so if you made it more difficult to remove the motor from the dinghy you'd just lose the dinghy too. A heavy lock and chain for the dinghy might help, just so long as you don't then lock it to something that can be spannered/cut/levered off the pontoon of course, and the attachment point on the dinghy is also up to the job
(NB Everyone will hate you if you use a short length of chain and thus "block the dinghy dock".)However back to electric outboard security. Some kind of lock over the clamp handles - plus a cable run through the handle of the Torqeedo Travel, 903 1103 etc, or ePropulsion Spirit batteries - will probably deter the opportunist, or make them look elsewhere, as others have said.
And the insurance companies can only reasonably ask you to do what's reasonably possible.
geem
Well-Known Member
That might be because they are as rare as hens teeth in the Caribbean. By the time you have travelled half a mile to the dinghy dock with 25kts on the nose and a 1 foot chop, you are soaking wet. We have friends who have them onboard as a back up but don't use them routinely in the Caribbean
Sea Change
Well-Known Member
We've seen every type of outboard in use in the Caribbean. Obviously it can be very useful to have the ability to plane but there's only a handful of places where it really changes things. St Ann to Le Marin comes to mind. Horrible wet trip on a slow dinghy...
Egret
Well-Known Member
I wasn't sure before I bought one but E-Lite great for little muddy creeks, sheltered waters - 60 watts plenty fast enough for slow trundle watching the wild life. 150 - 250 W for general work in the sheltered harbour- in lightweight lightly loaded GRP tender (long shaft) to the mooring and back - so battery life OK for that purpose - Key for battery life is to just use as little power as needed. - ,Good that e-propulsion have thought there is a big enough market to make a good well thought out lightweight little engine for this purpose - and light enough to pick up and carry to the coffee shop. Wouldn't plan a trip along the coast in rough seas - or like you say in the Caribbean - but wouldn't have done with the Yamaha 2B. Have a bigger engine for that - and a Spirit for in between trips and auxiliary on the 20 footer
The long shaft is good for GRP dinghies which are a bit higher off the water so a good additional option to have.
The long shaft is good for GRP dinghies which are a bit higher off the water so a good additional option to have.
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geem
Well-Known Member
Most anchorages will see everybody on the plane that has an engine and dinghy set up that will do it. Unlike Europe/UK where boats are normally in marinas or harbours, the anchorages are often a long way from the town dinghy docks. Half a mile at 3 kts or 15kts makes quite a difference especially if you need to ferry more than one boat load of people ashore. Like lots of European cruisers, when we first arrived in the Caribbean, we had a small outboard. We converted to a RIB and a 10hp engine, the first season in the Caribbean after realising how much more suitable this set up was. Several years later, we have a 15hp engine and hard nesting dinghy
Egret
Well-Known Member
Interesting - East Anglian Rivers UK if you travelled at more than 4 knots or 6 knots, depending where you are in the rivers/harbours you would be quite likely to get a speeding ticket (and criminal conviction sometimes).
Hence it is so good that e-propulsion have made a little motor for tenders in little creeks when theirs is a world wide market.
Hence it is so good that e-propulsion have made a little motor for tenders in little creeks when theirs is a world wide market.
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Sea Change
Well-Known Member
Oh I don't deny that it's a very useful setup. If our boat had come with that, or if somebody offered us a swap, I would take it.
But the amount of times it's actually affected our plans in any way is minimal. As I mentioned, the commute from St Ann to Le Marin is a slog in a slow dinghy.
There are lots of things we'd do differently if we had a bigger budget. Heck, we would probably get a catamaran
But the amount of times it's actually affected our plans in any way is minimal. As I mentioned, the commute from St Ann to Le Marin is a slog in a slow dinghy.
There are lots of things we'd do differently if we had a bigger budget. Heck, we would probably get a catamaran