Tender security

[Byff]

I've watched youtube vids where the boat is anchored of a nice bay, they've jumped in the tender to get ashore then just leave the tender pulled up on a beach or tied up to a pier.

My upbringing is from a slightly less savoury area where if somethings not bolted down, it'll walk. How often do tenders get nicked or is there some type of security that's not shown on the vids?

 

[sailaboutvic]

As a full time liveaboard and cruiser there not a day that don't go by that we don't see dinghy left without any locking devises, it all depending where you are cruise , example in Greece there not a problem but I wouldn't leave mine unlock in Sicily,
I once met a guy who just brought a new out board the next day he was painting it pink , when I ask why ,
he said would you nick a bright pink out board , I supposed he had a point .

 

[OldBawley]

Best thing to do is dig a big hole in the beach and bury the dinghy in the hole so no one will find it.
Problem is you have to carry a shovel all day while shopping.

 

[Graham376]

Portugal not too bad although a few have been stolen at Culatra, mainly it is alleged by visiting boats. Andalucia though is not good, know of several cases where perps swim out and nick them at night from anchored boats and some from beaches even in daylight. Pink? disgusting.
Slightly better colour, met a guy who had used Volvo green paint on his outboard and dinghy for the same reason. Best to have chain and padlock wherever possible and haul dinghy up at night if gantry or davits fitted.

 

[KellysEye]

When sailing in the Caribbean we had a long stainless steel chain that was looped and then padlocked to the handle on the outboard engine, fed through the petrol tank handle, then looped and padlocked to an aft boat cleat or cleat in a marina.

 

[duncan99210]

Most of the time we padlock the motor to the transom and nothing more. If we're worried we have a stainless steel chain and padlocks to fasten the boat to something solid. Chain is in a canvas sleeve so it doesn't chafe things too much.

 

[TQA]

I am a full time liveaboard in the Eastern Caribbean. In most places during the day I don't bother locking my dinghy. At night I might depending on location.

I am always amused when I see some mighty piece of chain and monster padlock securing a dinghy to a piece of rotten 2" x 1 " nailed to some dinghy dock.

Over night back at the boat it is a different story I usually lift it on davits.

A significant number of dinghies reported as stolen just came loose from the mothership as they were not properly secured. The common cause of this is polypropylene rope which is notoriously slippery.

 

[RupertW]

I am a full time liveaboard in the Eastern Caribbean. In most places during the day I don't bother locking my dinghy. At night I might depending on location.

I am always amused when I see some mighty piece of chain and monster padlock securing a dinghy to a piece of rotten 2" x 1 " nailed to some dinghy dock.

Over night back at the boat it is a different story I usually lift it on davits.

A significant number of dinghies reported as stolen just came loose from the mothership as they were not properly secured. The common cause of this is polypropylene rope which is notoriously slippery.

I'm not completely convinced that they were all accidentally lost as on an early charter in the Grenadines we learnt the hard way that unchained dinghies untied themeselves from two separate ropes at night and reappeared as hostages to kind boat boys who had found them drifting away, then found out this was very common indeed.

In the Adriatic and Aegean we padlock the outboard to the rib but don't padlock the rib to boat or quay, but having heard about Sicily we may change our habit on our cruise to Spain this season, and would certainly always chain in the Caribbean.

 

[KellysEye]

if you go to the Caribbean safety and security site: https://safetyandsecuritynet.org/ and click on the yellow links the are often dinghy thefts and other lower crimes red is boarding's, shootings and escapes etc. There is a lot to look at.

 

[PhilipH]

Lift it, lock it or lose it.

 

[ashtead]

When we were staying in st kitts Frigate bay we watched various tenders visiting the small wooden jetty off the beach and all seemed to chain up dinghy to the pontoons. Didn't seem to be much local theft based on what we saw but it's one of the more prosperous islands with small population . We never padlock tender in uk. One issue have encountered in med is moving of the tender to a large buoy from dock but I somehow doubt this is driven by Italian sense of security for tenders and more due to local marinos not wanting visitors without berths

 

[dunedin]

Lift it, lock it or lose it.

Where is this unsavoury place you sail that these rules apply?

We have as yet never locked a tender when ashore or on board (in Scotland, Ireland, West France and Scandinavia.

 

[colind3782]

Have an old, tatty, Zodiac with an old, tatty DF2.5 and nobody wants to nick it. So far, anyway!

 

[RupertW]

Where is this unsavoury place you sail that these rules apply?

We have as yet never locked a tender when ashore or on board (in Scotland, Ireland, West France and Scandinavia.

With that cruising ground I suspect the crims would be too cold and too wet to come out.

 

[Hadenough]

I always lock mine on a 5m length of long link chain. The O/B is locked to the transom with a good quality O/B lock. I am concerned not so much about the the financial loss, although that is a consideration. But losing our well set up RIB in the middle of a cruise would totally banjax the season. BTW I have known of tenders being nicked from England, Scotland, Ireland, France but not Scandinavia but then I haven't been there since 1999.

 

[Roberto]

Where is this unsavoury place you sail that these rules apply?

We have as yet never locked a tender when ashore or on board (in Scotland, Ireland, West France and Scandinavia.

Have a look at their blog, 000W to 000E
Ok maybe not 000°, they crossed their rtw at 40-50W (?)

 

[TQA]

Have an old, tatty, Zodiac with an old, tatty DF2.5 and nobody wants to nick it. So far, anyway!

Hmm I was in a similar situation with a faded old Caribe with ostentatious patches [ fake] and a 28 year old Johnson. It was left in the water off the stern of my boat at anchor off St Barts secured with a heavy wire cable. It was stolen at night and the cable severed with bolt cutters or similar.

There was a brand new Honda 4st on a big rib totally unsecured on a nearby mooring. The thief passed that up and stole my old Johnson because spares were unavailable and there was a ready market for power heads and lower units. It was later recovered partially dismantled in a house in St Marten along with many others.

I now lift my dink at night.

 

[BrianH]

It was 2009 that six dinghies were stolen in the night from anchored yachts in the Soline bay of Veruda, just south of Pula in Croatia. The anchorage is large and secure (without concessionary buoys to pay for) that attracts a lot of yachts passing to and from NE Italy to the Dalmatian archipelago, at the south of Istria, especially in late July as the armada of Italians begin the start of their holiday.

The thefts were facilitated by an unpaved road that runs down to the head of the bay where it was established the dinghies were lifted out and loaded onto trailers. My small 2.4m Zodiac and 3.5hp Johnson was not taken but since then I have always hauled the bow well up over the stern after lifting the outboard onto its pushpit bracket. It would make the painter difficult to reach from the water - could be just enough to choose another victim; that plus the relatively low value compared to the larger tenders and engines they did pick.

 

[geem]

A thief is normally after the engine not the dinghy. If you have a 2hp engine they aren't desirable to thieves. If you have a Yamaha 15hp Enduro that many cruisers have in the Caribbean then they are very desirable. Fisherman use them all over the Caribbean so there is a ready market for spares and a demand for cheap engines. Security needs to be spot on. We have a lock on the engine and s/s chain to secure the dinghy to the dinghy dock. At night we lift the dinghy along side using the windlass. Where we are now in Panama theft is an issue so the engine is locked to the bracket on the transom and we row ashore. Looking for a 2hp engine ��