Lift it and lock it or lose it.....The 3 L's

The cruisers down here in the islands have a saying in regards to their dinghy called the three L's. If you do not raise your dinghy out of the water, then you may have it stolen. Theft of outboard motors is a serious problem here in the Caribbean and in particular St Martin and St Lucia.  Up to now, I have been locking my dinghy to a stanchion and leaving it in the water but it was always my intention to figure out some way of lifting it up. Well today was the day.

Even though my dinghy with the motor only weighs 113lbs, I didn't want to put too much stress on my crucial halyards so I decided to use my running backstay to do the heavy lifting from the solid dinghy transom. The rubber rubrail of the boat lines up with the dinghy rubrail, the mainsail halyard is supporting the light weight of the dinghy front and I have 3 padlocks. This may be a work in progress situation but I am happy with the outcome. Of course it is not fullproof but it is like outrunning a bear. I just have to make my dinghy more secure than those around me.