An outboard motor is an expensive piece of gear to lose to a thief, yet such thefts occur every year. This season it might be your motors that disappears.
For that reason, it pays to take precautions designed to frustrate criminals right from the start. In fact, if you go about it right, you might even help law enforcement authorities to catch the crooks and pack them off to prison for grand larceny.
To begin, write down the model number and serial number of your outboard motor. Put it away in a safe place where you will be able to find it later. Even if you're not the first owner, get a registration card from a dealer who handles that brand. Fill it out and send it to the company, which will keep it on file in a computer. This could help later.
Next step is to put your own special identification marks on the motor. These could be your initials or social security number. Either or both should go on some hidden part of the motor known only to you. But also put your initials on in a second, easy-to-see spot. Seeing it, a thief may have second thoughts about stealing that motor.
Such marking of an outboard motor is done quite easily with an engraving tool. If you don't have one, either borrow one from a friend or have a professional do it for you. Some police or other enforcement agencies also keep them for this purpose.
If your outboard motor is small enough to be portable, remove it from the boat when you're not using it, then lock it up somewhere at home. (I should have done that some years ago when I thought my boat and motor were safe in a distant storage barn. Some thief broke in and took the motor one night. Believe me, it's a sickening sight to have such a thing happen.)
When left on the boat, the motor should be securely fastened down with a heavy-duty chain, similar to types used to secure a motorcycle to some immovable object. Fasten the outboard motor to something solid on the boat.
A long padlock can be bought. Some of the smaller motors will have places to join the clamp handles so they can't be turned, thus frustrating any thief. Of course, some could be cut away with a hacksaw, but that takes time and other boaters are likely to notice the theft in progress.
When you're boating, keep an eye open for suspicious actions around the boats of others and report such to law enforcement authorities. If all boaters did this, it would make things tough for thieves.
If your outboard motor is stolen, or you can see where an attempt was made to do so, don't touch anything until the police arrive. This can help them check for fingerprints, footprints, or pry marks. Good luck, and have a happy boating season.
