"Red Cloud®" wrote Padlocks on a hatch only
keep honest people honest and very young kids out of trouble...

For sure. The real purpose of the lock is to force someone breaking
in to leave some immediate evidence so that, if someone from the
marina happens by, he can't say something like, "It's my cousin's boat
and he asked me to pick up the widget." It also raises the ante if he
gets caught from entering to breaking and entering. The police are
more likely to pursue it if they get a B&E to put on their body count
than someone just going into an unlocked boat.

If someone really wants to get in, they'll just beat in the plastic
hatch which would cost me more than much of what they could steal.
From the theft standpoint, there probably isn't any point in locking
it at all.

OTOH, homeless people and other odd characters do get in the marina
occasionally. They'll generally bypass a locked boat.

Mostly, the lock just makes me feel good when I open it up. It's a
basic, primal, thing and assures me that I won't find any unpleasant
surprises inside.

--

Roger Long