Bringing a canoe to Sawbill Lake and staying at some hotel/motel on Voyageur Hwy for a night. Do I need to worry about my canoe being stolen in the night?

The chances of your canoe getting stolen is never zero, but it's extremely unlikely.

You can make the canoe a less attractive target by using a couple of heavyweight bike locking cables around the thwarts and roof rack.

You should put a chain around a thwart or seat and run it through the vehicle with a lock for peace of mind.
Tom

Over 70 trips, never a concern.

Ausable: "You can make the canoe a less attractive target by using a couple of heavyweight bike locking cables around the thwarts and roof rack."

+1

I’ve never heard of anyone having their canoe stolen, but if I were staying at a motel, I’d probably use a lock nevertheless.

Have stayed at motels in both Ely and GM on numerous occasions and never locked my canoe. Have stayed in towns for a couple days after too. Never even thought about it. Never had any problems either.

I never lock my boat on a car in northern MN where there is a canoe on every other vehicle, but I do lock my boats when I drive to other parts of the country.

I haven't had a canoe stolen, but I have had gear stolen in Duluth.

We stayed a night in Duluth at a hotel before driving up and awoke the next morning to my truck windows smashed in and all the gear (and everything else I normally keep in center console) stolen. In hindsight should we have brought everything into the hotel room... maybe, but we were also staying at a busy hotel and didn't think twice about leaving a few totes worth of gear outside of what we did bring in for the night. Not a fun way to start a trip. This was in Duluth and not up the gunflint/sawbill/echo so take that into account. There were a few other cars in the same lot hit that night too.

Either way, I do bike lock my canoes if leaving them somewhere for the night that isn't near me at a campground. Duluth PD did end up calling me a few weeks later after they found my packs and about half the stolen gear left in a ditch. Turns out they didn't care for most of used camping gear.

Never had or even heard of a canoe being stolen. And as stated, it seems unlikely where there are so many around. Many outfitters have them simply sitting outside after all.

We did have all the gas siphoned out of our Suburban one year at the Lake One EP. Made it almost halfway back to Ely on the fumes. No idea of the gentleman's name who gave a ride to the nearest station and back, but we still speak fondly of him 20 years later. Sadly I don't think you'd find many people that nice where I live. Not anymore at least.

Never locked the canoe when staying overnight, though most of our overnight stays are either on the GT (when we enter on the east side), or Ely (when we enter from the west.) That said, we've never locked it when staying in Tofte, either.

I've even portaged a canoe to the EP (such as from the EP parking lot to the lake...think Wood Lake) the night before, to eliminate a trip in the morning. Like the other posters have said: canoe theft certainly can happen, but I've never heard of it actually happening. However, I do remain nervous about leaving my truck at an EP for a week. Nothing much I can do about that.

Mike

One thing that I do on every trip is, after taking the canoes off at the landing, I take my Yakima racks off the top of my car and put them inside. One never knows what might prompt someone to steal them off of a vehicle in the parking lot, but it's a lot harder to get two canoes home without a good rack. Yes, they can be locked on, but... better safe than sorry.

portagerunner: "I haven't had a canoe stolen, but I have had gear stolen in Duluth.


We stayed a night in Duluth at a hotel before driving up and awoke the next morning to my truck windows smashed in and all the gear (and everything else I normally keep in center console) stolen. In hindsight should we have brought everything into the hotel room... maybe, but we were also staying at a busy hotel and didn't think twice about leaving a few totes worth of gear outside of what we did bring in for the night. Not a fun way to start a trip. This was in Duluth and not up the gunflint/sawbill/echo so take that into account. There were a few other cars in the same lot hit that night too.


Either way, I do bike lock my canoes if leaving them somewhere for the night that isn't near me at a campground. Duluth PD did end up calling me a few weeks later after they found my packs and about half the stolen gear left in a ditch. Turns out they didn't care for most of used camping gear.


"

What part of Duluth were you in?

I agree with all above. Never had had an issue leaving my canoe on my car top at numerous motels over the years. Very unlikely to result in theft. I do lock up all my gear though. Fortunately, I have never had any gear stolen.

A bigger worry is to not forget something on the portage trail. Make sure everyone knows what to carry and to double check so as to not forget or lose something on the trail. Also, I have felt safe at public parking lots at put ins. Have never had something happen to my car or truck.

Speckled: "

portagerunner: "I haven't had a canoe stolen, but I have had gear stolen in Duluth."

What part of Duluth were you in? "

We were staying at Fitgers Inn

I have, when overnighting in Ely, left the canoe on the truck (not locked) and packs in the back end. I'm not saying this is smart to do, however.
When I use a hitch extender for hauling the canoe, I remove it at the entry point and lock it in the truck.

Like others, I like to cable lock

Just throw a Packers decal on it and you'll be good. ;) You can always peel it back off after your trip.

shock: "Just throw a Packers decal on it and you'll be good. ;) You can always peel it back off after your trip."

LOLOL Shock... seems like a Packers decal on a canoe would kind of class it up a bit, and who wouldn't want to steal a classy canoe? :)

Well, as a die hard Illinois based Bears fan, I would never put a Bears sticker on my canoe, for fear that an Aaron Rodgers loving packer backer would say while stealing it, "I own you . . ."

Tom

quark2222: "Well, as a die hard Illinois based Bears fan, I would never put a Bears sticker on my canoe, for fear that an Aaron Rodgers loving packer backer would say while stealing it, "I own you . . ."

Tom"

You are very brave - and this is a safe place for everyone.

However, after further review....the Bears still suck.

If it's an expensive canoe, you can always hide a GPS tracking chip someplace under a seat etc. At least if they steal it, you can track it down. I recommend this for anyone with an ice castle.

I've been going to the BWCA for 53 years, and have never had a problem with theft. Well, unless you count 1 bear, 1 fisher, and countless fish.