Re: Stealing My Gas!!!
I got it! I got it! Fill the can with E10 gasoline! That stuff is ruining engines nationwide!
Seriously, it's a fun discussion, but if you screw with a thief, especially a local who resents the vacationers in the first place, you have just put your boat, dock and cabin on the table. May as well call the fire department now.
If you do anything that causes injury you will likely pay for it (in addition to the above consideration). Even a pepper spray trap that causes the guy to trip and fall overboard will set you up for an uninsured loss. Don't even think about anything deadly; you can't use deadly force to protect only property.
Consider, too, that your traps will catch anyone--the curious 11 year old who is not stealing gas, someone out of gas in an emergency (yes it happens often--your tank is empty and there's a $20 bill, or a can of gas shows up a week later. Some parts of the country it's fairly standard.)
Kill his motor and you have problem #1. I like the heavy oil mix idea best for that reason--not to be a wus about it, but to make your point without increasing risk to you and your stuff. If you fry someone's motor, you will never be able to trust your own gas tanks again--and they have more time and opportunity than you do.
A farmer was tired of someone stealing his watermelons so he put up a sign :"one of these watermelons has been poisoned and only I know which one." He didn't poison any of them, though. He came back the next day to find someone wrote on the sign "Now, there's two."
