"I'm also seriously concerned that someone might swipe the darn thing while on the road parked at a motel..........might have to look into some insurance). I haven't, as yet, put it into the water and who knows if I will have time before August."

as long as you are drillin, why not buy one or two TugEyes for the new boat? enough to deter a casual thief at least -   that way you can have a through the hull cable lock - its a fairly small hole, and I've only found one cheap combo bike lock with an end small enough to fit thru, but its still a lot better than nothing - esp at a motel, or if you have a breakdown on the road and have to leave the van and boat.

there was a recent thread on paddling.net about two kayaks stolen from a guys's driveway - he had them loaded on the vehicle ready to head for the Yukon R race, and they were gone in the morning. 

I often load my boats the night before, but will always use some kind of cable lock at least - and with my Bell, a second cable over a thwart to add a little difficulty.

a different option are the kevlar reinforced lasso locks they sell for kayaks - tough to cut with a knife

or just load in all the gear you have - that way it would take a 10 ton crane to move the boat.