Armed robbery in Mexico

[zeehag]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

If these idiotts didnt open their door at 2am there wouldnt be a bud to nip!

eggzaktly....

[TaoJones]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

If these idiotts didnt open their door at 2am there wouldnt be a bud to nip!

Originally Posted by zeehag

eggzaktly....

Well . . . perhaps . . . but the armed robbers boarded the vessel with a clear purpose, so it's impossible to know what might have ensued if they were increasingly frustrated and only a sliding glass door stood between them and their intended victims.

TaoJones

[micah719]

My standard reply of "should've had a anti-boarding net" seems to be caught up on something.......how in the world does one fit one of those to a catamaran??? Probably not around the whole gunwhale/s...

Alarm lights would've helped...dark below, light on deck. Three pistoleros caught like shags on a rock under high intensity lighting (and a tape-recording of Mike Tyson feeding shotshells into his blunderbuss while Cujo licks his chops....).

[zeehag]

mebbe turning on spreader lights to light them up for the neighbors and a pan pan on vhf before opening any doors???? there were 4 or 5 boats there at same time....

[boatsail]

Originally Posted by zeehag

mebbe turning on spreader lights to light them up for the neighbors and a pan pan on vhf before opening any doors???? there were 4 or 5 boats there at same time....

Standing next to the glass with a radio while a person with a gun a few feet away might not be a great idea either.

unlocking might not have been so silly.....i mean really,

he could not have stood on the other side of the glass and made faces at them....criminal had a gun and that poor victim hiding behind glass did not...only solution that the victim thought he had at the time was to open the door

what could have saved or given this poor victim a chance of changing the tides?

[GrowleyMonster]

Normal precautions would have prevented the majority of incidents. But people just got to anchor alone, can;t be bothered with checking in regularly with other boats, don't have screens, leave doors and hatches open, don't leave deck floods on at night, etc etc etc.

But while I don't advocate vigilantism, there is no doubt that it does work. Not for the deterrent effect, but by attrition. When you eliminate the thieves, you definitely cut down on theft. Eliminate the attackers, and attacks get less frequent. Just sayin. Hats off to the good folks of Rio Dulce.

[micah719]

what could have saved or given this poor victim a chance of changing the tides?

Some method, any method, of avoiding them getting into a position with a clear target....the bullet is no threat to the one it can't hit.

I'll harp on a bit about my favourite idea. An anti-boarding net is to a boat what barbed wire is to a foxhole. It is a physical obstacle that drastically slows down the transition from overboard to on-deck. During that time your alarm, which can be affixed to the net, may set off lights, sirens, flares, directional off-route mines, automatic sentry-guns or lethal voltages. Those last three reserved for mega yacht owners.

As with barbed wire or other fortifications, the net greatly loses effectiveness if the visitor can tamper with it unobserved and uninterrupted. Still, instead of simply nipping aboard a net-less boat, the daylight outboard and laptop thief will stand out to observers as he clings to the rail trying to cut the net to get in, or climb over the top.

I've looked, but found few references to these nets online...the Japanese whale "research" vessels have them, but apparently these are synthetic, probably fishnets. I was thinking of a net made of the thin inox wire used for luggage security nets, or motorcyle or bike locks, or perhaps old rigging wire. Using a boltcutter while perched on the toerail should seem conspicuously suspicious in an anchorage...so don't lose your key to the padlock on the entrance to your net!

Boltcutters, powerful pliers or oxy-gear is probably not standard issue gear for opportunistic boat thieves, though they might nip back home to get it. But, that means more risk by way of repeat exposure to curious eyes.

Perhaps a thread to kick around ideas on how to make it work? The sticking points I see are the top where the masts stick out, or how to make it compact when stowing, or how to attach it to the top rail without a lot of fiddling. Might be a business idea in it for the canny cruiser. No protection rackets, or mass-market overpriced chandlers, please. A combination of things make for a more robust security system, and not a gun in the plan anywhere! But, so the artillerists don't feel left out; the net will keep the hordes at bay while you're changing out barrels or waiting on the hoist to bring up the next round.

[rognvald]

This topic has been and will continue to be revisited ad infinitum. The differences of opinion in regards to safety may best be described in business terms and those used in the military: Risk Management. One group among us bases their decisions on the unique personal experiences "they" encountered while travelling in a country as the foundation for their belief. The other uses "Risk Management" as a basis/determination to either a.)travel to the country for the first time, or b.)return to the country for another visit. It is really a function of the mind and personality that determines to which group you belong. There are some of us who believe strongly in chance and the roll of the dice based on past performance while others structure their decisions on principles of reason and logic using risk mangement as a guide. A good example would be a typical cruising couple in their sixties whose goal is to experience new places and adventures but being unwilling to chance a violent armed boarding that could result in robbery, rape or murder. Because their risk assessment must include recent violent events in a prospective travel destination, they are unwilling to chance their lives to this violence even if only in a small percentage. Therefore, as others have mentioned, some areas of the Caribbean, Central America, South America and Mexico would not be considered and they might have to focus on statistically safer areas like South Florida, the Keys,and the Bahamas where the incidence of violent crime against the person is almost non existent and the risk assessment is below computation. Cruising need not be a survivalist experience. The choice is yours. Your responses clearly define who you are as a person. Good luck and good sailing. CCOHS: Canada's National Centre for Occupational Health and Safety information › OSH Answers › Health & Safety Programs

[MarkJ]

Things you can do at 2am instead of opening the door:

1) VHF Mayday!!!
2) Fire flares upwards out of hatches
2a) Put smoke flares on deck outside hatches upwind of saloon.
3) Deck lights on
4) Get your tear gas ready to squirt if they try to crash the door
5) Get your flare gun ready to shoot at them
6) Get your smoke cannisters ready to fill the saloon with smoke.

If you have to go round this stuff up from the saloon in front of the dudes then next time, prepare better.

My bedside has my defences. Handheld, VHF Flares, sprays etc.

[rognvald]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Things you can do at 2am instead of opening the door:

1) VHF Mayday!!!
2) Fire flares upwards out of hatches
2a) Put smoke flares on deck outside hatches upwind of saloon.
3) Deck lights on
4) Get your tear gas ready to squirt if they try to crash the door
5) Get your flare gun ready to shoot at them
6) Get your smoke cannisters ready to fill the saloon with smoke.

If you have to go round this stuff up from the saloon in front of the dudes then next time, prepare better.

My bedside has my defences. Handheld, VHF Flares, sprays etc.

Now that's what I call a vacation!

[micah719]

Where're the handcuffs?

[zeehag]

i keep a handheld radio at bedside along with my eye poker gaff and some spray cans of whatever and .... i can climb out an overhead hatch and grab what i have on deck to help ward off unfriends..
. i should have a switch for spreader lights placed in my stateroom.....
then i dont have to answer the door..and i am out of range of visibility from companionway....


but is all theory--reality usually ends up different than plans...

[micah719]

but is all theory--reality usually ends up different than plans...

Yes....Zee will one dark misty night hear a suspicious noise on deck and on investigating, discover a bloated ship's puddytat sprawled on the deck, burping and washing his whiskers.....next to an abandoned flashlight, pistol, sneakers, balaclava and a strange dinghy tied off on the aft cleat.

Attaboy, tigger!

[MarkJ]

Well it beats murdering locals like the rest of this gun weilding forum seems to think is appropriate.

[Ram]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Well it beats murdering locals like the rest of this gun weilding forum seems to think is appropriate.

My Cat is set up with full auto, so I sleep soundly every night