Cruising Security: Safest Countries

[fishwife]

I think your informant must have been pulling something Davey. NZ and AK47's, as likely as snowballs in hell etc.
P.

[Davey1000]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Methinks you live in a more dangerous world than do I, Davey...

Molluca Straits are really bad - they steal 100,000 ton ships and repaint them. It was my mate "Captain Bligh" who had the fishing boat worry. At present he's doing Sines, Portugal to Gran Canaria non-stop and keeping well away from the African Coast. There is a rumour is that if one ever puts in to Tangier ones yacht is liable to be tracked for evermore by the CIA on suspicion of transporting whaccy-baccy. (look up "Black Radar") The Somalia story came from a Cruising Club member who lives on the Isle of Man. On a more positive note many hazards are natural not human. "Captain Bligh" told me about yachting friends who saved a little girls life on the Island of Komodo. The girl had been bitten by a dragon and was dying of blood poisoning. It seems that there is no National Health Service out there because villagers rowed out asking for help. The skipper had some Amoxicillin in his medicine chest so decided to try it. Three days later the girl was well, and was happy and playing. Incredible that in this day and age people could die for the lack of a couple of dollars worth of pills. For Brits Amoxicillin is difficult to obtain - its prescription only unless one pays through the nose and buys it over the Internet. One needs a doctor who understands sailing. Don't forget the vaccinations either. The world IS a dangerous place.

[Hirophant]

There's always someone who has guns for sale, even in countries where they're illegal like the UK. However the sort of sailor who knows where to buy an AK47 in NZ is probably a already drug smuggler or pirate himself....

[Davey1000]

Originally Posted by fishwife

I think your informant must have been pulling something Davey. NZ and AK47's, as likely as snowballs in hell etc.
P.

It was a good few years ago and things have been tightened up everywhere now. I am assured however that he found a farmer who had his own shooting range and tried out quite a bit of stuff, handguns, shotguns, rifles and the undoubted best all round performer and best value was the Kalashnikov AK47 costing about £150. I could be wrong about NZ it may have been OZ and it may have been an under-the-counter trade nod-nod wink-wink. I don't want to go into any more detail but he most definitely did have the piece as this is what caused the boats arrest in Noumea. Allegedly another yachtsman did succeed in keeping his AK and making it all the way to Japan. Just a warning shot is likely to make the pirates pick on somebody else if you are challenged. At night PIR sensors linked to an alarm may give one sufficient time to react. Your government won't be there to protect you in the middle of the ocean that's for sure, how will you cope?

[osirissail]

Originally Posted by Davey1000

. . . Your government won't be there to protect you in the middle of the ocean that's for sure, how will you cope?

That is the truth of the matter. Your government or any other government for that matter. So you end up having to defend yourself either actively or passively.
- - Passively is preferred by the vast majority of cruisers because of the extreme grief and difficulty of carrying "active" defenses in the vast majority of countries where crime and attacks against cruisers is minor or non-existent. So that leaves "passive" defenses best described as just not going places that are known to be dangerous to cruisers. There are so many other places where the dangers are minimal.
- - Passive defenses also include devising a security system for your boat and yourselves. Real locking systems for the hatches and access points for when you are off the boat along with locking systems while you are inside the boat that will allow you to exit the boat if necessary.
- - Decisions about how you travel and where you anchor or moor also need to include the security considerations.
- - How you present yourselves ashore goes a long way towards avoiding locals to lighten your pockets. Along with this is knowing - from friendly locals - where you can go safely and which areas you should not venture into without an escort.
- - The world is as stated by others - a dangerous place - but it is still has many wonderful places to see and experience in relative safety. Be savvy, be cautious, and then you can be amazed and happy with the cruising experience. What's the saying? Cruising is a tough job but somebody has to do it. . .

[Davey1000]

Originally Posted by osirissail

That is the truth of the matter. Your government or any other government for that matter. So you end up having to defend yourself either actively or passively.
- - Passively is preferred by the vast majority of cruisers because of the extreme grief and difficulty of carrying "active" defenses in the vast majority of countries where crime and attacks against cruisers is minor or non-existent. So that leaves "passive" defenses best described as just not going places that are known to be dangerous to cruisers. There are so many other places where the dangers are minimal.
- - Passive defenses also include devising a security system for your boat and yourselves. Real locking systems for the hatches and access points for when you are off the boat along with locking systems while you are inside the boat that will allow you to exit the boat if necessary.
- - Decisions about how you travel and where you anchor or moor also need to include the security considerations.
- - How you present yourselves ashore goes a long way towards avoiding locals to lighten your pockets. Along with this is knowing - from friendly locals - where you can go safely and which areas you should not venture into without an escort.
- - The world is as stated by others - a dangerous place - but it is still has many wonderful places to see and experience in relative safety. Be savvy, be cautious, and then you can be amazed and happy with the cruising experience. What's the saying? Cruising is a tough job but somebody has to do it. . .

May I just mention that "Captain Bligh" has got a splendid two stroke 3.3HP Mariner outboard, one of the last allowed to be imported into Europe. Before going to the Caribbean he plans to wrap it in tape and paint it with horrible yucky paint to make it look old and not worth stealing. He was also hoping to get an old smashed up engine cover for it - bad when you have to do that. He tells me that the islands vary tremendously. Martinique has tarmac roads, lamp posts and ATMs that work - it is after all a department of France. Other islands are extremely poor, dirt roads, chickens running about in the streets and corrugated iron shacks, lots of bad guys. Cuba is OK apparently although the officialdom is OTT. In all places dinghy theft is rife. NEVER EVER leave it on a painter overnight. Always bring it on board and lash it to the coach roof. Its an awful chore but it has to be done. The story about a marina in Venezuela was interesting. Armed guards, razor wire and an electric fence with so much voltage on it that it hummed! Seems that the have-nots are very hungry. For haulout, shipwork, and galvanising Trinidad is the place as they have several galvanising plants with spinners for doing chain. Allegedly Britain has only one! Think I've rabbited on enough already so I'll sign off. Watch out for the water-bailiffs who charge £5 if you drop anchor on the Duchy of Cornwall's sea bed. Feudal and in contravention of the International Law of the Sea allegedly but they've been doing it for years.

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by Davey1000

Watch out for the water-bailiffs who charge £5 if you drop anchor on the Duchy of Cornwall's sea bed. Feudal and in contravention of the International Law of the Sea allegedly but they've been doing it for years.

5 measly pounds? The harbormaster on Block Island could teach them a thing or two.

[Kettlewell]

It doesn't cost anything to drop anchor in Block Island.

[osirissail]

Davey1000 - Your information from Captain Bligh is grossly out of date. All the islands have chickens and goats and sheep roaming freely. This is their way of avoiding mechanical lawn movers and bugs and insects in their yards/lawns. Very effective, burns no oil and when the unit gets too old you eat it.
- - People live in houses with concrete/wood floors - dirt floor huts are gone and TV's and electricity are in. The percentage of "bad guys" is amazingly small and usually associated with young adults with no jobs or folks hooked on drugs. It only takes a handful of bad guys on an island to give the impression of major crime problems.
- - The unfortunate problem is that stealing from your fellow islanders is not a good idea as everybody knows everybody. Stealing from transients (cruisers) and tourists is easy and risk free as the "witness" needed for a conviction is no longer on the island when years later the case gets to court. Cruisers are a "revenue" source for those needing money and an "easy mark."
- - What is needed from our perspective is to stop being "easy marks."

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

It doesn't cost anything to drop anchor in Block Island.

That's true, but everything else costs.

[capn_billl]

Well overall the list is food for thought. It doesn't specifically cover My primary concern, I.E. will I get mugged buying gas ashore, or have armed men come aboard in the middle of the night while at anchor. But it does bring up several good points even if the overall accuracy is politically biased. We like to think our own countries are the best, but to be fair there are several places in the USA I wouldn't anchor due to threat of violence, (southern boarder!?!?). Others where thieves with badges, can and will fine you, or seize your boat for lack of permits, fees, taxes, or other new made up anti rich folks with a boat law. Currently I would place the USA very low on the list for that reason. On the big list Having several thugs with guns put you adrift in your dinghy while stealing your boat, or having several police come aboard and decide you are violating their "no drinking at anchor" law seize your boat, arrest you, and spend several months in a jail while trying to raise money for a lawyer, court costs, the fines, impound fees to get your boat back, ... It is actually cheaper and less trouble to be robbed. Put in perspective it is far safer to cruise in an area where the worse thing likely to happen is the disappearance of an unattended purse, and a couple of twenties of a foreign currency is enough to handle any trouble.

[Roaring Girl]

There is a rumour is that if one ever puts in to Tangier ones yacht is liable to be tracked for evermore by the CIA on suspicion of transporting whaccy-baccy.

Well, I'm stuffed then. Honestly - that's one of those rumours which makes me wonder what baccy the people is used by the people who spread it.

We went into Tanger in 2007 and had a very pleasant time, including feeling secure enough to leave RG and take an overland trip to Fez for 3 days. A couple of weeks later we were in Melilla, the Spanish enclave at the eastern end of Morocco, having explored that northern African coast. Allegedly every yacht arriving at Melilla that way is searched very thoroughly. We weren't even boarded! We then sailed from Melilla to Cartagena in eastern Spain and nobody took any notice of us.

We have had our papers checked, we have been moved on from anchorages, we have left our boat and forgotten to close (let alone lock) her but so far and touch wood we have never experienced danger as cruisers that we might not have experienced as ordinary travellers. And that's none!

Yes we stay away from the bad bits of town (insofar as that's possible when you come into ports.) We pay attentionto what others are saying and doing, and we keep our antenna tuned (eg we carefully locked our dinghy to the dock in Siracuse, but in many places we don't bother.) And we respect local mores, such as covering shoulders and knees in more conservative places. We know that we are extremely 'visible' not only as tourists but as two women on a yacht. We have spent little time in the poor world. Street smarts have done it for us so far.

We have never been in a situation which would have been improved by a gun - in our hands or anyone elses. Use your own common sense, be clear about your own tolerance of real or imagined threats, and enjoy being part of other places for a while.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Roaring Girl

There is a rumour is that if one ever puts in to Tangier ones yacht is liable to be tracked for evermore by the CIA on suspicion of transporting whaccy-baccy.

Well, I'm stuffed then. Honestly - that's one of those rumours which makes me wonder what baccy the people is used by the people who spread it.

We went into Tanger in 2007 and had a very pleasant time, including feeling secure enough to leave RG and take an overland trip to Fez for 3 days. A couple of weeks later we were in Melilla, the Spanish enclave at the eastern end of Morocco, having explored that northern African coast. Allegedly every yacht arriving at Melilla that way is searched very thoroughly. We weren't even boarded! We then sailed from Melilla to Cartagena in eastern Spain and nobody took any notice of us.

We have had our papers checked, we have been moved on from anchorages, we have left our boat and forgotten to close (let alone lock) her but so far and touch wood we have never experienced danger as cruisers that we might not have experienced as ordinary travellers. And that's none!

Yes we stay away from the bad bits of town (insofar as that's possible when you come into ports.) We pay attentionto what others are saying and doing, and we keep our antenna tuned (eg we carefully locked our dinghy to the dock in Siracuse, but in many places we don't bother.) And we respect local mores, such as covering shoulders and knees in more conservative places. We know that we are extremely 'visible' not only as tourists but as two women on a yacht. We have spent little time in the poor world. Street smarts have done it for us so far.

We have never been in a situation which would have been improved by a gun - in our hands or anyone elses. Use your own common sense, be clear about your own tolerance of real or imagined threats, and enjoy being part of other places for a while.

Ahhh.. Pearls of Truth and Wisdom.... well put RG

[AllezCat]

Eddie McGuire flies to Baghdad to watch a young Iraqi play Aussie rules football, and is suitably impressed and arranges for him to come over to Collingwood football team.

He's signed to a one-year contract and the kid joins the team for the pre-season.

Two weeks later the magpies are down by 6 goals to Carlton with only 10 minutes left.

The coach gives the young Iraqi the nod and he goes in. The kid is a sensation - kicks 7 goals in 10 minutes and wins the game for the magpies!

The fans are thrilled, the players and coaches are delighted, and the media are in love with the new star.

When the player comes off the ground he phones his mum to tell her about his first day of AFL.
'Hello mum, guess what?' he says. 'I played for 10 minutes today, we were 6 goals down, but I kicked 7 goals and we won. Everybody loves me, the fans, the media...
'Wonderful,' says his mum, 'Let me tell you about my day. Your father got shot in the street and robbed, your sister and I were ambushed and beaten, and your brother has joined a gang of looters, and all while you were having such great time.'
The young Iraqi is very upset.
'What can I say mum, I'm so sorry.'
'Sorry? You're sorry?' says his mum, 'It's your bloody fault we moved to Collingwood in the first place!'