German killed this morning, St Vincent

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Simonsays

can't get that picture out of my head now, thanks Phil!

Ahahahahahaaaaa..
Excellent..

[boatman61]

For me.. SMX French side.. to many aggressive white drunks Dutch side..

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by boatman61

For me.. SMX French side.. to many aggressive white drunks Dutch side..

HOW DARE YOU SAY I AM A.G.G.G.G.E.SS.I.V.E!!!

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

HOW DARE YOU SAY I AM A.G.G.G.G.E.SS.I.V.E!!!

I'm a Paki.. whaddya expect..
or English..
or Spanish..
or Portuguese..
I'M CONFUSED....

[neilpride]

Originally Posted by Simonsays

can't get that picture out of my head now, thanks Phil!

In the meanwhile 2 grab Handle wrecked... poor dinghy...

[krafthaus]

To answer your question rognvald....

We feel safest in the French islands of Martinique & Guadaloupe. Also Antigua, Grenada & St. Martin. There is some theft but not the sort of violent crime like this incident in SVG.

We've anchored before in Wallilabou and at Frigate Island off Union where there was a machete incident a few months after we were there.

I don't see us back on St. Vincent. But we do love the Grenadines. Except Canouan is off our list due to multiple incidents reported in the last year.


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[Jim Cate]

Ahhhh.... life is pretty good here in the SW Pacific...

Jim

(who lives in a boat with a very low freeboard sugar scoop, and leaves the companionway open every night...)

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Ahhhh.... life is pretty good here in the SW Pacific...

Jim

(who lives in a boat with a very low freeboard sugar scoop, and leaves the companionway open every night...)

Great access for Crocodiles!



.

[Dr. Sea]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Sorry, been busy with the Heineken Regatta so only caught this news at the bar last night.
I haven't read/heard the detail of the incident yet so I have only 1 bit of advice:




Of course most people on this forum poo-poo the idea of locking the front door at anchor, and many don't think mine is at all secure. Whatever!

Mark

Mark, this is great advice and a great design. Our Beneteau 50 was robbed in Guadeloupe in 2011 while we were off the boat for an evening. I had locked all hatches from the inside. I had chained and padlocked the outboard to the dinghy and the dinghy to the boat. I had locked both cockpit lockers with padlocks. I ran out of padlocks and key locked the companionway. Big mistake! The Beneteau had very nice louvered doors instead of hatchboards. This allowed ventilation and the convenience of simply folding the doors back and not having to remove and store them. It also allowed the thieves to punch through the louvers, reach inside, and unlock the companionway. They stole about $3000 worth of cameras, cell phones, etc. They even stole my backpack to haul their plunder away. No more louvered doors for me!

[Dr. Sea]

Originally Posted by krafthaus

We feel safest in the French islands of Martinique & Guadaloupe.

Avoid the marina at Point-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe. After being warned in St. Martin about the unsafe British islands, our boat was robbed in Guadeloupe only a few hours after arriving. I went to the police station and the French police wanted me to come back two days later to file my report (when it would be more convenient for them.) I finally convinced them to come to the boat, and was able to file a report and sail on! Insurance covered most of the loss, so my deductible was the cost of my tuition for this valuable lesson.

If you walk along the road leading down to the marina you will see broken glass everywhere. Why? From all the automobile windows that have been broken to rob them.

[boatman61]

I was not aware that the British islands of
Anguilla, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, and Montserrat were beset by crime..

The others may have been 'Former'.. but are now Independent so please..

[Dr. Sea]

Originally Posted by boatman61

I was not aware that the British islands of Anguilla, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, and Montserrat were beset by crime..

The others may have been 'Former'.. but are now Independent so please..

OK, "former." But did you know that the murder rate in the Cayman Islands and Montserrat is more than double the world average? In Anguilla and Bermuda it is higher than the world average but not double. And the Caribbean islands as a whole are far above the world average of 6.2 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants. 7 of the 10 highest homicide rates in the world are Caribbean nations or territories or Central or South American countries with Caribbean shoreline. Among the islands, USVI leads the way with an astounding rate of 52.3 murders per 100,000. Be careful in Jamaica (39.3), St. Kitts & Nevis (33.6), Bahamas (29.8), Trinidad & Tobago (28.3), Puerto Rico (26.5), St. Vincent & the Grenadines (25.6), Dominican Republic (22.1), St. Lucia (21.6), Dominica (21.1), and Montserrat (20.4). Don't even think about Honduras (84.3) or Venezuela (53.7)! In the USA it is 3.8 and European countries average approximately 3.0.

[Southern Star]

Boatman is, of course, correct that there is virtually zero crime on the islands that remain as British protectorates. We just spent time in Montserrat and while Little Bay is rolly and has no proper dinghy dock (ane while the police will not allow you to pull your dinghy up on the beach, even after clearing customs/immigration), it is worth it. Since January tours can be arranged into Plymouth - the capital that was wiped out by the eruption of Soufrere, and it is a sobering experience. The people are incredibly friendly and there is virtually zero crime - locals were up in arms that someone had committed some break and enters of a few homes in Salem - the story was front page news. The police diverted resources from traffic duties etc. and property was located and an arrest made.

A friend of ours who was a Supreme Court Justice in the Eastern Caribbean told us that while they have assizes in Montserrat, he had never presided there over a criminal case - only civil ones. In comparison, other EC nations such as St. Lucia and SVG have a huge backlog of criminal cases.

We sailed into Bermuda in July 2014 and again, it would be hard to imagine a safer place, or one with friendlier people. They have a fantastic, modern, inexpensive public transportation system and are very yachter friendly - the grocery store near the harbour in St. Georges actually provides a discount for visiting yachts!

When we last visited Anguilla in February 2015 it was also incredibly safe - no worries about a late night walk (or stagger) along the beach to the dock for your dinghy after a few drinks at Elvis bar.

Antigua, independant of the UK, while yachter friendly, has had a dramatic increase in crime against tourists/yachters in recent years. We were there for a week four years ago while our friend was presiding over a double homicide trial where a honeymooning couple from England were killed execution-style (on their knees and shot in the back of their heads) for two smart phones and about $200. in cash. This was in a very upscale area near Jolly harbour.

In thw week we were there a woman on a yacht in Jolly Harbour was raped and a local was murdered. Keep in mind, the total population of Antigua and Barbuda os only about 80,000. Will we visit again? Of course, but it is important to keep in mind that Antigua is no longer as safe as it once was.

An interesting comparison can be made with Dominica, which is also independant and much poorer than Antigua. It has become much safer (and more yachter friendly) since the boat boys organized, a licensing scheme was set up and they now provide security, as well as other services at reasonable rates, for visiting yachts. Apparently Grenada is (or has) set up something similar.

While I have theories as to why violent crime is on the rise in much of the Caribbean, that analysis is irrelevant. There are still safe places to go and we can only hope that SVG, for example, recognizes the impact of crime upon yacht tourism - a very important part of their economy, and makes strides such as Dominica in looking out for those yachtzers who choose to spend time and money on their islands.

Brad

[Southern Star]

Dr. Sea, Montserrat has a total poulation of 5,000 people and one murder in 15 years (not on a tourist) puts them above the world rate. Go there and you will see - we met some elderly women who have retired there (between the ages of 75 and 90) and all of them said that they never locked their doors at night.

Statistics can be misleading - particularly when the population is so small. Better to rely upon various resources on the net that report crime against yachters in the Caribbean, as well as word of mouth from fellow cruisers with reecent experience in the areas you are thinking of visiting.

Brad

[monte]

Another dodgy bay to steer clear of in St Lucia.

On the evening of March 3, 2016, returning from dinner out, on the Hummingbird Resort/Still dock at Soufriere, St. Lucia, a party of 6 cruisers, accompanied by the Hummingbird security guard, were robbed by multiple masked attackers at gunpoint and machete. The security guard was knocked down. The robbers demanded money and were given wallets. One woman’s purse was cut off her shoulder with the machete. Her husband was struck on the head with the blunt side of the machete. A gun was aimed at them. When the group came into the dock originally, they declined the dinghy watching “service” of some teenagers. The teens were quite unhappy about it and said they would be back. It is not known if a report was made to authorities by the Hummingbird staff.