Honduras: Sailing Boat Boarded and Robbed by Pirates

[sailstoo]

All...

Lest we forget, the couple sailing off Honduras was boarded by "2 young men, who threatened us with a large pistol and took off money..." I'm reading a thread from a bunch of week-end warriors who are going to face off against people with a "large pistol" with a boathook/spear, an inaccurate flare gun, and large dogs (yup, one of those'd fit on my 34 footer just great...and they don't react when hit by the projectile from a large pistol). Though I own them, I've been fortunate enough to never have needed a gun in my life ('cept for a coupla years in the military) but I know damn well that if faced with one the last thing I wanna do is piss the guy off who's holding it. Remember what happened to Peter Blake? These folks absolutely did the right thing and you had best hope you are never placed in their situation.

[Wattsailing]

You see a man in a boat with a gun and he is wanting to board you and you can see he is not from the navy of police,,, what are you waiting for you start shooting no-brainer no armed person low life will board my boat without paying dearly for trying. And if you think I am wrong cool I love that we want to live in a free world and at peace when you find it let me know.....

[rubyjean]

Originally Posted by minaret

And your impression of accuracy? As I said, I don't think it would be wise to use one of these to defend against a properly armed intruder, let alone a boatload of armed intruders. But I do think they have a place. They sure shoot flares nice and high, and the selection of flares is great! And in a real pinch there is just an off chance that it could be a life saver as well. Sure beats nothing.
I've got a Webley and Scott Mark I 37mm from 1917, Royal Navy Issue. Very heavy duty, shoots nice, looks just like the one Peter O'Toole used in Lawrence of Arabia. You can fire 4 gauge slugs or buck out of it sleeved, but the barrel is really short and the recoil is a real wrist breaker. The shot pattern on 4 gauge buck fired from a barrel that can't be much more than 3" longer than the shell has to be seen to be believed-at close range you're not gonna miss! Hitting anything with a slug is pure luck though, 3" smoothbore barrel with no sights is not where it's at...

OK, Raise your white flag, nothing for you to fight for. Michael..

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by Wattsailing

You see a man in a boat with a gun and he is wanting to board you and you can see he is not from the navy of police,,, what are you waiting for you start shooting no-brainer no armed person low life will board my boat without paying dearly for trying. And if you think I am wrong cool I love that we want to live in a free world and at peace when you find it let me know.....

Of course he may sneakily say he's has fish to sell and just maybe he's hiding the gun till the last minute. And of course your always standing in the cockpit of your boat fully armed. Of course he could just be really a local fisherman selling fish and in your case you'll soon be playing hide the sausage in some third world hellhole.

Of cause I'm wrong as all " low life's" can be identified with the sign that is carried around their necks saying " I'm a robbing lowlife with a gun". Of course I'm wrong as all " low lifes" actually start waving the gun around 100 yards out and are dressed like jack sparrow. Giving you plenty of time to go below unlock your firearms store retrieve your gun , load it and return to the cockpit and shoot him

Have you actually sailed further then your sitting room??

Dave

[capn_billl]

According to the OP they were caught unaware. Once the pirates get that close with a gun, there is little you can do without substantial risk.

The rest is if, if, if.

Most of the "bend over and take it" crowd rightly point out, in a dangerous situation any action you take has risk. And an inadequate response just escalates the risk with no return.

There is no easy answer to self defence. And no one action, or set of actions that will work in all situations.

In this case, the OP's actions were the right ones, How do I know? They are still alive.

IN another case the same response ended with the attackers killing everyone aboard after finishing the robbery, there was no sign of struggle from the victims.

Every situation is different.

[atoll]

best bet is to avoid that area of central america entirely,in the last month there have been at least 3 reports on cf of vicious attacks in the area.
couple that with the anchoring ban in roatan,and extortion by port authorities else where, 100 miles off shore sounds pretty good

[jeanathon]

Originally Posted by foolishsailor

So still with the guns and flares and the like yet no one has fired one themselves?

Please...

...anyone actually fired one of these sleeved flare guns with a shotgun shell, even one with reduced powder? Or is it all classic hollywood bravado, with us all packin' but no one shootin'...except thier mouths...

Foolish,
If you read a little more closely I believe two posters said they had fired them. Both with and without reduced loads..

[sailstoo]

Interesting and applicable Cruising World article on carrying a hand gun aboard by author and two time circumnavigator Fatty Goodlander.

Unarmed but Uneasy | Cruising World

[manitu]

I wont pretend like I'm the toughest thing since djengis kahn, keeping a dog on the boat is all about discouraging potential pirates.
If the **** hits the fan for real, I would let them rob me. Only problem, african pirates dont give a hoot about your belongings, they kidnap people for ransom.. And africans generally are scared shitless by dogs. Only reason they would take a sailboat is if it looks like really rich people, or if they want your boat to use. I mean, they take oil tankers and cargo ships!

.manitu

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by manitu

I wont pretend like I'm the toughest thing since djengis kahn, keeping a dog on the boat is all about discouraging potential pirates.
If the **** hits the fan for real, I would let them rob me. Only problem, african pirates dont give a hoot about your belongings, they kidnap people for ransom.. And africans generally are scared shitless by dogs. Only reason they would take a sailboat is if it looks like really rich people, or if they want your boat to use. I mean, they take oil tankers and cargo ships!

.manitu

What, Africans are scared shitless by dogs !!! They take sailboats because YES Sherlock, it is full of rich people, any sailboat by definition is, they don't want your boat it's worthless to them. It you ( you rich white westerner) that's valuable.

Ps can you dog scare AK 47 rounds away.

Please

Dave

[manitu]

African pirates aint bushmen and hoodlums, they are well organized organizations who keep track of wich shipping companies pays fast and wich contries who has favourable policies. I would use the flag of the poorest country on the hemisphere, and keep my dogs visible. Hell, I might even show the dogs, take them down below and spraypaint them black and send them back up again, to give the impression of a freekin' zoo! If they still decide I'm fair game, I'll probably surrender...

And yes, a big portion of africans are instinctly scared of dogs, specially black ones. It has to do , both with superstition and the fact that white people in africa has allways used big dogs against the native population.

.manitu

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by manitu

African pirates aint bushmen and hoodlums, they are well organized organizations who keep track of wich shipping companies pays fast and wich contries who has favourable policies. I would use the flag of the poorest country on the hemisphere, and keep my dogs visible. Hell, I might even show the dogs, take them down below and spraypaint them black and send them back up again, to give the impression of a freekin' zoo! If they still decide I'm fair game, I'll probably surrender...

And yes, a big portion of africans are instinctly scared of dogs, specially black ones. It has to do , both with superstition and the fact that white people in africa has allways used big dogs against the native population.

.manitu

Hmm the ones I met weren't , they had one !

[s/v Jedi]

The local indians here in Panama are scared of house cats. Go figure, but they won't come aboard even when you're waving greenbacks, never taking their eyes off the cats.

Honduras is one of the world's hotspots of piracy and many will advice to limit visits to the Bay Islands only. There is this book called "Pirate's aboard" which has been translated in many languages so titles differ a bit, but it describes a violent attack on a Dutch boat there with great personal harm. The book also evaluates all modern attacks around the Caribbean and South America and the best ways to deal with it. Many sailors choose to ignore it but we studied it and followed the advice given.

cheers,
Nick.

[SunDevil]

Security on the water needs to be addressed by boaters, local officials, governments, and the Navy. Places like Somolia is a little different from the Caribbean...well at least the modern day Caribbean.

Bring back harsh punishments for those who are caught. Have quick response teams to respond to pirate attacks. Have secure areas in your boat to hide out (this might be tough to design). Track pirates if they make it to land. Come up with a good defence against pirates both when you are aboard and not aboard.

Hang up a few of them in public like this... let the birds peck their sunburnt skin.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by minaret

Boerboels are pure AWESOME! Mine is a Cane Corso. I've posted many pics and some Schutzhunde vid on other threads. Already made clear that I feel a well trained dog is the best and safest form of protection for countless reasons, though they certainly have their drawbacks as well. Here's my guy when he was still a puppy-

Nellie is 23 pounds of bad attitude. Fierce to the core. Her best trait is barking at anything that comes within range. I think it's a good idea to have a dog on board.
By the way...never did see that 18" flare gun barrel that Bobconnie has.