Piracy :-/

[SimonV]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Yes there is a strict pattern. Bumping into people who have been robbed in the Caribbean has left an indelible image on my mind that the same mistakes are made over and over again.

I include a murder in Malaysia near Thailand, as well as the Caribbean incidents.

Generally it's folks who anchor a fraction further away from the rest of the mob. It may only be 100 meters.
Generally it's a couple on a normal cruisng yacht like yours and mine with no security screen for the companionway.
Generally the couple first know about it when they are woken with someone at their bed demanding money.
Generally the man has tried to fight back from this disadvantaged position.
Generally the man is injured or killed with the hammer or tool he tried to fight off the intruders with (death by the hammer, concussion with a torch).

Now when I say "generally" I mean there must be other circumstances somewhere but Im stuffed if I remember any!

So when you are at anchor by yourself in a large bay and I sail in I WILL anchor within 100 meters of you for the first night till I can sus the joint out.
In a new country I will hang with the other cruisers till I sus the country and its anchorages out.
In any country I will keep those sus out with my door shown below.


By the way, I am mystified but I cop a lot of forum abuse when I post this photo. What's wrong with securing the boat while you are inside?

Gee Mark now you have done it, Tourism Australia is going to be miffed at you for showing the world our fly screens What with No real pirates but sharks, snakes, spiders, crocs and jelly fish and not forgetting the vicious unpredictable koalas and kangaroos, you go and show the midge mesh.

[CeesH]

Originally Posted by cat man do

Even if I am Australian?

Yes, for locals it is:

[Bruce626]

Most miscreants fear light and sound since both tend to attract attention - possible witnesses and potential help. We all carry a 1 or 2 million candle power handheld searchlight - keep it handy. Be able to turn on outside lights and/or siren (perhaps in stages) from inside behind the security screen. These things can also be turned on by the boarding miscreants themselves using a (series of) tripwire made of fine monofilament fishing line. Simply use a nonconducting wedge to hold a clothes pin open that has been modified with a couple of copper conductors (or just small bolts). Wire lights and sound to it so when the wedge is pulled out the show begins - sensitivity is up to you, the builder. Having the clothes pin inside a small locked area with a small hole for the fishing line to pass through makes it unlikely that a clever miscreant can find the switch and disable it. Coverage is limited only by the length of the line - relatively easy to build and connect. The show is limited only by your imagination - turn on a recording of a large barking dog, turn on a camera, turn on a remote alarm on your cell.

[bobconnie]

Lots of lights, locking hatchs, barking dogs, and make a lot of noise, we have a loud hailer below decks and would use it if we needed it !!

[Capt Phil]

Strange that no one has brought up the IRS in a piracy forum... Phil

[micah719]

IRS? Just take them to court on the grounds that income tax is illegal....you'll win the case, but it will never be reported. Then emigrate.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by micah719

IRS? Just take them to court on the grounds that income tax is illegal....you'll win the case, but it will never be reported. Then emigrate.

Absolute bullroar!

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by Bruce626

Most miscreants fear light and sound since both tend to attract attention - possible witnesses and potential help. We all carry a 1 or 2 million candle power handheld searchlight - keep it handy.

You make a good point - and also provide an easy solution .

Obviously won't stop a determined attack, but then neither will sleeping with the hatches wide open - whether or not next to a gun .......but will save a lot of cleaning up .

In regard to Automatic lights, am pretty sure a squillion options out there on movement sensors. Probably don't need to cover everywhere on deck - simply the cockpit floor (away from anything flapping or passing by) would cover most circumstances. and if connected to spreader lights and a manual switch down below would make use non-intrusive so more likely to use just in case. Of course a light switch not as exciting, macho or sexy as something hard and shiney in your hands........

One thing that I think would also work well is some CCTV in the cockpit that is connected via the internet / a mobile to download the footage ashore (downloaded by movement sensor rather than 24/7 streaming?).....so no VHS tape down below for someone to come looking for - with a sign (multilingual!) on the hatch explaining that if you can read this you have already been recorded!.....and if they eff orf quietly without taking anything the odds are strong that the footage will not be checked / passed onto the Police..........or you could just put up a sign that says all that .

and possibly also a Blunderbuss (I don't recall one ever having been mentioned on one of these threads ).

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

You make a good point - and also provide an easy solution .

Obviously won't stop a determined attack, but then neither will sleeping with the hatches wide open - whether or not next to a gun .......but will save a lot of cleaning up .

In regard to Automatic lights, am pretty sure a squillion options out there on movement sensors. Probably don't need to cover everywhere on deck - simply the cockpit floor (away from anything flapping or passing by) would cover most circumstances. and if connected to spreader lights and a manual switch down below would make use non-intrusive so more likely to use just in case. Of course a light switch not as exciting, macho or sexy as something hard and shiney in your hands........

One thing that I think would also work well is some CCTV in the cockpit that is connected via the internet / a mobile to download the footage ashore (downloaded by movement sensor rather than 24/7 streaming?).....so no VHS tape down below for someone to come looking for - with a sign (multilingual!) on the hatch explaining that if you can read this you have already been recorded!.....and if they eff orf quietly without taking anything the odds are strong that the footage will not be checked / passed onto the Police..........or you could just put up a sign that says all that .

and possibly also a Blunderbuss (I don't recall one ever having been mentioned on one of these threads ).

I fart a lot.... hang this and folk stay away....
works well in busy anchorages too

[micah719]

Dear Bash;

Online Library of Liberty - No Treason. No. VI. The Constitution of No Authority

[sailorboy1]

something from 1870, how up to date and useless

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by micah719

Dear Bash;

Online Library of Liberty - No Treason. No. VI. The Constitution of No Authority

That document has no legal standing, is not a law or part of the US Constitution. It is nothing more than an essay or political treatise that
was published in the Congressional record. During filibusters some of our learned representatives have entered such nonsense as their mother's recipe for apple pie into the record. Doesn't make apple pie the law of the land.

[tightgroup]

while I have not yet sailed. I can elaborate on personal safety.. the worst enemy is fear, we tend to over compensate, as some posters have done in this thread. The simple idea of locking things up securely is the single most important deterrent out there.

Another point is we tend to talk alot, be calm , always! Learn the local language and be polite with the locals. Bribing officials and or locals is a sure recipe of being robbed or coerced into relinquishing more funds or goods. Common sense applies!

[goboatingnow]

I know it's an over-generalization, but if you look like someone worth robbing, maybe you are!

Seems like a reasonable assumption. used in many Governments tax policies, so must be right.

dave

[Blue Crab]

Originally Posted by skipmac

One point. If you're traveling in a poor region of the globe, unless you are in a 25' piece of junk with rust stains, flaking paint and a half dead, smoky outboard for power you will be a rich American to the locals. Even in a boat like this in some areas you will still be rich compared to local subsistence farmers who may not know where they will get their next meal.

Doesn't hurt to tone down, leave the Rolex at home and make your boat less attractive than the one next door but you can only go so far with this.

This is how I run my operation. Br. Seagull outboard for authenticity. I'm sort of lubberly anyhow. I've taken it about as far as I can go.