Pirates Off the Seychelles

[TOM]

I read the other day that there have been a couple of pirate attacks very close to the Seychelles the last as close as 150 miles . We are planning on crossing the Indian ocean next year Feb via Christmas Island, Cocos and on to Chagos where we plan to spend a couple of months. From there the plan was to go to the Seychelles then Mauritius ,Madagascar and on to Capetown.However all this pirate stuff near the Seychelles has got us freaked out! how do these guys operate in small boats up to 1000klms from home.
Would love to hear what you guys think should we miss Seychelles and just head South to Mauritius {would love to see the Seychelles but now not sure}.Or should I just buy a couple of secound hand AK47 AND HOPE FOR THE BEST!
As always would appreciate your thoughts and any info.

[MarkJ]

They can operate that far from Somalia because they are using larger captured ships to launch assults with small boats.

By the time you get there (and when we are ready to go up the gulf of Aden) it may have changed. If it hasn't then you either go properly silent or miss Seychelles.....



Its will be a fun adventure but I don't think you really want to shoot impoverished kids. The people who send them on these jaunts are shootable... but they prolly are at home in sunny Somalia kicking the dust around.

[clockwork orange]

I dont think the AK47s will help you,they got AK47s and RPGs and by the time they get close enough for you to use yours they can use theirs and they got more of them and know how to use them, get a high powered hunting rifle with a scope and spend some time at a range, keep a good lookout then dont be afraid to be pro active and start picking them off when they are heading towards you,once they get close they will have the upper hand.Probably better to avoid the area.
Steve.

[TOM]

Hi MarkJ , You're right not interested in shooting anyone {except that low life oxygen thief who stole our new dingy last year} .The pirate pics i see do not look like impoverished kids , more like you"re over 25 year old machine gun wielding Pirate .That aside I think we will take your advice and give the seychelles a miss.

Whats properly silent?

[TOM]

Clockwork Orange , I like you"re style can i get a "red eye laser light " attached to that hunting rifle ? .Then i can go looking for those pirates before they start looking for us .Better to be the hunter then the hunted .

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by TOM

Whats properly silent?

Remember before GPS how we used RDF to navigate?
Do some google searches and you will see that RDF has come a long way and a VHF or HF transmition can be computed to a Lat & Lon within seconds on a laptop with a GPS...
Now go back and see how that French yacht kept in contact with the navy.... the pirates knew where they were the whole time.

get a high powered hunting rifle with a scope and spend some time at a range,

Ummmm a range is on terra firma. The marines on the Bainbridge were more or less on a lump of terra firma too.

Shooting off a rolling deck of a yacht ain't gunna work...

[keelbolts]

We just went over the question of firearms v. pirates. These threads almost always end up getting shut down. I guess that, along with politics and religion, guns should not be discussed in polite society. All questions of complications when entering foreign waters or whether or not you could fend off a pirate attack with an armed crew, one thing strikes me as funny. I'm always tickled by sailors who will not leave the pier without radios, flares, a radar reflector, a life sling, a man overboard pole, multiple anchors, a sea anchor, a series drogue, an EPIRB, jackstays, lifelines, harnesses, life vests, an abandon ship bag, a life raft, and who knows what else. They say, "if you're not prepared to take responsibility for your own safety, you shouldn't go." But when talk comes around to carrying a firearm on board, they recoil in horror, "oh no, you can't do that! It wouldn't work anyway!"

Waswitdat?

[Lodesman]

Originally Posted by clockwork orange

I dont think the AK47s will help you,they got AK47s and RPGs and by the time they get close enough for you to use yours they can use theirs and they got more of them and know how to use them, get a high powered hunting rifle with a scope and spend some time at a range, keep a good lookout then dont be afraid to be pro active and start picking them off when they are heading towards you,once they get close they will have the upper hand.Probably better to avoid the area.
Steve.

Why do people assume these guys know how to shoot - they're yahoos with guns, that have probably done most of their shooting up in the air. That's not to say they won't hit their target if they're close enough, but don't give them too much credit. A high-powered rifle has better range than either an RPG or an AK-47. You won't need to hit any of them to dissuade them - once a couple rounds land close they'll look for a less-resistive target. Practice shooting supported from your deck and treat your boat's motion like breathing (ie. shoot on the lulls).

Or just stay away the area altogether - didn't I just hear something about civil unrest in Madagascar?

[anotherT34C]

Originally Posted by keelbolts

We just went over the question of firearms v. pirates. These threads almost always end up getting shut down. I guess that, along with politics and religion, guns should not be discussed in polite society. All questions of complications when entering foreign waters or whether or not you could fend off a pirate attack with an armed crew, one thing strikes me as funny. I'm always tickled by sailors who will not leave the pier without radios, flares, a radar reflector, a life sling, a man overboard pole, multiple anchors, a sea anchor, a series drogue, an EPIRB, jackstays, lifelines, harnesses, life vests, an abandon ship bag, a life raft, and who knows what else. They say, "if you're not prepared to take responsibility for your own safety, you shouldn't go." But when talk comes around to carrying a firearm on board, they recoil in horror, "oh no, you can't do that! It wouldn't work anyway!"

Waswitdat?

Probably because they think guns wind up hindering your security, rather than enhancing it. I tend to agree. If anyone thinks they are going to put up a gunfight in a fiberglass yacht, it sounds more to me like an action-hero fantasy than a rational plan. But... if one really wants to try, what do I care?

[keelbolts]

You figure you can take on the ocean, against which nothing has ever prevailed, in a plastic yacht, but not some yahoo with a gun?!?!?

Do you see why I don't understand your stance?

[anotherT34C]

Originally Posted by keelbolts

You figure you can take on the ocean, against which nothing has ever prevailed, in a plastic yacht, but not some yahoo with a gun?!?!?

Do you see why I don't understand your stance?

People successfully cross oceans in plastic yachts all the time. How often do you really hear about somebody fending off pirates in a gunfight? A well-designed yacht is built to survive the ocean, for the most part. It's not designed to be a bunker in a gunfight.

And, I don't really think you can expect to always successfully 'take on' the ocean. If you're careful, you can only tip the odds in your favor. I doubt that carrying guns into Pirate Alley measurably tips the odds in your favor. I'd be happy to look at data that claims otherwise.

[keelbolts]

Surely you see the inconsistency in your argument. Nothing works in every situation, but you do what you can.

You have already surrendered. I haven't and won't.

[Hud3]

Originally Posted by keelbolts

We just went over the question of firearms v. pirates. These threads almost always end up getting shut down. I guess that, along with politics and religion, guns should not be discussed in polite society...

Keelboats,

It's not that they shouldn't be discussed in polite society.

Threads on those topics typically get shut down for two reasons and two reasons only. 1.) They inevitably veer off the core focus of this forum--cruising and boating in general, and 2.) they inevitably degenerate into personal attacks and insults.

You can talk about firearms and pirates 'til you're blue in the face, as long as you're polite and your posts are directly related to cruising and/or boating.

[keelbolts]

I think it's that, like religion and politics, people are very passionate about a subject that cannot be proven right or wrong.

[anotherT34C]

Originally Posted by keelbolts

Surely you see the inconsistency in your argument. Nothing works in every situation, but you do what you can.

You have already surrendered. I haven't and won't.

I don't see inconsistency. I don't think a gun would measurably tip the odds in my favor. I think I'm probably more likely to be killed if I initiate a gunfight, than if I don't.

Surrender? Hmm, call it what you will. I don't enter bad neighborhoods (land or sea) if I don't have to. I'll support financing police patrols of bad neighborhoods, but I have no desire to do so myself. You of course, may do as you wish, and I'll wish you best of luck.