shadow, we felt the boat heel over in the night when some fishermen? were holding the toerail, (yes, it is a little boat!). a bit of loud, cranky questioning and they bobbed alongside and then left.
i believe you are overthinking the whole idea of being robbed or threatened; its unlikely you will find yourself in that position.
as to 'wrestling', that's quite a bit beyond our capabilities, we are weaklings.
i think if i was in any kind of real
danger that i would jump
overboard with my dog in my arms, (old chihuahua, no oympic swimmer), and start swimming to shore.
i do keep an airhorn by my bunk, but the only time i've used it was when a drunken buddy came aboard in the night and had some ideas and wouldn't leave; i wasn't in any real
danger whatsoever, he's been a friend for years and years; just very pissed off. in that stupid episode, another sailor came over and routed him and the next day he came to my boat to apologise and said he had been warned already that morning by several locals that if he ever disturbed me again he would be very sorry. i guess the coconut telegraph was already at work.
in over two decades in the
caribbean, i've had only two friends/boats in real danger. one were tied up and robbed outside the
lagoon in st george; the other was a close friend who was murdered in
venezuela. he was shot in the
head and left adrift. both were small boats, (one 24 foot, one 28) that had nothing of value to steal. i personally, would not return to
venezuela as a
singlehanding woman. as to the other robbery/assault, i don't
anchor outside the
lagoon which is alongside one of the only bad spots in
grenada. we do anchor though in many other isolated spots where others have had trouble in the past; i guess you could say we are on our guard in those places, in that we keep an ear out.
i find violence unacceptable and would not want to engage in any form of it. if you want my stuff, just take it. if you were to really frighten me, as i say, i'd have to go
overboard and attempt to make a break for it.
most robberies are nonconfrontational and take place when no one is aboard and are still, thank goodness, a relative rarity.