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Evenstar · 04-10-2013, 10:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by rojaroja

ergo, never visit these Places!

I'm not sure if that's the answer - we were in Union Island for several days a couple of months ago and did not have any problems at all.

In the mean time the governments of these places need to get the message that people WILL stay away if they do not reign this sort of stuff in.

MarkJ · 04-10-2013, 11:55

3 suspects apprehended, assisting police etc; investigations continuing.

But great news and I am amazed how quick things have moved.

**Hud3** · 04-10-2013, 12:23

Cruising in the Grenandines is not to be missed. Our visits there totaled a couple of months during the two years we were cruising the Lesser Antilles, and Union Island was one of our favorite spots there. We got to know and be-friend several of the boat vendors, and some locals, too. Nice folks, and fun to be around.

We spent most of our time on Union anchored in Clifton Harbour, and a little time in Chatham Bay. I looked at the anchorage at Frigate Island, but it just seemed a bit isolated and "off" to me--we did not stay there.

It's really too bad that a handful of the criminal sorts can ruin things in short order. I really feel badly for Mark and Christina. I hope they can put this behind them and get back to enjoying the cruising life, but I know it will be hard for them.

Evenstar · 04-10-2013, 12:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkJ

3 suspects apprehended, assisting police etc; investigations continuing.

But great news and I am amazed how quick things have moved.

Good news, the sooner these guys get locked up the better. It won't help with the ordeals that Mark & Tina will have to go through to recover, but hopefully it will make it so there are no more victims.

Khagan1227 · 04-10-2013, 12:42

Good report Mark!

I knew the St. V area was getting bad, but this is frightening. More and more people are avoiding the isolated areas, which is a shame.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery to Mark and Christina

harmonysimone · 04-10-2013, 13:09

Thank you for the updates. Wishing a speedy recovery to the crew of SV Rainbow - they are in our thoughts!

**JPA Cate** · 04-10-2013, 13:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Khagan1227

Good report Mark!

I knew the St. V area was getting bad, but this is frightening. More and more people are avoiding the isolated areas, which is a shame.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery to Mark and Christina

Let me add my wishes to all for a speedy recovery for Mark & Christina.

And, the comment above that seemingly incomprehensible acts of violence do happen. We cruisers have so much more than the local people [flush toilets, gas cookers, piped water in the "kitchen"]. And I don't want to give away "stuff" that we need and use.

There is part of me that can understand their resentment; and the fact of such incidents happening means that we must do what we think is necessary to avoid such an incident to ourselves. In the past, we have simply avoided such locations, cruisers' radio nets pass such information very quickly, and the loss of income represented when places are boycotted is immediately noticed. Our generosity can set up expectations of more and better gifts. Lots to consider.

There may be no way to find this out, but I wonder why the folks from that particular boat were selected.

If any more data become available, please keep us all informed.

Ann

de0xyrib0se · 04-10-2013, 13:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by rojaroja

ergo, never visit these Places!

Which places would those be? The odds of you getting shot on the way to the corner deli in New York are thousands of times higher than some lunatic boarding your boat with a machete.

Lets not bash a beautiful destination because of some rotten apples...

mrohr · 04-10-2013, 14:18

Was walking thru the capital streets of Grenada early one morning and saw a gory trail of blood drying in the winding streets maybe 20 years ago. Turns out a Swedish couple were assaulted that evening with a machete during a robbery ;the assailant swung at the female and when she put her hand up to protect herself she lost a part of her hand and two fingers. I don't know if they were off a boat or not but the paper reported that they had flown back to Sweden.
Now, I have been to most of the islands in the West Indies and always regarded Grenada as one of the best but there are many desperate people in these "have not" nations and their attitude towards "first world" visitors seems to be changing.

We all are the losers on this. Maybe we need a tread on grenade launchers.

Astrid · 04-10-2013, 15:45

It can happen anywhere really. I was on my way to a seminar at the Universität zu Köln and as I lived in Deutz on the other side of the Rhein, I normally took the foot path along the Hohenzollernbrücke. Well, one morning, I came across a pool of congealed blood with a chalk outline of a body marking the spot where a woman had been murdered the night before.

Boatguy30 · 04-10-2013, 16:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by de0xyrib0se

Which places would those be? The odds of you getting shot on the way to the corner deli in New York are thousands of times higher than some lunatic boarding your boat with a machete.

Lets not bash a beautiful destination because of some rotten apples...

I think if you were to look at a per capita, general city dwellers vs. world wide cruisers. You would find cruising is actually much more dangerous.

Anyhow, that's not the point, it's just sad to see what seems to be an increasingly dangerous situation in the Caribbean.

pbiJim · 04-10-2013, 16:14

The last time that I was in St. Thomas, a tourist got her head chopped off at the far end of Morning Star Beach, away from Frenchman's Reef. Bad things do happen in "paradise".

Evenstar · 04-10-2013, 16:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boatguy30

I think if you were to look at a per capita, general city dwellers vs. world wide cruisers. You would find cruising is actually much more dangerous.

Anyhow, that's not the point, it's just sad to see what seems to be an increasingly dangerous situation in the Caribbean.

Its hard to imagine, having lived in NY City for 7 years and known many, many victims of crime and muggings, that it is any more safe than the Caribbean. Heck, I lost every window on my car but the back one from crime in that time and knew a couple of people that got mugged.

Like anywhere in the world though, you can minimize the risk. Don't go to certain places after dark, etc. etc. Same for the Caribbean.

I don't know why Rainbow was selected as a victim. Clifton Harbour is a pretty crowded place, but Frigate Island around the corner is not. It could just be there was enough isolation to give the thugs some confidence.

Same thing can happen in NY, LA, Boston, or Cincinnati.

Celestialsailor · 04-10-2013, 16:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by de0xyrib0se

Which places would those be? The odds of you getting shot on the way to the corner deli in New York are thousands of times higher than some lunatic boarding your boat with a machete.

Lets not bash a beautiful destination because of some rotten apples...

Is that a random statement or did you actually have any facts to support that? I say this only to prevent a watering down of the incident at hand.