Pirates Shatter Dream

[Ex-Calif]

Give the guy a break...

I googled a bit to see where and if the boat and the sailor pop up.

He was in the Baja HaHa in 2002 and the Darwin to Indo race in 2008. He is in India in 2012.

I think he has earned his stripes, and if he sees fit to go home and not be killed after 10 years of cruising, hats of to him and his decision.

In slightly cynical vein, after 10 years in Asia/Pacific who the heck would want to slog around Africa? Or head back to the USA? I'd head back to Thailand and retire...

[SimonV]

Originally Posted by SailingwithSoul

We're definitely not getting the whole story. It seems like this article is trying to evoke some sympathy, when this sailor just wants to (needs to) stop sailing and and he wants to save face by saying its because of piracy. He could have just simply turned around, cruised east, rounded the Americas and reach Europe that way. $20,000 would have given him some comfortable cruising.

I'm not judging, and wish him all the best in his endeavors, but I'm not buying the article.

You obviously don't sail oceans of even read much about it. For him to sail home from where he is, going from west to east is one of the most difficult and uncomfortable sails to do. It is doable but at a cost to the human spirit and boats integrity if trying to stay in the 20 Deg N/S. Or you go south to the 40s or North on the pacific rim and put up with some of the world most treacherous seas . This is why a lot of EU and US boats are for sale in Oz and Asia.

[Thames 4 Blood]

Sadly, I believe this situation in Somalia is not going to be resolved quickly. Worse still, in the light of the global economic situation, I think that poverty with the attendant hunger, health and social issues is going to get progressively worse. A Yacht is always going to be a very soft target for criminals wherever it may be. I think to some level we must "look to ourselfs" for protection. The most obvious way is the same as we protect ourselfs from hurricanes... Dont be there! Beyond that I see a strong argument for carrying arms and knowing how to use them.
Honestly, the thought of it makes me feel physically sick.

[Curmudgeon]

The problem with going via Capetown is that you miss the Med.
How dangerous would it be to sail up the Persian Gulf to Kuwait, and then truck to boat to Aqaba, in Jordan? You could then sail down the Gulf of Aqaba and then North and through the Suez canal.

[micah719]

Jordan is not a good prospect at the moment....the little kerfuffle in Syria and the vermin and support system that attracts; their own problems with "palestinians"; and the likelihood of a permutation of "Arab Spring" swapping out one tyrant for a worse kind.

Persian Gulf? Personally, I'd rather the roaring forties than that. Yemen, the Saudis, Iran; and the odd tanker or aircraft carrier?

Sinai isn't exactly peaceful at the moment either; the new management in Egypt are hyping themselves up for another war with Israel, they've made that loud and clear. They never learn, either....

The world has changed....matured, in a way. Like a bucket of prawns in the sun.

[svBeBe]

We have a friend who works in the only marina on the west coast of India (besides the private Royal Yacht Club in Mumbai). Our friend said only 1 boat has visited Cochin this year. Maybe it was this guy. Maybe not.

Judy

[zeehag]

we all CHOOSE our routes and we also choose our methods of completion of a journey---he knew about the somalian piracy problem before he left --he can still choose to sail or ship his boat to wherever-is still his choice-- shippng a boat is very pricey.....

[TeddyDiver]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

The problem with going via Capetown is that you miss the Med.

Is there a law preventing one to sail to the Med via Gibraltar?

[tager]

GUNS! PIRATES! ANCHORS! THE SMALLEST BOAT YOU WOULD SAIL BLUEWATER IN! MULTI VERSUS MONO!

[micah719]

You forgot stove fuel and storage, rigs and reefing, toilets, navigation, electronics, politics and religion. I love CF, never a shortage of things to talk about!

Please tell me about your 6.5 skiff...that's about the size and type I'm setting out to do as interim project. Too small to mount a bofors on, and marinized Javelin AT missiles are out of my budget, but I have a nice Kassai magyar bow to perforate the crims with....but I'd rather talk about what your skiff is made of, and how you move it about on the water. New thread please? Fair winds and a snug harbour...

[justwaiting]

This story is an interesting counterpoint to the OP
Couple held hostage by pirates for 388 days to set sail on new journey - World News

[Lake-Effect]

This week I've been reading Joshua Slocum's classic, Sailing Alone Around the World, which was published in 1900. In that book, after sailing east across the Atlantic, he sails west from Gibraltar to go around the south tip of South America, because piracy made it too risky for him to transit the Gulf of Aden.

So, for anyone with the dream of circumnavigation, you've had at least a 112-year-old heads-up on that area.

[rtbates]

Originally Posted by capn_billl

I wouldn't even be as concerned if the political climate was on our side. But right now it appears as if the pirates heve more world sympathy than "those rich yachties that if they have enough money to be there, should have enough money to get themselves out".

Hold a young couple with small children hostage for a year, while raping and torturing them, and their children, is no biggie, but kill one of these animals, and world opinion is on their side. "they are just inocent fishermen, trying to feed their familes".

I personally don't get it, and believe violence is the only solution to this problem, but the rest of the world apparently believes, if you just buy them more and better boats, they will abandon a highly profitable piracy industry, and go back to catching fish.

Let me guess, you watch FOX NEWS....

[Capt Phil]

Hey, Randy... I vote for engaging a couple of Blackwater mercs to visit the vessel and sort out the captain with the new crew and skipper waiting on the dock to take over command of her. But then, I watch Fox News... Capt Phil

[Agape39]

Originally Posted by rtbates

Let me guess, you watch FOX NEWS....

Let me quests you don't!