Cruising couple attacked in Carribean

[eskfreedom]

Why do you go cruising ? When i get my Manta cat that iv ben dreaming about since i was 14.Iam going cruising for adventure,adventure adventure!!!Priats parats penuts i dont really care cause i am going to be free.No peerat can take that away.So what if i get robed ,beat up ,shot stabed or even killed! Because ill be livin good whene i go.I just hope i dont die in a car crash on my way to buy my boat!!!O by the way i have ben robed ,beat up ,stabed ,AND shot all right here in the good ol' USA.Just another story to tell my grand children.Thats what i always say!Shure nobody likes to get robed ,stabed, or shot.But thats just how the cards fall sometimes.When i sell everything i own this summer so me my wife and two daughters (30 ,28,12,2) can have some adventure! Iam taking my little friend Colt he's .45 and verry wise. I have yet to meet anyone who likes to argue with him I say get a good tan and stop werin those goofy shorts and dress like the locals.Put a little mon' in your lingo and sharpen your own machety.Jeers to you Little Boat see you next summer. Sounds like the VI's is just right for me!
P.S. Dont be to hard on these guys at least their scarin away the softies

[little boat]

sorry if i lost my temper, but this thread filled with landlocked u.s.a sailors and suggestions of how to turn your boat into a fall out shelter really got to me; that's why i called on steve, who knows the caribbean, (and me), to bail me out. i am rarely impolite, but i was just so affronted by people posting about subjects they have no firsthand knowledge of, as well as the denigrating of another's religion..well, i was frankly disgusted.
thanks gordmay, (we also are aquainted), and sean, (who somehow divined that i am a woman!). does he know that i am a singlehander as well?
certainly, my perspective as a singlehanding female who has spent just short of two decades in these waters gives me just a shred of credibility? and i anchor in nooks and crannies that are still, (for the moment), undiscovered by other boats.
(thank god for you xenophobic safety in convoys!)
if you live in landlocked america, or suggest fortress-like add ons for your boat, perhaps you should try just sailing around for a while and meeting the people first before you post.
ps. my feelings weren't hurt. i was reading lois' advise on boat design and the other sailors tearing him to pieces on his untrue and ridiculous blathering.

[Alan Wheeler]

Little boat, your not on your own. Gord has taken the words right out of my mouth...again....

CptK, please control your wording. In know you well enough to understand it was not an intentional attack, but to those that don't know you, it could be taken that way. Ensure you proof read what you have written before you post.

Just for all to understand,
Everyone has a right to post his/her views (within the Forum rules) and also has the right to be able to do such within a "safe" environment on this BB.

This has been a very interesting thread. I was quite surprised at the starting date! I have no Caribean experience. I have, however, talked to and been on the boats of many circumnavigators and bought my boat from a couple late of the Carib. A thing almost all have in common that stands out by absence in this area?? Steel bars on hatches and other security. I have nothing against the culture. I love Jamaican music but the facts are facts. Freinds I met in Oz were from West Indies.. He was raised on a timber schooner (dutch) and she was from UK till coming to the carib as a hair dresser. They spoke ill of "natives." Just one example but they were not tourists. I just got a mail from SY "Desert Wind" cruising in the carib... expensive tender just stolen... yes.. can happen anywhere but the frequency?? My strong impression is that I would still like to go but I would take precautions that I might not elsewhere. It's good that someone like "LittleBoat" can move around without problem but it may have something to do with where she goes and how grand an appearance? My vision is a small basic craft? Would a large boat bristling with expensive antenaes be as safe?? I spent a couple years "on the road" in my youth in the early seventies. I mixed well with people that later in my "yuppy" days would have nothing to do with me except as a victim.... predudice can work both ways.....and is wrong in all regards.

"the only thing I can't tolerate is intolerance."

[ssullivan]

Na.... it's not how fancy your boat is. I worked on a 100' mega yacht in the Carribean. I kept it shiny as can be... looked brand new. I only witnessed one small bit of crime... seriously.

I saw two young boys trying to get onto a dock that was locked with a fence. They took a small row boat around and were caught immediately. Who knows if they were trying to steal anything...?? Maybe they were just kids looking to get onto a dock they haven't been on before.

Anyway, what I'm saying is that the percentage of criminals to regular people is the same throughout the world. There are very nice and kind people everywhere, and they far outnumber the bad.

[Dman]

The only people that made me uneasy were certain "police" officials in some areas.These ones have guns and are the most organized crooks you will ever run into.

[CSY Man]

one guy lived there more than a decade ago.

Would that be me?
Yes, my boat was broken into in St. Thomas and stuff was stolen.
Also had a car broken into in St. Croix.
Petty crime is/was high in the USVIs regardless how rose colored yer glasses are.

One of my co-workers had his house broken into twice. The second time they took his TV again. (He bought a new one after they stole the old one) Then they killed his dog with an axe.

Don't think it has changed much as I am back there quite frequently, hang out with friends and hear the stories.
Staying away from St. Thomas unless I am being sent there on business.
That place is too crowded for my taste, a busy tourist machine with bumper to bumper traffic.

St. Croix is a bit more peaceful and I was considering buying a condo there to rent out and for my retirement, but 9/11 changed all that.

for people reading this thread and are considering visiting the caribbean, please ignore these out of date, racist posters

Who are the racist posters and where is the racist postings?

Don't think it is your business to tell people to ignore oter posters or their postings. If you disagree on a subject, so be it, but your version of the truth may not be the only one, or indeed the right one.

[CaptainRic]

Rastafarians are just like Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Theres good ones and there are bad ones. I've met both.

[CSY Man]

Theres good ones and there are bad ones. I've met both.

Maybe so, but after my frined and neigbor got murdered by one, and seeing the bums using religion as an excuse to smoke dope, I quit looking for the good ones.

[capt lar]

www.virginislandsdailynews.com and sts.onepaper.com will allow you to read the news for yourself. My comments were, I hope, balanced and current. I spoke from my own experience and from conversations with all the peoples of the USVI, all ages, all colors. When we travel, we are not "tourists". We engage the locals to learn. Since I was looking for business opportunity, I spoke with many merchants, including charter captains. I also have an interest in history. I had great conversations with 80 year old women who talked about the islands when they were young girls. Change, some call it progress, has tradeoffs. Example - 40 years ago most islanders ran their own small business and trading goods and/or services was far more common that cash. Now there is a WalMart and stuff is cheaper, but all those small businesses are gone. Now you work for WalMart instead of yourself. The problems I discussed were voiced by "locals" living on the island, not on a boat. They deal with it every day. They, not the boating community, are the real victims.
While I am not concerned with petty theft, the increase in violent crime is serious. It has nothing to do with religion. It has to do with drugs (and since I am of that late 60's generation, I know a little something about drugs) American Harbor is still a good place, but meth is killing the islands. Cruise ships stopped coming to St. Croix and the locals there say the crime is for the drugs. I don't care for cruise ships but tourism is the life blood of the islands, so I wouldn't demean the lowly tourist. It is also not just the West Indian or "Islander" that is causing all the problems. There is a huge influx of peoples from other islands who apparently can slip in without much trouble. The government just does not do its job.
We had a great dinner one night at an italian restaurant near American Harbor. They had a security guard posted to insure none of the patrons cars were stolen during dinner. Locals coming to eat were checking to make sure the guard was there, so I guess their concerns were real. Mine was a beat up rental with optional insurance so no worries.
We have plenty of murders these days in Boston, so we have our own troubles, but honestly, "little boat", lets be real.
Larry

[Dman]

Capt lar You make some good points and i thought i would add a little>Yes the crime is a problem but what i think the bigger problem is the criminal justice system or lack there of on many islands.The problem imo is after a crime has been committed.I know there is corruption everywhere ,but it is top heavy in many spots there.Everything seems fine with any system untill you are caught up in it.If you are short on cash it is not the place to have a run in with the law.A local was aboard a boat that i was on and after he and his friend left ,there was a raid and a sizeable quantity of illegal drugs were found.The end result was a payoff to the cops in the form of cash only.Like i said before law enforcement is the biggest problem,when you cannot turn to them you have a bad situation.I know my situation was probably rare however,who really knows? Thought i would add this was in Sait Lucia

[little boat]

i have not had access to a computer for quite some time and was not aware of how obsessed sailing forums are with the topic of piracy and guns. its something i give little thought to, as i have never encountered it.
capt lar, i agree with you, lets be real.
i have lived aboard a registered mooring in redhook basin st thomas for more than eight years. i have never encountered any crime there.
the fact is, dinghy theft, which is the most commonly stolen item in the caribbean, is actually quite rare in the u.s. virgin islands and is much more common in the grenadines and in venezuela, more specifically in the dominican republic and porlamar and pto la cruz.
the rastafarian religion condemns violence. dreadlocks do not equal rasta. 'poppyshow rasta', (i believe a corruption of the word puppet show), describes men with dreadlocks who are thieves, or bad men; it is a very serious insult.
i work nights, i dinghy to the dinghy dock and i return to my boat very late at night.
there is only one italian restaurant in redhook so i will assume i am speaking of the same one where one poster had dinner.
there is no guard on duty there at the door as far as i know.
there are security guards at AYH who lime behind this restaurant drinking rum and cokes and smoking cigarettes on a staircase back there, (i often greet them on my way home). i suspect that the guard said he was watching cars only to justify his prescence, lingering up there.
a st thomas gentleman who is the musician who plays at this restaurant, (perhaps he was there the night you were?), is a close friend of mine, i will email him and ask him if the restaurant has a guard on duty and let you know of his answer if it is affirmative.
instead of posting, 'They had a security guard posted to insure none of the patrons cars were stolen during dinner. Locals coming to eat were checking to make sure the guard was there, so I guess their concerns were real.'
could you not have just as easily posted, 'we had a lovely dinner and our car was not broken into?'
none of my neighbours on boats have ever told me of a theft. mine is not the only unlocked boat in the basin; all of the boats around me leave thier companionways open. redhook is a working harbour and we all work locally.
the virgin islands have been very good to me. for one thing, they have saved me from beating 1000 nm to weather to find employment and return. i made the trip to florida and back 4 times before i began working in the virgins, nine years ago.
i dislike cities and avoid them, however i have anchored in miami and jacksonville florida. is it necessary for me to point out the crime in those locations? rest assured, it is far, far less in the virgin islands.
i don't know how more real i could be. i live there, i work there. it feels pretty real to me.

[scottmacc]

I spent nearly a year living and working on St. Croix 5 years ago. I worked along side the natives while working at the hospital and got to know many patients and their extended families as friends. I got to experience the island in a way that's hard to do from the yacht club or from the waterfront restaurants. When I left, I felt like I was leaving home. Finally, after planning for the past few years, I'm (almost) ready to return; Hoping to leave in November. Certainly, there are places on the island that I would not walk at night but they're easily avoided. No different than any U.S. city.
Over the past 10 years I've had 25 different address in the U.S. I've found the key to being accepted and respected is not to look down on those whose ways may be different. I've even learned to enjoy Nascar.

[rtbates]

Those weren't rastas, they were thugs with dreadlocks!!

Not every black person you see with dreadlocks is either a rasta or a thug.

IF you take the time to learn the culture you can learn to detect the difference.

Be carefull out there

randy

[capt lar]

Sure "little boat'....'we had a lovely dinner and our car was not broken into, not that we were worried, but a few of the regular patrons were checking to see if the security guard was there, saying they were worried about their cars being stolen during dinner. I don't know if their concerns were real.' Better ? If you wish to edit their words or address their concerns, you will need to speak with them directly. They are your neighbors.

Boston has had a huge jump in murders for the last 2 years - most are gang members and occasionally unfortunate innocents living in those few neighborhoods where drugs are big business. We topped the charts at 71 murders with a population of 600,000 - that's one in 8450. St Tom had 17 murders in 05 and 16 so far in 06 with a population of 22,000 - that's one in 1294.

I'm glad you love it there and wish you well, but statistical facts are printed in your newspapers available on line for anyone to read. I'm glad you have never had a problem. Unfortunately, many others have and many were eager to discuss the issues with me when I last visited.

By the way, I'm not obsessed with safety, but there are better places with fewer problems and better leadership. I just spent a week down in the heart of LA - almost 4 million people and as diverse as any place on earth. No problems - no worries !

Larry