Intruder in the Middle of the Night

[daletournier]

It's difficult to sail around the world without visiting poor countries. The gap between you and them is huge.

Here in Madagascar if you leave something on deck it will dissappear, leave your outboard unlocked or dinghy in the water it will go, this means people will board your boat if there's something to steal, it's just the way it is. Can you blame them, many live on less than $1.80/ day!

My experience is violence isn't common.

Don't leave stuff on deck, pull your dinghy up every night, cockpit lit up, and have a way of securing the companionway, it's no different from locking your front door at home or your car door when you go to the supermarket.

Deck lights and a horn will result in most thieves exiting quickly.

A word of caution regarding weapons, are you going to use them or would you hesitate? , it's a big call attacking someone with a machete. It's easy to think you will, different at the time. Most here would never of punched anyone in the head let alone taken to someone with a knife or machete.

A case approx 10 years ago of Thailand, where a guy went outside with a hammer to deal with intruders, the intruders got the hammer and killed the skipper while his wife was locked inside. Things can quickly spiral out of control.

[Mike OReilly]

As with everything cruising, there is no One Right Answer. Location and situation matters.

I don't mean to second guess the OP. He was there, I was not. And we all do the best we can given our circumstances.

All that said, I stand by my assessment that the fellow was some testoeterone-driven young-male idiot, probably trying to impress a girl or perhaps win a game of Truth or Dare with his equally idiotic mates.

I've spent a lot of time anchored in the 1000 Islands. I bet I can name the exact anchorage. This is not some third-world, impoverished (or homophonic) location. This is a place of rich homes, rich boats, and lots of spoiled kids. Crime rates are low. The odds that this was more than an idiotic prank is exceedingly small.

[ramblinrod]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

As with everything cruising, there is no One Right Answer. Location and situation matters.

I don't mean to second guess the OP. He was there, I was not. And we all do the best we can given our circumstances.

All that said, I stand by my assessment that the fellow was some testoeterone-driven young-male idiot, probably trying to impress a girl or perhaps win a game of Truth or Dare with his equally idiotic mates.

I've spent a lot of time anchored in the 1000 Islands. I bet I can name the exact anchorage. This is not some third-world, impoverished (or homophonic) location. This is a place of rich homes, rich boats, and lots of spoiled kids. Crime rates are low. The odds that this was more than an idiotic prank is exceedingly small.

Of course everyone is entitled to their opinion.

In mine, the guy was lucky not to get a poke in the eye just for being an idiot swimming alone in the dark without a buddy.

Then of course there is the atrocity of waking me from a restful slumber. ;-)

Seriously, I’m sure it is much easier to take ones time sitting in an armchair rendering opinions on a the actions of others, than the instantaneous reaction in the heat of the moment in a foggy state of awareness.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by ramblinrod

Of course everyone is entitled to their opinion.

In mine, the guy was lucky not to get a poke in the eye just for being an idiot swimming alone in the dark without a buddy.

Then of course there is the atrocity of waking me from a restful slumber. ;-)

Seriously, I’m sure it is much easier to take ones time sitting in an armchair rendering opinions on a the actions of others, than the instantaneous reaction in the heat of the moment in a foggy state of awareness.

Agreed, which is why I said I don’t mean to second guess … I don’t. And I have no idea how I would have responded; perhaps not dissimilar to you.

But you did post the scenario, obviously with the intention of further digesting the event. Otherwise, why post it on a forum? With a sober second look (less foggy, less adrenaline), I think you may even agree this idiot was unlikely a direct threat to you and yours. More likely this is a case of idiocy, or at worst petty theft (which I doubt, unless you had something particularly shinny out in the open).

That doesn’t excuse the idiot, or suggest this he didn’t deserve a harsh send-off (assuming he wasn’t actually drowning or something). But the idea of shooting this idiot is over the top.

[daletournier]

"the instantaneous reaction in the heat of the moment in a foggy state of awareness"

This is the big question, you trully dont know how your going to react until put into that situation! This is where guns and weapons worry me. The guy you see onboard at 2am as your just woken up from a deep sleep is probably just a kid, given the chance he'll run away BUT you are out there so quick he dosen’t have a chance to run, your adrenaline is pumping and you attack, so easy for something really bad to happen unnessacarily so.

One of the reasons i have bars on my companion way now isnt just to keep people out, its to keep me in,or at least slow down my arrival on deck. By the time i get the deck lights on and the companionway open they have hopefully gone.
Ive had the physical confrontation, my default mode was to attack, I DO NOT WANT THIS TO HAPPEN AGAIN. I would much rather the intruder be gone and i just pace up and down the deck with my chest pumped up (in this case it wasnt a kid).

Travelling the globe there is no way of avoiding poor countries as i said earlier. You are naive if you believe "it will never happen to me". With simple precautions its easy to prevent most serious problems in this area.

So yes ,where you cruise makes a huge difference but not all want to stay in their local waters, theres a world to see and many want to see it.

[Sojourner]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

You seem to have a rather abrasive attitude issue combined with choosing unsafe areas to visit. Not good. We’ll continue our more peaceful existence with our fellow humans by choosing better spots.

I wish you the best.

There is no abrasion in my attitude, either IRL or in my post, indeed calling it that is a bit abrasive in and of itself, which is a shame, since I really respect your posts. All I'm saying is that with my personal experiences, both mostly very good and a few very negative, dealing with intruders and/or people who wished to do me harm for a number of reasons (none of which was a result of my abrasive attitude, but all of whom felt it after), I can and will protect myself. My first lines of defense are my experience, sound security and sailing decisions, passive systems (sound bar, remember? also forgot to mention bars on all the hatches), then more aggressive, nonlethal options (like sprays), until I'm cornered. That's when I get really abrasive, and then you can believe someone is losing an arm, but it isn't going to be me.

[Telesail]

It is certainly true that we don’t necessarily know how we will react until we encounter the situation. In my case, motoring back from Mamacita’s in Culebra, I was still defending my navigation skills and memory powers to my less than impressed family—who insisted I must have drunk too much because apparently I could not find our boat in the dark, since there was a person sitting on the transom with a dinghy tied up at the back......

I confess that it never occurred to me that there was a risk. I asked him what he was doing on my boat. He said it was his boat so I asked him what his boat was called. He could not remember and he had certainly had too much to drink.

I helped him into his dinghy but he fell in the water so we fished him out. We managed to get his outboard started and then he motored past us three times looking for his boat, shouting that he was sure he had anchored somewhere nearby. Eventually, we had to take pity on him - we towed him back to the dinghy dock bar and asked them to help sober him up til he could remember who he was or what his boat was called.

It was only afterwards that we all thought that we might have been a little to casual in assuming he was not intending some badness. Perhaps also a little casual letting him motor off while clearly incapable of looking after himself.....

I think the point is that I know what I should have done with the benefit of hindsight and what I thought with foresight I would do if I encountered such a situation. But when it happened, I did something completely different. It is not just that we weren’t there with the OP it is also that we most likely assume we would respond in the way we would want to. Unfortunately we are all to human and the outcome is something different.

[a64pilot]

Forget the wasp spray, it’s ineffective, unless you have wasps.
It might just possibly trigger an allergic response and kill someone, rather remote chance, but most likely all it’s going to do is enrage your attacker.
Mace is a different matter, just be sure to not spray it into any wind.

Machetes and LOTR swords is nuts, unless your trained to use them.
In all honestly if you have a machete, best be sure it’s made from chocolate.

Bright lights, loud noises, and Mace is an awfully effective list of deterrents, however Mace in some places is illegal.

Why not buy a couple of inexpensive 12V motion detector flood lights off of Amazon? The will get t bright light in their face before they even get aboard.

[JPA Cate]

^^^^

The bright light in their faces is a good deterrent, you'd really rather they didn't come aboard.

Had you considered the skunk spray? A long while back, in the States, it was recommended for women to carry, because the smell sticks, and the perpetrator can be identified if he is found.

Ann

[Wotname]

Let's not forget that Rod has an early warning device on board and it worked very well in this instance.

Originally Posted by ramblinrod

Last night, about 2 am, I awoke to the dog growling. .............

[Jason Flare]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Forget the wasp spray, it’s ineffective, unless you have wasps.
It might just possibly trigger an allergic response and kill someone, rather remote chance,...

I agree. I wouldn’t want to go up against a shooter with my arsenal of insect repellents. But then there’s this:

With more funding available, Central Mass. schools investing in security - News - telegram.com - Worcester, MA

In schools across Worcester, teachers will find a brand-new assortment of potentially useful supplies waiting for them when they return to work next month.

But instead of staplers, pens and folders, the district’s new “Go Buckets” will be filled with door jams, zip ties, flashlights, wasp spray and other things that could come in handy during a school shooting.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by Sojourner

There is no abrasion in my attitude, either IRL or in my post, indeed calling it that is a bit abrasive in and of itself, which is a shame, since I really respect your posts. All I'm saying is that with my personal experiences, both mostly very good and a few very negative, dealing with intruders and/or people who wished to do me harm for a number of reasons (none of which was a result of my abrasive attitude, but all of whom felt it after), I can and will protect myself. My first lines of defense are my experience, sound security and sailing decisions, passive systems (sound bar, remember? also forgot to mention bars on all the hatches), then more aggressive, nonlethal options (like sprays), until I'm cornered. That's when I get really abrasive, and then you can believe someone is losing an arm, but it isn't going to be me.

My posts related to personal protection used to sound much like yours, but now my eight years of cruising experience has taught me otherwise. We still have weapons onboard, but we exercise much restraint and always give strangers the benefit of the doubt; I’d never assume a helpless swimmer clinging to a boat fender was a thief and call for my wife to “get the gun.”

I hope you have a similar cruising experience. Best wishes.

Ken

[Olddan1943]

The 'racking' of a 12ga pump in the dark of night has a way of curing constipation.

[Calif.Ted]

Originally Posted by Olddan1943

The 'racking' of a 12ga pump in the dark of night has a way of curing constipation.

Pump shotgun and rattlesnake, said to be "primal sounds" even if you never heard it before, it makes you freeze and the hair on your neck stand up.
I find a 4 D-cell Maglite comforting in such situations, good light and if you "drop'" it on someone it will leave a mark.

[DotDun]

Originally Posted by Olddan1943

The 'racking' of a 12ga pump in the dark of night has a way of curing constipation.