Pirates of the Caribbean

[1000 islands]

" piracy, suspicious incidents, robbery and burglary are on the rise in the Caribbean.
The 18 reports in 2014 soared to 27 in 2015. There are already more than 20 listed for 2016."

This is from a BBC story about piracy in the Caribbean increasing, "Yachters fight back."

I found it an interesting read.

Yachters fight back against real-life pirates of the Caribbean - BBC News


I hope this is in the correct forum.

[simonthepom]

Having spent the last 9 months in Eastern & Western Caribbean, I feel the article overstates the issue, as in, it relates to the whole Caribbean, which is simply not the case.

Lookout for the incoming FB shares and emails of the article from worried friends and family...



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[MarkJ]

I agree with Simon.

If you have your doors locked, if you have your dinghy locked, if you have a light in your cockpit, then even the less secure southern islands of Trinidad and SVG are not too bad.

But if you leave your door wide open onto the street in New York city what do you expect?
If you leave your car door open with keys in the ignition what do you expect?
If your open front door, window or fire escape is shrouded in darkness so a criminal is covered from view, what do you expect?

Also... If you are so stupid to not lock up you are putting me and all other cruisers at higher risk too. Once they know what easy targets we are they come in droves. So dont be selfish. Lock up.

[model 10]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

So dont be selfish. Lock up.

There are some people on the rio dulce who never lock up their dinghy down town. I had somebody say to me once " why are you locking up your dinghy? There has never been one stolen here". However they are always stealing them from boats out at anchor and from the marinas also. I'm not sure they steal each others outboards only the selfish gringo's dinghy. Always lock up.

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by Guy

There are some people on the rio dulce who never lock up their dinghy down town. I had somebody say to me once " why are you locking up your dinghy? There has never been one stolen here". However they are always stealing them from boats out at anchor and from the marinas also. I'm not sure they steal each others outboards only the selfish gringo's dinghy. Always lock up.

I noticed that at Bruno's. We always locked up, my way of thinking was that mine will be overlooked as the easier pickings are taken. Same thing at night, dinghy always picked up off the hip with the main sheet and locked to the boat.


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[ALAIN97133]

Originally Posted by 1000 islands

" piracy, suspicious incidents, robbery and burglary are on the rise in the Caribbean. The 18 reports in 2014 soared to 27 in 2015. There are already more than 20 listed for 2016." This is from a BBC story about piracy in the Caribbean increasing, "Yachters fight back." I found it an interesting read. Yachters fight back against real-life pirates of the Caribbean - BBC News I hope this is in the correct forum.

Pirates or just poor kids, the result is the same: At night, NEVER leave your dinghy behind your sailboat when you anchor in St-Martin/Sint Maarten lagoon Could be the same elsewhere, but I only got first hand stories from sailors anchored in St-Martin/Sint Maarten... I saw quite a few inflatable dinghies hoisted (Using halyard) above water level alongside sailboats with engine on Cheers !