Common Objects to Defend Your Boat at Sea

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

I keep an arsenal of bad jokes at my disposal. These I hurl at any perps within sound of my voice. Works like a charm...most of the time. !!!
In the event the perps make it past the bad jokes, I offer them cheap warm beer I fish out of the bilge, which is usually sufficient to get them to depart at the soonest possible opportunity.

My wife prefers to hit them over the head with a bag of two week old dirty laundry...let me tell you, this is a weapon of mass destruction in her hands. A direct hit is not necessary, just being downwind of said bag is enuff to thwart even the most resilient of perps.

When all else fails, I have a 25 mm flare gun, the sight alone, when seen pointed at you, resembles that of a Howitzer, sufficient to cower the mast aggressive of people.

In the 35 years or so, that I have been afloat, the only time I ever had a problem with a perp was right here in good 'ole USA, when a loud voice (mine), promising immediate severe bodily harm was sufficient to send said perp on his way.

What? No cow catapult or royal hand grenades?

[FastTrout]

Firearms are the best, but some places don’t like them, also requires time to be proficient like any sport.

A good bow is a option, most places have no problem with bows and a modern compound bow, well a good bow will take down game far larger than a man, again requires practice, also a fun sport.

Make shift, a empty wine bottle, rag, 2 parts fuel to one part liquid laundry detergent, if you connect with a boarding vessel, you will now be the last thing on their mind. If you are not a good thrower and you hit your own boat, now the criminals will be the last thing on your mind.

Squirt gun of bleach to the eyes will be rather bothersome

Or just grab the biggest kitchen knife you can and channel all the crazy and rage you have, even armed police and soldiers want nothing to do with a crazy with a knife

[billgewater]

Pirates? No, not at sea!. The real pirates are some of the land based ship chandlers, customs fees, lift out yards, insurance brokers, lawyers. And they all smile as they fleece you. They will even give you a receipt so years later, you can relive the affront.
Your only defense is that lump of fatty material between your ears. You use it to make informed rational decisions as to which one is going to fleece you least.

[Djarraluda]

Early 80's we had a guy in HK who ran charters through known pirate areas. He swore by the use of a grenade launcher.
His reasoning was that any gun required accuracy not always possible from a small boat but a grenade only had to be in the broad area of said pirate boat to cause sufficient damage to deter the chaps.
Having said that, of course they were illegal in colonial HK as were all firearms without specific permits and shooting club membership. They even they needed the gun locked in one location (at the range) and firing mechanism in another police controlled area, if I recall correctly. It was as a result of those riots in 60's I believe.
Roger

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by Franziska

Guns might be legal for US flagged boats and/or US crew. They are not for most other nations.
So we come up with our own less letal deterrents.
Or even try a more peaceful route. I guess if it's not about hostages or rape the more peaceful route has almost a similar chance of success.

We are Dutch, on a Dutch flagged boat, legal guns. When we still lived in Holland, we had legal guns. My first gun was put in my hands by the Queen, to defend all our freedom.

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Why would you sail in pirate infested waters? Why?

This is always my first question for those of you who are concerned about fending off nasty people. If you thought a certain place had a serious risk of needing this approach: Why Go There?!?

Exactly our thought. Then we found ourselves in Grenada, totally safe place, until hurricane Ivan happened and in the aftermath the gangs started looting the boats... then the shooting started. Sometimes trouble comes for you and you will have the choice: stand up and defend yourself, your loved ones and your home/livelihood or throw yourselves at their mercy.

Last year we sailed unarmed from Panama to the US, relocating our boat to Florida for off season storage. This brings one through pirate alley, where cruising rallies get naval escorts etc. We stayed 200nm offshore and had a most unpleasant passage from Panama straight to Jamaica. No pirates though.

[mako]

I suppose you need to be careful what you carry depending on each country's laws. Mace, bear spray, baseball bat, Japanese samurai sword.

I remember when I was in Qatar that a guy got arrested because he was carrying handcuffs. That is considered police equipment there and it is illegal for civilians to own them.

[vlathom]

As a woman and cruising with my husband, I appreciate the practical advice from Jdege. I do not want to be inhibited by thinking thoughts like, "Is this legal?" at the moment I confront someone illegally boarding our boat.

There's probably an article here for a boating magazine.

Thank you, Jdege.

[mvweebles]

Sailing Project Atticus video this week was on security measures. Nothing earth shattering that hasn't already been discussed in this thread, but it is a good video to watch.

https://youtu.be/-ydIsagRtwg

[MicHughV]

I think the best deterrent is to sail with a buddy boat..9 times out of 10, I find that I'm usually sailing along with someone else...I'd say 10 times out of 10, I'm usual anchored in relatively close proximity to someone I know...or several people know...

[StuM]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

I think the best deterrent is to sail with a buddy boat..9 times out of 10, I find that I'm usually sailing along with someone else...I'd say 10 times out of 10, I'm usual anchored in relatively close proximity to someone I know...or several people know...

The you don't have to outrun the pirates. Just the buddy boat

[BlueH2Obound]

Originally Posted by Chotu

Hmmm. Well that stinks.
I was stopped in NY be federal agents and questioned heavily once.
They asked about firearms and I did not try to lie.
I said what I had, said where they were located (locked away from the driving compartment) and told the full truth .
I also said it was legal for me to carry them passing through the area and they agreed, though one of the junior officers had to be corrected by the senior officer. YNMV I guess. Kind of annoy. Some things should just be federal.

We moved our own firearms numerous times, every time we moved within CONUS while I was in the military. It IS legal to transport from a location where you can legally own the firearms, TO a location where you can legally own the firearms provided they are secured and out of reach, not withstanding the laws of the area you pass through . . . BUT if you STOP in any of those localities, in a manner which in ANY WAY can be misconstrued as not necessary for your travel, you NOW fall under the local laws . . . Examples cited by JAG included stopping to visit relatives, stopping to do any tourist activities, EVEN STOPPING TO EAT can be construed as temporarily taking up residence . . .

[waterman46]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

I wonder if there is a panga fishing boat forum that has lots of threads about trying to trade a $100 fish for some matches or a beer to a cruising boat, but getting attacked with flares etc.

I personally find some cruisers plans of attack to be ludicrous and at best only ends up hurting themselves, and at worst turns a simple petty robbery into a life and death issue.

Amen to that. There are many types of pirate attacks, obviously from the various accounts. What we face in the Americas is possibly quite different from the Somalians. So here I refer to the type of piracy that has occurred in the Western Hemisphere.



I've always thought the best course of action if a panga comes alongside with lots of men, unless I could rig up a torpedo launcher (just kidding) would be to not offer any resistance to these types of attacks. They really want money and valuables, so I would give them anything they wanted. It's replaceable. My life is not.



I think its stupid to think you can resist an attack by 10 hungry and desperate men, even if all they have is machetes and you have any weapon short of an actual firearm and are willing to kill. And they have been known to attack in several pangas at the same time.



Now, having firearms on my boat is a non-starter. The hassle of declaring and registering them, and having them confiscated until I leave, is not worth the slim chance I would need them. Some countries search your boat with dogs when you enter, and sometimes when you leave. I think those dogs will find any hidden ammunition or firearms - they are very well trained.



More than that, I can't see myself shooting and killing anyone whose intentions are not clearly to kill me outright, but only to board and steal. If I did that, I think I would be facing a very long prison sentence or a very short one with a very bad ending.



As far as the Nicaraguan/Honduras East Coast area, we traveled out beyond the farthest cay when we passed it at night. No problems, luckily all the fishermen out there, and there were dozens, apparently all struggling to make an honest living.

[waterman46]

Originally Posted by jdaltonpe

Back to the subject at hand. I heard a very interesting suggestion to help deter pirates approaching at sea. Trail one or two long black or dark blue polyethylene floating lines that are difficult to see. When the pirate skiff approaches you may have to manoeuvre a little to make it work but wrapping their propeller in line sounds like a pretty good non lethal way to disable their vessel. Cut away the line and carry on while they are left to sort out their inconvenience.

Better than that, heavy monofilament fishing line. You could not see it, even in daytime. If deployed from a point low and near the stern, it could not be noticed until up very close.

But once they learn your defense, they will be back, they will know how to avoid it, and they will be PO'd!

[Bill Seal]

I once posted a humorous (I thought) picture of a small 9mm gatling gun to mount on the bow, and got my knuckles rapped for it so my next suggestion is to buddy boat with a trained kracken.

[FastTrout]

Originally Posted by waterman46

Amen to that. There are many types of pirate attacks, obviously from the various accounts. What we face in the Americas is possibly quite different from the Somalians. So here I refer to the type of piracy that has occurred in the Western Hemisphere.



I've always thought the best course of action if a panga comes alongside with lots of men, unless I could rig up a torpedo launcher (just kidding) would be to not offer any resistance to these types of attacks. They really want money and valuables, so I would give them anything they wanted. It's replaceable. My life is not.



I think its stupid to think you can resist an attack by 10 hungry and desperate men, even if all they have is machetes and you have any weapon short of an actual firearm and are willing to kill. And they have been known to attack in several pangas at the same time.



Now, having firearms on my boat is a non-starter. The hassle of declaring and registering them, and having them confiscated until I leave, is not worth the slim chance I would need them. Some countries search your boat with dogs when you enter, and sometimes when you leave. I think those dogs will find any hidden ammunition or firearms - they are very well trained.



More than that, I can't see myself shooting and killing anyone whose intentions are not clearly to kill me outright, but only to board and steal. If I did that, I think I would be facing a very long prison sentence or a very short one with a very bad ending.



As far as the Nicaraguan/Honduras East Coast area, we traveled out beyond the farthest cay when we passed it at night. No problems, luckily all the fishermen out there, and there were dozens, apparently all struggling to make an honest living.

The peaceful thing doesn’t always turn out well, if you end up below decks with them, or on land you end up in a car with them, your chance of a good outcome is quite low.

Secondly you need to consider that YOU are the valuable, sure you got some cash on the boat, but only your person will be able to get into your back accounts, and how much would your frantic parents and loved ones pay to get you back?

10 scum buckets, watch some of the videos of leftist mobs attacking random people in the US, most times when they attack someone who majorly fights back, and the first attackers head gets turned into a canoe the others scamper off. It’s just like discovery channel, when it seems the prey is going to be too costly, the hyenas look for other prey.

Also if you did have a encounter at sea with men who were attacking you, you defended yourself and the poor life choices permanently catch up with one of the would be attackers, who are you going to turn yourself in to? The local 3rd world police?