Sending a Mayday for Pirates

[Trvlmedic]

What a great question African Gypsys. I am currently within a few days of passing the Nicaraguan Banks where this occurred and am taking the following precautions. Because I'm doing it, doesn't mean it's right and I have a 32 year career in public service including carrying guns (but lets not go down the gun or political path with this post).

-Travel >100 miles offshore and >20 miles from atolls
-VHF (Channel 16 and 22) monitored in this area by USCG Cutters Patrolling
-Buddy boat very close proximity
-Lights out, AIS in receive only (no transmitting)
-EPIRB hiding location once activated
-Spare documents and monies hidden
-Dummy wallets and cell phones
-Iridium GO with regional USCG SAR Coordination centers numbers (the quicker you call them the more rapidly a UAV, Aircraft or Cutter can get to you; how do you think they have been capturing drug submarine traffic in record amounts)
-Trailing old halyards behind me with the hopes to take out their prop even though it may cost me a cleat.

I will say that I am rather disappointed with the naysayers that have responded to your appropriate question. The "it will not happen to me" attitude is the worst attitude you can have. There must be a lot of mathematicians here dealing with statistical analysis and probabilities as it relates to global criminal activities.

Just like an earthquake, economic crisis, winterizing your boat or home, etc.. The key is in preparation but don't overthink it and become paranoid. If you feel terrorized then the terrorists have already won. Just prepare like you are.

[Trvlmedic]

Here is the link that will help everyone believe (or not) that this stuff happens.


https://thenakedcanadian.wordpress.com

[IOM]

The thing about them jamming Ch16, is it is quite feasible for them to only be jamming your receiver . So yes you cant receive an answer, of that there is no doubt, so don't expect one.


If your radio is in good working condition, your antennae on top of the mast is most certainly higher than theirs, if they are in a little power boat, and even more so if they are using a hand held.


The height of your antennae on the mast will make your signal to someone else stronger and have greater range, so send your mayday anyway, giving all the detail you can including the fact that they are jamming you, so you cant receive an acknowledgement , and that you do have a DSC as an alternative means to communicate an acknowledgement .


So it could be quite feasible for someone within your usual radio range to hear your mayday on Ch16, and possibly come to your aide if you sent the message repeatedly without expecting any answer.



Obviously DSC would work better than voice, and may even be able to receive a reply

[CarlF]

The fact remains that without a link to the jamming VHF report, we should assume it's false like so many others.

Didn't I read recently that the military is now providing a free monthly armed escort ship to cruisers going to Trinidad (or was it somewhere else?). That seems like a better idea than DIY if you insist on going to a pirate hot spot.

[Wayne hoath]

Originally Posted by stormalong

Huh? Albania is no where near the route from Morocco to Spain.

Algeria would be my guess. As you say Albania is out of the question.

[Trvlmedic]

Originally Posted by CarlF

The fact remains that without a link to the jamming VHF report, we should assume it's false like so many others.

Didn't I read recently that the military is now providing a free monthly armed escort ship to cruisers going to Trinidad (or was it somewhere else?). That seems like a better idea than DIY if you insist on going to a pirate hot spot.

See post #17

[tarian]

How do you all know that he OP is not a Pirate himself /herself and is asking you all what to do so that this info can be passed on.
member for 2 years no posts , and a Handle African Gypsie
But OFC I could be completely wrong and just being the paranoid fool that i am , but you never know
As to the post about the boat following from a fishing boat , on a small outboard , does not sound like pirates to me , more likely a fisherman trying to sell his goods , ut always good to be cautious without pulling out the SAM missiles and blowing them out of the water OOPS sorry about that No no I dont like Red snapper anyways

[sailing_gal]

Oops- I was in a hurry, I meant Algeria!!!!! Sorry about that.

[sailing_gal]

I think that around poor countries, as in my experience off ALGERIA, it may just be a crime of opportunity. I think the guys on that fishing boat just saw us and thought there was probably stuff of value on-board. The interesting thing was, when we got into Spanish waters and were boarded by Spanish customs agents off of Cartagena near midnight, we told them of our experiences and they told us we were lucky the Moroccan police or Algerian police had not responded to us, because they would have robbed us and possibly worse! Hard to decide who to trust out there.

[Ferrari]

Originally Posted by sailing_gal

I had a close encounter with pirates when sailing in the Med, returning from Morocco to Spain. I stayed about 40 nm north of the Albanian coast to steer clear of iffy waters. Late in the afternoon, we encountered an Arabian fishing boat, about 30 feet, old, wooden boat, tending to some fishing buoys. We stayed clear, however, I suspect that they figured that they had some opportunity, since there were no other boats around and we were not so far away from them. At any rate, it was clear that they decided to pursue me, I suspect as a crime of opportunity. Their little boat's engine had a hard time catching up with my maximum speed of only 8.5 knots on flat water given that they decided to come after us when they were about 1/2 nm behind. We got on the VHF, channel 16, which was clear- and put in a call for assistance to anyone who could hear us. We got a Spanish Coast Guard station and we communicated our situation and lat and lon and a description of the boat that was pursuing us. Either their engine finally gave in or they heard us, either way, they quit their pursuit and when we could see from our radar that they were well over 5 nm from us, we told the Coast Guard they could stand down.

In the meantime, we had readied flare guns and big gaff hooks as our defensive weapons in case they got too close. We also agreed that if it looked like they were going to catch up to board us, we would ram them. My boat is pretty strong with 2 big anchors on the bowsprit and while I figured it would damage my boat, I was pretty sure I would much more severely damage, if not sink, their boat.

I would like to think that the VHF communication put them off. I can't say for sure.

No offence. This is a great story to tell at the pub or cocktail party ”I was returning from Morroco the Spain” is a great opening line.
I see no evidence of Piracy in your entertaining story, but guess you missed a fine opportunity to buy some really fresh fish, cheap from some fishermen (your term).
Invariably when the conversation with non sailors turns to open water sailing, its my experience the first question asked is “aren’t you afraid of Pirates” followed by ”do you have a gun on board”. My standard answer is “No and No”
“Most Pirates are busy on land Phishing the Internet for Suckers”.
Not as entertaining as your story I admit, but maybe more factual.

[Scorpius]

When we were sailing the Pacific coast from Mexico to Costa Rica, off Nicaragua a fellow cruiser felt threatened by a local panga chasing him. Being a HAM he put out a distress call - which was picked up by someone at a US Air Force base in Panama. A couple of F-16's were scrambled on a "training mission" and took care of the situation. I wonder if those "pirates' " hearing has returned yet?

Scorpius, being steel, has half-pipes welded around the hull as rub-rails. I've been thinking about drilling lots of little holes in them, setting up an igniter system, and hooking them to the propane tanks via a solenoid valve controlled from inside the cabin. French-fried pirate anyone? I got the idea from an anti-carjacking system being marketed in South Africa.

It's on the project list - along with 50 other things that will probably never get done as I prefer sailing to endlessly working on the boat. I guess I'll just have to count on ch. 16, DSC, my EPIRB, bear spray, the flare pistol, etc. Like most on here I refuse to carry firearms.

[sailing_gal]

No- it wasn't that kind of fishing boat. Clearly professional fishermen (4 young men) tending nets tied to buoys, inboard diesel motor, no radar, no AIS. A run down boat, though. I can guarantee they weren't trying to sell us fish....

[tarian]

Originally Posted by sailing_gal

No- it wasn't that kind of fishing boat. Clearly professional fishermen (4 young men) tending nets tied to buoys, inboard diesel motor, no radar, no AIS. A run down boat, though. I can guarantee they weren't trying to sell us fish....

Sorry but one would expect a rundown fishing boat , from how you described it would not have AIS and radar and probably no VHF , I also think it was fishermen and your mind went to a dark place, which is understandable in the circumstances , but we have heard so many horror stories that we start to believe everything.. but it is always best to be safe, although I think a little hasty on the VHF

[gaucho]

This Naked Canadian dude posted on all the sailing forums on Facebook. A goddam moron if you ask me. He has absolutely no proof he ran away from pirates. Having another boat or ship in the area (specially near the banks, where he was!) for an hour doesn't mean they are pursuing you. I really hate these types of people and sailors ... sadly many from richer countries up north. Stop fear monguering. I am well aware there have been and there are cases of piracy in that region. But writting the story, posting it everywhere, ONLY FROM YOU BELIEF you were being followed, is irresponsible and damaging to everyone. This is extremely sad we have people like this moron sailing the waters and trying to place the limelight on himself instead of making a down to earth, serious and professional report. I had some suspucious activity here, these are the time frames, these are the distances, these were the positions of these boats respective to my course, etc, etc. His tale sounds like the tale of a scared white man walking down a latino neighborhood at night. It really pissed me to no avail.

This is what I wrote on facebook to the original post:

This story has a lot of information on paranoia, not on pirates. Im not claiming they were NOT pirates, but you can neither claim they WERE pirates. I think there's a lot of paranoia with all of this going around. The way you write and re-tell the story is full of your own PERCEPTION, and not based on any facts that attest to piracy in any way. I believe it's great that as sailors we are being more careful and we share information of suspect activity or in case it happened on attempted/real situations. We need to be vigilant. But we also need to not feed paranoia. Maybe there is more information or the way you are portraying it is not the right one, but there is little evidence in your account that things happened the way you FEEL they happened.

In the end, this starts to border on a racist and damaging account.

[conchaway]

As a retired L.E.O., I would say that, unless you feel competent in using an AR 15, you should go with the Remington Mariner 12 gauge with the extended magazine.