Safety in the Caribbean

[kitrob]

Myself, my wife and another couple are chartering a yacht in July. We pickup in Antigua and sail North to drop off in St Marteen.

We propose doing all the usual stuff including some hiking. This means leaving the yacht and possibly the tender ashore.

Could anyone advise if we are being realistic to think that we can do this without having either the boat entered or the tender stolen.

In NZ from where we hail, this would not be a problem but I am not sure if we could expect the same in the Caribbean.

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

[Zanshin]

Lock the yacht when not aboard and lock the dinghy both ashore and to the boat and that will be sufficient to prevent theft. Depending upon the boat layout you can lock the hatches at night, but generally thieves will look for targets of opportunity and not specifically go after inhabited boats since the risk of confrontation is too high for the amount of award.

[SAMPATICO]

Had dinghy stolen in broad daylight while tied alongside dock by customs.



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[krafthaus]

Originally Posted by Zanshin

Lock the yacht when not aboard and lock the dinghy both ashore and to the boat and that will be sufficient to prevent theft. Depending upon the boat layout you can lock the hatches at night, but generally thieves will look for targets of opportunity and not specifically go after inhabited boats since the risk of confrontation is too high for the amount of award.

We've had 4 weeks chartering from Grenada to Antigua the last 2 years. Agree with Zanshin which is exactly what we did and no problems. Suggest you read the cruising guides for more info but Antigua to St. Martin aren't real hot spots if you use common sense. Also refer to the Caribbean Security and Safety Net for more info.


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[SaltyTanned]

In July going north to St Maarten I would worry more about hurricanes than thieves.

[barnakiel]

West Indies is a broad place - some islands are 99.99% safe, others are X% unsafe.

Stuff and boats get stolen everywhere, in NZ too. See how other cruisers do in your specific area and ask your charter local representative they will advice accordingly.

Cheers,
b.