Hostile acts against cruisers underway in the Caribbean

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by capn_billl

Good question, although in a port you are more likely to be within radio distance of help.



In a passage you are on your own.

Except...I dont know of any instances where a radio call has brought timely assistance to anyone. A few cases where help showed up after the fact, but none I know of that brought the calvary in to stop the attack.

One of the most effective strategies I know of is a strong secure boat. For example, I know of a few attacks on steel vessel where they basically just battened down the hatches and let the attackers wear theselves out...they then lost interest and left. One of these was a friend who was inside with a shotgun...just in case any of the bad guys did manage to gain entry...fortunately for all parties, they left.

[Island Time O25]

We did Havana to Colon in 2017. Hugged Cuba all the way to left turn to keep out of Gulfstream. Definitely closer than 12nm, more like 6 to 10nm distance. No issues with any Cuban authorities on the way.

But back in 2011 on a trip from St. Pete to Dry Tortugas to WPB we were buzzed a few turns by a very low flying F-something or other. That was scarry as we could feel the boom and whatnot.

[dannc]

Originally Posted by Island Time O25

...

But back in 2011 on a trip from St. Pete to Dry Tortugas to WPB we were buzzed a few turns by a very low flying F-something or other. That was scarry as we could feel the boom and whatnot.

There is a detachment of Florida Air National Guard F15s at Homestead so that may have been the plane that you saw. If the plane had two tails it was a F15.



We were sailing in Biscayne Bay decades ago and F16s were doing bomb runs on us. They did not come in low at all, but stayed up in altitude, pointed nose down, and did shallow dives on us before pulling up and away. There were four if I remember right and they would roll in one after the other. But they never buzzed us. Wish they had.



Later,
Dan

[Island Time O25]

None of our crew were knowledgeable enough to discern the exact make. It was the color of greenish camo with stars on the wings. Definitely US but not sure if Navy or AF. It was f*****g loud. There may have been some sort of training or games in the area, July 2011, as we saw a bunch of warships at some distance. But of course steered wide away from them.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by dannc

There is a detachment of Florida Air National Guard F15s at Homestead so that may have been the plane that you saw. If the plane had two tails it was a F15.



We were sailing in Biscayne Bay decades ago and F16s were doing bomb runs on us. [emoji3] They did not come in low at all, but stayed up in altitude, pointed nose down, and did shallow dives on us before pulling up and away. There were four if I remember right and they would roll in one after the other. But they never buzzed us. Wish they had. [emoji3]



Later,
Dan

Originally Posted by Island Time O25

None of our crew were knowledgeable enough to discern the exact make. It was the color of greenish camo with stars on the wings. Definitely US but not sure if Navy or AF. It was f*****g loud. There may have been some sort of training or games in the area, July 2011, as we saw a bunch of warships at some distance. But of course steered wide away from them.

There is also training air space W of Key West...this could also be what you encountered...jets doing training flights there are common.

All of the above are nothing more than training exercises.

[Rubicon King]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Petty theft is an annoyance in Bocas, especially for dinghy motors.

.

My dinghy motor would cost 4K to replace. not so petty to me. That said I would agree, Locks and chains help and a passive security system amps it up a bit. Personally, I'm betting on my hand to hand skills and steven segal knife throwing ability if needed. If I've drank too much I will throw the knife at all three visions in front of me.

[CarlF]

Originally Posted by Woodland Hills

I’m with you 100%! I always bring and declare at least one firearm to the Bahamas: there are a lot of Americans over there and they all have guns!

I find gun owners greatly overestimate the number of Americans who carry guns. Well under half of American households have any gun.

I've never taken a gun to the Bahamas nor seen anyone in line at Bahamas customs checking in a gun.

I once asked a Bahamas Customs agent who I was quite friendly with what percentage of boats checked in with guns. He guessed under 10%

And given the experience of my friend who was taken off his boat and thrown in jail overnight, then told he would be flow to Nassau and held at notorious Fox Hill prison until his trial, and threatened with seizure of his boat -- all over missing paperwork for a gun he had properly checked-in - you'd be pretty stupid to bring a gun but not declare it in the Bahamas.

[Arthurwg]

Trying to defend yourself with a gun against armed robbers is a fool's errand. A warning shot will most likely get you killed quickly, and you will likely lose any protracted gun battle. Even if you kill one of them you could easily stand trial for murder in the assailant's home country. It might be best to simply surrender and let yourself be robbed. If you do try to defend yourself, you should have at least an AK47 with full auto capability.

[LakeSuperior]

Originally Posted by CarlF

I find gun owners greatly overestimate the number of Americans who carry guns. Well under half of American households have any gun.

As of 2020, 42% of American households have at least one gun.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/...ing-a-firearm/

That is under half but not much IMHO!

[s/v Jedi]

We had too many friends getting killed from Nicaragua to Guatemala that we did the route through the Windward Passage as shown on our GPS track attached.

For the Bahamas: yes, ammo count must be accurate and in the log, like it always should be. We have checked in with guns multiple times but were never boarded by them. All yachts must check out, not just those with guns.

If guns are legal and you are legal to own and you respect check in procedures, the officials will fully support it and not bother you at all, let alone arrest you. That’s just bs.

[CatNewBee]

So which countries to avoid?
Venezuela, Nicaragua, what else?

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by CatNewBee

So which countries to avoid?
Venezuela, Nicaragua, what else?

Honduras, Guatemala, St Vincent, St Lucia. I think that’s it.

[mvweebles]

Jedi - what time of year did you run from Panama to Jamaica? How was the run? Would you do anything different?

Peter

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by mvweebles

Jedi - what time of year did you run from Panama to Jamaica? How was the run? Would you do anything different?

Peter

Here’s the actual track with time stamps, notes etc. https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/Jedi

We did it in hurricane season as it’s masochistic to do it when the trade winds blow. We just didn’t make the Windward Passage in one tack, mainly because of the current pushing us west at 1.4kts non stop.

It’s considered the 5th worst passage for sailors and while I still enjoyed it, I’m not eager to try the four that are worse

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

Honduras, Guatemala, St Vincent, St Lucia. I think that’s it.

And of course it varies based upon where you are in each country. Example: mainland Honduras is more trouble prone than the Bay Islands.

And even places like Pamama can have the random ugly events as have happened in the normally trouble free San Blas in recent years.