Hostile acts against cruisers underway in the Caribbean

[Woodland Hills]

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 think some of you misunderstood this post: I keep a weapon onboard to protect me from the Americans. They are an often heavily armed people who can be quite quick to turn to deadly violence, just read their newspapers or watch their tv news. You didn’t think I kept guns in my car, boat and home to protect myself from immigrants or foreign tourists did you? It’s my fellow citizens who scare the hell out of me!

[donradcliffe]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

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

Don't be a tease, give us all of the worst five.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

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 [emoji3]

Of course, going the other way the WP aint so bad...can be a great sail in fact.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

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.

Exactly. We had one friend murdered in Panama but it was not by a local so I didn’t count that but all these countries can be pretty rough.

[Apollo19.5]

Originally Posted by Woodland Hills

I think some of you misunderstood this post: I keep a weapon onboard to protect me from the Americans. They are an often heavily armed people who can be quite quick to turn to deadly violence, just read their newspapers or watch their tv news. You didn’t think I kept guns in my car, boat and home to protect myself from immigrants or foreign tourists did you? It’s my fellow citizens who scare the hell out of me!

You sir, win the internet today! LMAO

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

Exactly. We had one friend murdered in Panama but it was not by a local so I didn’t count that but all these countries can be pretty rough.

Yes, I remember that event...way nasty...psycho killer. No one can plan/prepare for that.

There was a cruiser murdered a few seasons ago in the San Blas by Kunas. That was quite a shock I think to both the cruising community and the Kuna community. So radically uncharacteristic. The Kuna community rounded them up promptly and turned them over to Panamanian authorities. I assume these were Kuna who spent some time in Panama City and picked up some bad habits there (but dont know for sure).

More recently there have been some violent attacks around Nombre de Dios, Linton Bay, and Portobelo.

However, more to the subject of the thread, Ive never heard of any attacks against cruisers underway in Panamanian waters. In fact in all of the Carib I only know of 3 areas where that has occurred: off the N Hondruan Coast, Nicaraguan Banks, and in route to Trinidad.

Ive made the run back and forth along the Panama coast between Bocas and the San Blas many times and never even seen a suspicious boat.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Yes, I remember that event...way nasty...psycho killer. No one can plan/prepare for that.

There was a cruiser murdered a few seasons ago in the San Blas by Kunas. That was quite a shock I think to both the cruising community and the Kuna community. So radically uncharacteristic. The Kuna community rounded them up promptly and turned them over to Panamanian authorities. I assume these were Kuna who spent some time in Panama City and picked up some bad habits there (but dont know for sure).

More recently there have been some violent attacks around Nombre de Dios, Linton Bay, and Portobelo.

However, more to the subject of the thread, Ive never heard of any attacks against cruisers underway in Panamanian waters. In fact in all of the Carib I only know of 3 areas where that has occurred: off the N Hondruan Coast, Nicaraguan Banks, and in route to Trinidad.

Ive made the run back and forth along the Panama coast between Bocas and the San Blas many times and never even seen a suspicious boat.

They attempted to intercept us off the coast of Venezuela, near Isla Margarita. I think the complete Venezuelan coastline is a risk.

[avant]

The Panama posse rally is assembling ‘convoys’ on an as-possible basis and is assisting with vessel tracking through ‘pirate ally’. You might want to check that out.

[rougewave]

I think a person could hide a revolver on their boat that could never be found, so many places....

Originally Posted by On the rode

I cruised the Bahamas in 2014 for 9 weeks and have lots of friends who have cruised the Bahamas since then for extended periods of time. None had any problems requiring a firearm. I own firearms and was an armorer in the Army. I am not opposed to firearms, but I would suggest that you research the rules regarding firearms aboard in the Bahamas. As I understand it, many places around the World require you to surrender your firearms when you enter their jurisdiction, and regardless of how far your travels in their jurisdiction take you and where you are planning to go next, you first have to travel back to your point of entry to retrieve your firearms. Not very practical in many instances.

Good luck.

[hlev00]

Originally Posted by nolakennedys

Will pray for a safe passage for y'all! When I cruise to the Bahamas I am planning on being armed. Will declare properly of course. Just won't take any chances these days. Lower Caribbean i am still researching laws regarding it.

Stay out of Nassau and you will be fine. Even Nassau is mostly okay. My wife and I hitchhiked on many of the islands, except New Providence, and whether picked up by tourists or locals it was always a wonderful and educational experience.

[Sailguy61]

I sailed from Linton Bay, Panama to Cozumel, MX, then on to Kemah, Texas last March 2020. I stayed 100+ miles off the coast of Nicaragua due to some pirating concerns closer to shore there. Check Noonsite, www.safetyandsecuritynet.org



My crew and I encountered what turned out to be a 50 ft fishing vessel (very rusty & cammo netting covering the back) about 105 miles off the eastern most coastline of Nicaragua. It was all hands on deck for sure because the vessel was turning back and forth on our heading from about 15 miles out. We passed within 150 yards and could make out 3 men onboard. We saw a turtle surface nearby and assumed they were simply out for a catch. We had spear guns and signal guns at the ready.....just in case.

[captivacapt]

I carry a half dozen cans of Bear Repellent, won't stop a bullet, I'm not going down without a fight.

[shelbybob]

Better to have and not need than to need and not have no matter where you are

[Pete the Cat]

Originally Posted by mvweebles

I delivered a 60 foot trawler yacht from Colon to Ft Lauderdale in March 2003. At the time there were either no unusual piracy issues off the Nicaraguan coast or I was unaware of them. On this passage, the conditions were predominantly NE winds and persistent Force 5/6 conditions and it was a struggle to make progress to the east. It was a bit of a grind even in a well found 60 footer. There was constant spray over the decks for 80% of the 3 day run to round Cuba. It would really suck on a sailboat. You may want to be mindful of whether you can actually lay the desired course to the east of San Andreas

I plan to do the run within the next year to bring my boat from Ensenada to Florida. This will be a more leisurely run (the above delivery was Newport Beach CA to Ft Lauderdale in 25 days with quick stop in Acapulco and another in Panama). I am gently coaxing my wife to warm to the idea and assembled the attached map of possible stops along the way to avoid more than a few nights at sea at any one run.

Although piracy off Nicaragua has been quieter in recent few years, the severity of the attacks were disturbing enough that I will avoid the area at all costs. As BelizeSailor noted, the pangas have gone great distances - almost to San Andreas, 100nms offshore.

Depending on weather, we may go east of Cuba with a stop in Port Antonio Jamaica instead of the Yucatan Channel. It adds about 400 nms. It would have been a better choice for my 2003 run.

Good luck. Please update us!

Peter Attachment 233725

Good luck with that plan of a a 25 day "leisurely" trip from Ensenada to Florida. I am thinking you have not done that trip before. I have. You are not figuring wind delay crossing the Gulf of Tehuanepec or the delays at the Canal for getting paperwork and advisors cleared. I post this in case someone reading this thinks this is possible. Maybe in a US warship who do not even have to slow down much going through the Canal, but in a recreational boat--even a power boat operating 24/7 (and nuclear powered so they do not have to stop for fuel) there is nothing leisurely about your plan from my experience. In reading these posts, folks, about weapons and routes I urge folks to be very skeptical. There is a lot of misinformation posted in this thread based on my trips through here. A lot from folks who have more dreams (and nightmares) than experience in the area.

[Paul Howard]

When we sailed up from Panama we stopped at Providencia and then sailed round the west end of Cuba to Key West.
We were boarded by an exhausted small songbird near the west end of Cuba.
It hopped around the cockpit for a while and then went inside the salon of our catamaran. I gently put it in the shower stall pan and left some soggy bread and water for it, but unfortunately it died the next day.