Security at Anchor Eastern Caribbean

[travellerw]

Originally Posted by ffelker

To the list of places that feel sketchy I would add Soufriere and Vieux Fort in St Lucia.

Yup.. I agree with this as well.. We avoid these places too.. However, our buddy boat just stayed overnight in Vieux Fort about a month ago and reported no problems. Still, I would be extra careful there.

[daletournier]

Over the last 8-9 years I've had intruders 3 times. Twice they have come into my boat while I've slept, you'd be surprised how quiet they can be.

I now have security bars. I believe these are good investments if you are travelling anywhere where the gap between our wealth and the locals is great. The bars look quite neat and they allow me to get a good night sleep with out worrying if someone's inside.

Last year I had a physical altercation with a guy on deck at 2am, I wasn't hurt but I do not want this to happen again again. I've wired a second switch to the horn downstairs. In the future if I believe anyone is on deck I will turn the decklights on an activate the horn, I would rather them scurry off prior to me venturing out.

I also now have the cockpit well lit up, which I believe is a very good deteriant.

Voilence to cruisers in the world is very sensationalzed and exaggerated, it's rare. Theft is a bigger problem.

[daletournier]

Actually make it 4 times. I was once boarded underway in the Philippines, it happened quickly and could have escalated badly. This was the only time I feel that it could of got out of hand if not managed well.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by sailon46

...Fount a local kid with an experimental dingy half sunken to take me to my boat for $20 and the wife. FYI watch out there. Hopefully you won't have similar stories to share.
Ernie on the Mary Jane

Wow! What did the wife have to say about that?

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by travellerw

Yup.. I agree with this as well.. We avoid these places too.. However, our buddy boat just stayed overnight in Vieux Fort about a month ago and reported no problems. Still, I would be extra careful there.

We skipped St Lucia too the last time we did the E Carib. I try to avoid spending money in places that choose not to deal with crime against cruisers.
Your comment that a buddy boat had no problems would be true for most boats, as crime against cruisers is not high. I have a friend who was on their boat anchored in Vieux Fort and had no problems. It was the same night that another cruiser was murdered on their boat.

We use a deck alarm system that uses strain gauges under the deck to detect an intruder. If they get on the swimstep, deck lights go on and the dog starts barking. If they continue to the companionway the alarm blares. The foredeck is also monitored. One thing I don't like about the hatch bar approach is that they can block there use as a fire exit.

[daletournier]

With hatch bar system I've left the very big front hatch unbarred. This we close at night, still lots of ventilation. If there was a fire we have an exit at the front and the companion way gate comes out in seconds from the inside at the back, two escape routes.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by daletournier

With hatch bar system I've left the very big front hatch unbarred. This we close at night, still lots of ventilation. If there was a fire we have an exit at the front and the companion way gate comes out in seconds from the inside at the back, two escape routes.

Makes sense if you have the extra forward hatch. I'd want the companionway bars easily /quickly removable too.

[J-Squared]

Originally Posted by Sea Lyon

We are planning on taking the Thorny Path this fall, our desired destination will be Grenada for layup next summer. At differnent times we have seen threads on here showing security gates and bars for companion way and hatches to be used while anchored. They seem to be stainless steel panels allowing ventilation.

We realize areas of Windwards have been experiencing some problems and will do our best to bypass these areas.

My question is, are these security measures common on boats cruising these waters? We are not overly paranoid, but on the other hand don't want to be only boat in anchorage without, and become an easy target.

Realizing this is not a simple yes or no question, I want to get a feel for what people that are actually cruising this area are doing.

www.piratelights.com

check out the videos, this system works. I've had installed on our boat for two years... we were a test boat and have gone through several upgrades. they all worked but current system is great. low cost and it works...

[sck5]

Have spent a lot of time anchoring out in the Windwards and Leewards over the past 10 years. Cant remember more than one or two boats with bars and they werent using them. The problem is that you are going to want your hatches open and if they ARE open then what is the point of barring the companionway?

Far better to pay attention to places with high reported crime and don't go there. Also anchor farther out than is comfortable to swim and ALWAYS lift and lock your dink.

We never had a problem and spent a lot of time in the Grenadines, St. Lucia, Martinique and Dominica. We wouldn't anchor in Vieux Fort and avoided the Bat Cave side of Soufriere. Gave the entire island of St. Vincent a miss except for the anchorage behind Young's Island where you basically pay the local boat boys to watch your boat.

I think too many people simply tell the boat boys to get lost. We always bought at least a loaf of bread from them and made friends. If one of them "adopts" you then everyone leaves you alone.

And did I mention to always lock your dink?

[sck5]

And about 10 votes in favor of skipping the THorny Path. It may LOOK better on the chart because you can stay in sight of land but after 600 miles of pounding upwind you will wish two things:

1. That your wife didnt abandon your adventure in the Turks and Caicos to fly home
2. That you had spent 10 days going the offshore instead of 3 months bashing upwind

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by J-Squared

www.piratelights.com

check out the videos, this system works. I've had installed on our boat for two years... we were a test boat and have gone through several upgrades. they all worked but current system is great. low cost and it works...

What false alarm rate do you see with the IR movement detectors. How many do you have installed? These things can be susceptible to a lot that goes on on a normal boat, like birds, moving booms, sunlight, etc.

[J-Squared]

(What false alarm rate do you see with the IR movement detectors. How many do you have installed? These things can be susceptible to a lot that goes on on a normal boat, like birds, moving booms, sunlight, etc.)

great questions, in the past a typical motion sensor would provide numerous false positives, a real issue with dependability.

The Pirate Light Sensor is a PIR sensor (Passive Infrared), it has been extensively tested with small pets, and will omit heat signatures from pets in the 45 lbs range or less. this means small birds will have no affect on the PIR Sensor.

Booms and objects without a heat signature have no effect on the sensors.

the biggest issue we have found is when the temperatures reach above 100 degrees for a prolonged time frame, (typically daytime only). The issue; the sensor is slower to pick up the heat signature of humans as the surrounding temperature of the direct environment are close to 100 degrees. this doesn't mean it wont pick up the movement, it is just slower at distinguishing the temperature differences.

Pirate Lights has over 100 units in use over the last two years, we have tested everything from cheap Chinese sensors to the very expensive thermal imaging and Pyroelectric PIR sensors. We ultimately source our sensor from a high quality manufacturer who produces sensor used in the fire-protection arena.

all components of the systems carry a standard two year warranty.

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by travellerw

Good luck on the Thorny Path and I look forward to seeing you down here. Frankly its the greatest cruising ground on earth.

Been everywhere have you?

[hpeer]

We did the Thorny Path from Jacksonville to Grenada starting Dec 15. It had its moments but overall it wasn’t too bad. Maybe we just got lucky, I know a couple of others found it more difficult. Then again I’ve twice moved a boat from Newfoundland to Delaware so maybe I’m used to it. LOTS of motor sailing.

We had no security issues either. One instance where some children annoyed us and another fellow lurked at Chateaubelaire Bay, St. Vincent. We did skip St Lucia and just Yellow Flagged thru. Marigot Bay was crammed, we took a very poor set on our 125’ Mantus. We went into Laborie instead of Viuex Fort, that was a bad idea, its a very small anchorage and rolly, we were between breakers with light wind 90° to the surge. We would have been better to do an overnight or two and skip altogether. Some friends went into the marina at Marigo Bay and loved it, stayed a few nights.

[Makena05]

In our experience on our Catamaran, we did not have those bars and were fine. We cruised from the Turks & Caicos to Grenada. There are some areas that show more dangers than others. St. Lucia and Especially ST. Vincent are hot areas. Grenada tended to be unoccupied boats that got broken into. Canouan seemed to have the most boardings while owners were on board but the focus seemed to be charter boats. Vieques PR has a lot of dinghy thefts. So what do you do? Lock up your dinghy with the best possible lock/SS chain/cable that you can. Then raise the dinghy for overnight storage. Lock up the cabin at night in the southern islands....pretty much South of Guadeloupe. Don't leave anything of relative value out in the cockpit at night. Find "stash holes" for cash and valuables on your boat and use them. Don't put everything in one spot, spread it around. If someone boards they will be looking for easy to grab valuables and they will tear things apart to find them....but will be in a hurry. We actually bought a very inexpensive motion detector alarm at Harbor Freight that had motion detector outside with the alarm inside....while we were never boarded it made for better sleeping.



After having said all of that, we had no negative experiences, met wonderful people, and loved the adventure. Be open and friendly and you will be rewarded with the same.



Fair Winds!