As someone who's spent 6-8 months per year for the last 5 years in
Central and South America I will agree that these things do happen.
Then again, open up your newpaper and see what goes on in your area.
Most people would never go anywhere if they read the crime reports for
the cities that they were interested in visiting.

The majority of time it's petty theft that you need to be worred about.
Dinghies, motor, stuff you left on the side of the boat, etc. And most
of the time taking basic precautions will prevent a large portion of
this. (Then again I had my dinghy and 15 HP motor stollen in Roatan,
Honduras when it was lifted on davits and locked to the boat. I suspect
that was due to us giving a ride to a local who scoped out the
situation. Don't get me going on Honduras...)

Be aware of your surroundings and listen to the radio nets. You'll
figure out where not to go. A lot of times these acts of "piracy" occur
in areas which are known to be dangerous and a stupid cruiser will
anchor there alone.

It's not like you're sailing along whne you suddenly see a skull and
crossbones appear on the horizon and then you're boarded with grappling
hooks. That's the stuff of movies.

-- Geoff


(Bob) wrote in :

Yes, piracy is a problem. Around central america, honduras, the n.
coast of venezuela, private sailing vessels are attacked. i'm a ham
radio operator and have personally been involved in 2 rescues over the
last few years. not many, unless, of course, it's your boat and you
get shot.

rescue is iffy. the honduran navy, for example, does not operate at
night.

On Tue, 26 Oct 2004 21:56:12 GMT, "Falky foo"
wrote:

Just getting into the cruising lifestyle.. saw a lame post here about
piracy on the sea, but it did bring to mind some stories I've heard
about problems people have had, especially in Mexico. My questions
a

Is piracy a problem at all really? Or only in certain areas and only
rarely?

Is the government seizure of boats in Mexican water a problem? A
family friend was in Mexican water when his boat was boarded and
searched by, apparently, the Federales. He had a couple of shotguns
on board for protection. They arrested him, charged him with running
guns, and extorted a bunch of money before letting him go, but they
kept the boat and the guns.

Common?



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