On Wed, 23 Mar 2005 15:22:09 -0400, Terry Spragg
wrote:

rhys wrote:

On Sun, 20 Mar 2005 11:07:56 -0500, Mike G
wrote:


IF you are not sure of a situation keep the firearm close at hand and
out of sight and don't go waving it around like it's a magic wand. Keep
it as your "ace in the hole".

If you don't think you can do that don't waste money on a firearm. It'll
only get you into more trouble then you would have been in without it.


Whatever one's stance on guns in yachts this is very, very good
advice. I haven't made up my mind yet, and I would have to train and
get dozens of permits, etc., but I do agree that if you bring it out,
don't stop shooting until everyone's dead or down.

Of course, if you're wrong and you've killed the crew of a harmless
bumboat, you'll rot in a tropical prison or make the Al-Jazeera
"Beheading of the Day", but that's the chance you take.

R.

Isn't it strange, the distance to which paranoia can press one?

Or prudence. I have faith in the local police and my own abilities to
judge arming myself in the city I live unnecessary and probably
self-defeating. Going up the Red Sea, the north east part of South
America, or Indonesia is another thing entirely. There, the choice
seems to be "avoid entirely" or "consider deterrence".

I choose the pen.

Well, I choose the keyboard, but the principle's the same.

If I was a societal engineer, terror would have to be a major tool.

It is already. The threat of terror is eroding democracy from the
inside out. Certain Western leaders are Osama's henchmen, although I
doubt they perceive that very much.

If they are not 'after you', you relax, right? To be competitive,
you need to be scared. A nervous trigger shoots in many directions.

Hmm. In certain places, it appears that I can be minding my own
business in international waters, being a good little Citizen of the
Sea, and yet local malcontents and brigands will seek me out, rob me
and kill me and my family. What have I got to lose by taking a few of
them with me...in the last extreme, of course. It is possible that
displaying a willingness to fight back will anger the theives even
more. Or perhaps it will send them off to seek easier prey.

The history of high seas piracy is quite instructive here. Somali and
Indonesian pirates don't appear to be different in kind or moral tone
than Barbary pirates or the buccanneers of the Carribbean in the 18th
century.

How would you inspire a nation?

Is that my job?

At least the RCMP has the guts to admit that they can't defend
against every madman.

Neither can I, but organized yacht looting isn't mad, it's just the
most vicious kind of local entrepreneurship.

snipping of rambling discourse

Overall, BEST weapon for a sailboat: satellite linked security
cameras, or counterfeit warning placards complete with phoney
satellite dome, and a flamethrower disguised as a beer can or vent
cowl, Zippo in hand. Doubt not, a spray of gasoline in the face and
chest from a beer can full of it, accompanied by a deft c'ling,
shcict, poof, and buddy is all lit up!

Well, yeah, that AND a 12-gauge disguised as a boat hook. Options are
the sailor's friend.

First, you offer him a real beer, show that he is on live tv, and
his mother might be watching, "Say Hi!", then, you shoot him with
his own gun, after you help him into the water to put out the flames.

The latest in reality television: Torch the Third-world Pirate!

All you need is a laptop with a camera, to jab his brains out with a
pen and a line, hook and sinker.

Just keep him unparanoid enough to not worry about guns on boats,
again. You are far more likely to get swindled by a bank or government.

Why do you think I want to world-cruise in the first place?