On Tue, 24 May 2005 14:00:17 -0400, Larry W4CSC
wrote:
Don W wrote in
m:
What makes you think that they are rich?
Real poor boaters don't go on round-the-world cruises to this exotic a
place, very often.
Besides, poor boaters I know are smarter than to go around unarmed. You
try to board them, you'll find yourself looking into the business end of
some pretty heavy hardware.
I only know a few poor boaters this crazy.....(c;
Firstly, if you look at a map of the world and then wind patterns you
will see that from Australia and New Zealand that, unless one wishes
to go east around Cape Horn in the roaring 40s, there are only two
routes to Europe.
1 Around the top of Australia and thence down to Mauritius and the
Cape of Good Hope - the long way.
2. From the top of Australia either through South East Asia to the Red
Sea or direct to Sri Lanka and thence to the Red Sea. Either way means
that you have to pass through the Gulf of Aden where there have been
many recent attacks.
If one passes through SEA then the other pirate areas are in the
southern Phillippines which can be avoided by sailing through
Indonesia and the Malacca Straits. This area can easily be avoided by
sailing up the Malaysian side of the Straits (which are heavily
patroled and are devoid of attacks). I know because I worked for Royal
Malaysian Customs for over two years in the marine section. We
recently built 27 new 17 metre GRP fast (55 knots) armed patrol boats
to keep up with the fast pirate and smuggling boats. They have twin
1200 HP MTU turbo-charged diesels, have greater range than our smaller
boats and are faster than our 10 20 year old 32 metre vessels. The
Piracy attacks are on the Indonesian side of the straits. They (the
Indonesians) are trying to suppress it and have 10 new 28 metre
aluminium (5000 HP - 40 knots) boats but they have such a huge
coastline. I know that they are doing their best as I spent some days
on one of their boats on patrol during a joint exercise.
We sailed through the Gulf of Aden in March 2002. The known attacks
(two within two weeks prior to our leaving Salalah, Oman) were in a
corridor 50 miles wide between Somalia and Yemen and were all in
daylight - some boats were followed in the early morning pre-light. We
picked a spot in the centre to be at mid-night and sailed without
lights and without using the radio. A few weeks before us a convoy of
over 20 yachts also passed through.
We had previously had one scare whilst sailing through Indonesia in an
isolated area when three fast boats with no fishing gear and no cargo
wanted to board us. I guess we were lucky.
Finally as to these yachtees being rich - we built our own boat and
have worked for years to be able to afford it. Many others are the
same. We certainly cannot afford the high prices of European marinas.
Also, we are glad that we have had a chance to visit (we sail alone by
choice) the countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and along the Red
Sea. In places such as Sudan, Yemen and Saudi Arabia where there are
no tourists we were given incredible hospitality and had experiences
that no tourist could buy for money. In Malaysia our son was king.
Where else could a ten year old get to be taken around in a fast rib,
stay in people's homes, get to fire a pistol and an M-16 and get to go
on patrol? In Europe, with its long tradition of tourism, how does one
get to meet the local people?
In Europe, like other yachtees, we fear theft (by other boatees) and
always lock ourselves in at night. There have been two recent attacks
on yachts by people boarding and robbing in the Straits of Messina and
in the Bay of Naples. We have learned to look out for rental yachts
and the moronic behaviour and dangerous practices of their crew. It
has been incredible to watch them (often) anchoring close to one as in
a car parking lot with short scope and not allowing for wind changes.
We have seen them tie 40 foot yachts to small buoys marking an
anchorage and wonder why they dragged onto other boats in the first
puff of wind. No, I am not a moaner - ask anyone who sails in this
area.
Give me the isolated parts of the world any time. Moslem countries are
far safer for a family than many non-Moslem ones. We seldom locked our
boat at night in any of them. The perception of these areas as being
dangerous for foreigners is over-rated. We sailed into Aden the day
after the US invasion of Iraq. Some American friends three days behind
us needed fuel. We radioed them that it was safe to come in as the
Port was well guarded. The customs/immigration officer told them
"Welcome to our country. Do not be afraid of anything happening to
you. We are not anti-American. It is just that we are opposed to US
policy. We also realise that only half of Americans voted for Bush and
you look like sensible people who would not have voted for him (they
hadn't). If there is anything we can do for you, please ask" They had
a great time at Aden, walked about the town, were greeted by people
and never experienced anything but friendliness.
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