Thread
:
Guns on board
View Single Post
#
9
Peter Hendra
Posts: n/a
On 24 Jun 2005 01:52:12 -0700,
wrote:
Professional seagoing people learn by discipline and necessity to not
draw attention to themselves, not to tempt nor annoy the locals by
their appearance, demeanor or actions (and you may be a very offensive
SOB or bitch when you THINK you are being a great guy), to keep the
details of their vessel or her berth or anchorage private, to be
winsome and friendly, to be humble, even generous within prudent
limits, to be kind to the poor, to quietly promote goodwill, to avoid
every kind of trouble or remote smell of it, to make valuable allies
with key (or maybe even seamy) people on the waterfront, and to be EVER
WATCHFUL DAY AND NIGHT. Without these things, robbers and other manner
of evildoers board huge vessels more challenging than yours and cause
much bigger problems than your little $20,000 or so robbery and some
bruises.
Couldn't agree more. It is so easy to get alongside the locals without
being patronising. It is better insurance than any weapon.
Do not be surprised if we eventually see real and strict education,
training and internationally regulated licensing requirements for
navigating little recreational vessels comparable to what the real ones
require. It will be this kind of stupid **** that precipitates it, and
if you keep it up, I hope it costs you two hundred thousand dollars, 4
years of formal fulltime training in an ugly uniform, and another 5 or
6 years of supervised blue water seatime to obtain one. By then,
you'll have forgotten where you gun is.
Cruising by small vessel is already getting more and more difficult
and regulated - most regulations being set in place are because of
someone's stupidity or misfortune. I once had a hard time being given
port clearance to leave Turkey as I did,t have any certificate of
competency to show the harbourmaster's assistant - my passport and log
showing where I had sailed from were of no avail. Many ports and
marinas in Europe require both a certificate of competency as well as
third party insurance - what next.
Reply With Quote