Wow Terry,

That was quite a stream of consciousness! I do agree with you on
the alternate energy sources though, and the oil prices are quite
high enough, thank you. OT/ [with China and India industrializing at
an amazing rate I think the world is finding that we should have paid more
attention to the "energy crises" back in 1973 when it first reared
its ugly head] \OT

As far as guns on boats is concerned, this thread has been hashed,
re-hashed, hashed-over, re-hashed-over, etc. Its in the archives.

Quick summary for latecomers: Having a gun aboard will be quite a hassle
at check-in in many countries you visit. Not declaring it can get you
arrested and your boat confiscated, along with lengthy stays in a
third-world prison. If you declare, many places will sieze your weapon and
hold it for you until you are ready to check out, and it may disappear
during the holding process. In any case it will mean that you have to
come back to the check-in city before departing, and that may be quite
an inconvenience depending on your plans.

As far as the Yemen incident in recent threads, I don't think that your "beer
can" flamethrower would have been much help. Also, the cruiser involved
was fairly lucky in his engagement of multiple AK-47s vs his shotgun.

The question of defensive weapons for yachts is very complicated and
the answer is likely to be highly personal and depend on a lot of
things (such as where you are going to cruise).

YMMV,

Don W.

Terry Spragg wrote:

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

I choose the pen.

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

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

How would you inspire a nation?

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

Is there a really smart crackpot out there with a plan to kill everyone
in revenge for being teased as a nurd, because he was too smart, and not
smart enough to hide it? Lordy, it get tiresome pretending to be deaf
and stupid.

Unlocked cockpit doors are one thing, where are there other weaknesses
still left ajar?

Oops! don't say it here! The paranoid over reaction could get you
branded as a danger to security. Where is the sweet spot for terror /
stress / productivity / cost benefit?

Who's managing this situation? Is the oil price high enough for all you
Texans, yet?

I want an electric car. 150 km, 100 km/h, 5 hour recharge is fine. Bring
on the nuclear power. Bury the waste where it came from, silicated into
glass. Let's get to work on solar shingles.

If civilisation dissolves or nukes itself into Einstein's fourth world
war, fought with sticks, and future cave men find purple glowing glass
attractive jewellery, we deserved it. Only Education gives us any chance
at all. Radioactive H2 and H3 can be recycled, seperated out of watery
wastes and that's where it comes from, anyway. Let's get over this
nuclear bull****. There's far greater danger in gold mines, with cyanide
lagoons just waiting for a typhoon, government controlled schools, and
dirty DEW line sites to clean up. C'mon!

The Japanese electric car Eliica looks like a Citröen, and France
depends on nukes. Where do they tip it?

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!

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.

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.

Unless you go looking for trouble.

Terry K

Don W wrote in
:

we should have paid more
attention to the "energy crises" back in 1973 when it first reared
its ugly head] \OT


There was no crises in '73. It was contrived. Every abandoned service
station in SC was overflowing with excess gas/diesel. They just refused to
SELL it to us except to parcel it out a little at a time. A total lie, all
of it.

My uncle in PA flys light planes. He took pictures of loaded oil tankers
offshore of NJ, loaded to the gunwales, long lines of them. All the tanks
ashore were full and it just piled up at sea.

Once Americans got a taste of the power of big oil, big oil could jack up
the prices, a little at a time, and the public just accepted it. We have
no choice, just like Europe.

What ****es me off is my politicians allow Alaskan oil to go to JAPAN!!

Larry W4CSC wrote:
There was no crises in '73. It was contrived.

To some extent I agree. But the political situation driving the
economics was quite real. Basically the Arab members of OPEC decided to
punish us for supporting Israel... an attitude that has not changed...


Once Americans got a taste of the power of big oil, big oil could jack up
the prices, a little at a time, and the public just accepted it. We have
no choice, just like Europe.


Problem with this... for most of the time frame between 1975 and today,
gas prices have lagged behind in inflation... until recently, far
behind. Look at average wages in 1975... a loaf of bread cost 35c, a new
release album $3.

What ****es me off is my politicians allow Alaskan oil to go to JAPAN!!


Why not? They hold a heck of a lot of our gov't debt, and they pay
higher prices for it than you & I.

DSK

DSK wrote in
:

punish us for supporting Israel... an attitude that has not changed...



Oh oh...watch out! When I tell 'em I'd send all the Israeli spies home
that run our gummit, I'm branded an antisemite....or is that
extraterrestrial? I fergit.

You're not supposed to think about the trouble caused by this apartheid
country that threatens our very core.....

In article ,
Larry W4CSC wrote:

What ****es me off is my politicians allow Alaskan oil to go to JAPAN!!

there is NO alaskan OIL that is going to Japan, Larry, and anyone who
says that any of the North slope OIl is going to anywhere except the
West coast refineries, is just plain WRONG. or uninformed.

Best to get your facts straight before spouting NONESENCE......


Bruce in alaska who works those tankers daily on 4125.0Khz
--
add a 2 before @

On Thu, 24 Mar 2005 15:38:02 GMT, Don W
wrote:


Quick summary for latecomers: Having a gun aboard will be quite a hassle
at check-in in many countries you visit. Not declaring it can get you
arrested and your boat confiscated, along with lengthy stays in a
third-world prison. If you declare, many places will sieze your weapon and
hold it for you until you are ready to check out, and it may disappear
during the holding process. In any case it will mean that you have to
come back to the check-in city before departing, and that may be quite
an inconvenience depending on your plans.

I fully understand this. That's part of why it's a hard decision, but
that decision is determined on the intelligence and local, evolving
situations a foreign yachtie is able to gather about parts of the
world one wishes to sail but where the government and the governed are
perhaps some distance apart...or where the government doesn't much
care if yachts are pillaged and foreigners fed to the sharks.

As far as the Yemen incident in recent threads, I don't think that your "beer
can" flamethrower would have been much help. Also, the cruiser involved
was fairly lucky in his engagement of multiple AK-47s vs his shotgun.

Very much so. One of the arguments for steel boats that isn't often
touched upon. Or kevlar, perhaps G.

The question of defensive weapons for yachts is very complicated and
the answer is likely to be highly personal and depend on a lot of
things (such as where you are going to cruise).

Very true. I see nothing with which to argue here. Perhaps the
seemingly exotic "suppression" weapons (super-loud sound, tasers,
"pain rays") will prove in time to be a better choice than blasting
skinny hoodlums with shot. I think, however, the best idea is to
dissuade them from ever getting within whatever range some miserable
thug possesses. That could mean "you're on Candid Piracy Camera!"
and/or travelling in convoy, and/or announcing on Ch. 16 in the local
tongue that you will defend your home by all means at your disposal.

Could get interesting. Or you could simply never sail near the
innumerable ********s of the world where yacht custom is not
appreciated.

R.