There is currently, over in the sailnet.com mailing list livaboard (and
to a lesser degree in islandpacket), a running discussion on what has
apparently become a serious cruiser problem with crime in the Eastern
Caribbean.

Initially, being a skeptic, and not (initially) having specifics, I
pinged someone I knew to be a full-time, many-year'd cruiser in
Trinidad and Grenada areas. He confirmed it, to the point of an
expected (which did, indeed, come off) meeting of over 100 cruisers
with varied authorities and 3 embassies' reps present to discuss
potential ways of coping.

I'll not duplicate the reports in detail here. However, they confirm
the problem and, distressingly, have little encouragement as to its
solution. However, it suffices to say that it has our engaged
attention, as the EC is where we expect to end up, and Trini has always
been the expected hideout and haulaout/repair/upgrade location.

Just a heads-up; any concerned may care to browse the recent archives
at sailnet, and those with first-hand experience may care to start a
thread on it...

L8R

Skip and Lydia, sweltering in the St. Pete Hete

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at http://justpickone.org/skip/gallery/
Follow us at

"Believe me, my young friend, there is *nothing*-absolutely
nothing-half
so
much worth doing as simply messing, messing-about-in-boats; messing
about in
boats-or *with* boats.
In or out of 'em, it doesn't matter. Nothing seems really to matter,
that's
the charm of it.
Whether you get away, or whether you don't; whether you arrive at your
destination or whether you reach somewhere else, or whether you never
get
anywhere at all, you're always busy, and you never do anything in
particular; and when you've done it there's always something else to
do,
and
you can do it if you like, but you'd much better not."

If you want to see a list of boater related crime, go to

http://www.caribcruisers.com/security.htm

This is derived from reports on the Safety & Security net which meets
daily on 8104 Mhz at 12:15 UTC and is out of Grenada. I don't see that
it's any worse than the past. As the motto goes:

"Lock it or lose it!"

There are always people who grab onto everything that happens and use it
for excuses not to move anywhere. We would never have gone to half of the
places that we've been to if we listened to all of the neigh-sayers.

Here's a short list of the rules that we live by. They may sound like
common sense, but unfortunately common sense isn't common:

Be aware of what's happening around you and take reasonable precautions.
Trust your instincts. If something doesn't feel right, then leave.

Don't trust the locals. Don't have them aboard. What you have on your
boat is probably 10x what they have. They'll go back and talk, and even
if it isn't them who comes back to rob you, it might be their friends.

When you leave the boat, make sure that things are locked up and that you
haven't left anything on deck that can easily be grabbed by someone
passing by.

When you do ashore, don't be flashy dresser. I'm amazed when I see a
cruiser walking through a poor area with expensive jewelry on. You're
just making yourself a mark. Carry your wallet in your front pocket.

Don't trust other cruisers. That may sound harsh, but some cruisers don't
have a pot to **** in and are somehow supporting their cruising. You can
typically spot these boats by the shape that they're in. I, and many
other cruisers, have commented that we think that a fair amount of crime
is perpetuated by other cruisers, especially when you see things stolen
that locals wouldn't want.

Listen to the local cruising nets. They all have a section to report
problems/crime. If a given area is having lots of problems, don't go
there.

I'm sure that there's some more pearls of wisdom that I could impart, but
this covers most of it. Just use common sense and don't be unreasonably
afraid. If I were to use my local newspaper as a cruising guide, I would
never leave my house due to all of the crime that happens in the area.

-- Geoff


"Skip Gundlach" wrote in
oups.com:

There is currently, over in the sailnet.com mailing list livaboard (and
to a lesser degree in islandpacket), a running discussion on what has
apparently become a serious cruiser problem with crime in the Eastern
Caribbean.

Initially, being a skeptic, and not (initially) having specifics, I
pinged someone I knew to be a full-time, many-year'd cruiser in
Trinidad and Grenada areas. He confirmed it, to the point of an
expected (which did, indeed, come off) meeting of over 100 cruisers
with varied authorities and 3 embassies' reps present to discuss
potential ways of coping.

I'll not duplicate the reports in detail here. However, they confirm
the problem and, distressingly, have little encouragement as to its
solution. However, it suffices to say that it has our engaged
attention, as the EC is where we expect to end up, and Trini has always
been the expected hideout and haulaout/repair/upgrade location.

Just a heads-up; any concerned may care to browse the recent archives
at sailnet, and those with first-hand experience may care to start a
thread on it...

L8R

Skip and Lydia, sweltering in the St. Pete Hete

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at http://justpickone.org/skip/gallery/
Follow us at

"Believe me, my young friend, there is *nothing*-absolutely
nothing-half
so
much worth doing as simply messing, messing-about-in-boats; messing
about in
boats-or *with* boats.
In or out of 'em, it doesn't matter. Nothing seems really to matter,
that's
the charm of it.
Whether you get away, or whether you don't; whether you arrive at your
destination or whether you reach somewhere else, or whether you never
get
anywhere at all, you're always busy, and you never do anything in
particular; and when you've done it there's always something else to
do,
and
you can do it if you like, but you'd much better not."

Except for the rape last month in Rodney Bay I haven't heard of anything
other than the regular background of petty theft and burglary. No
particular increase in crime but every time a serious incident happens the
nets start buzzing.

--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

"Skip Gundlach" wrote in message
oups.com...
There is currently, over in the sailnet.com mailing list livaboard (and
to a lesser degree in islandpacket), a running discussion on what has
apparently become a serious cruiser problem with crime in the Eastern
Caribbean.

Initially, being a skeptic, and not (initially) having specifics, I
pinged someone I knew to be a full-time, many-year'd cruiser in
Trinidad and Grenada areas. He confirmed it, to the point of an
expected (which did, indeed, come off) meeting of over 100 cruisers
with varied authorities and 3 embassies' reps present to discuss
potential ways of coping.

I'll not duplicate the reports in detail here. However, they confirm
the problem and, distressingly, have little encouragement as to its
solution. However, it suffices to say that it has our engaged
attention, as the EC is where we expect to end up, and Trini has always
been the expected hideout and haulaout/repair/upgrade location.

Just a heads-up; any concerned may care to browse the recent archives
at sailnet, and those with first-hand experience may care to start a
thread on it...

L8R

Skip and Lydia, sweltering in the St. Pete Hete

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at http://justpickone.org/skip/gallery/
Follow us at

"Believe me, my young friend, there is *nothing*-absolutely
nothing-half
so
much worth doing as simply messing, messing-about-in-boats; messing
about in
boats-or *with* boats.
In or out of 'em, it doesn't matter. Nothing seems really to matter,
that's
the charm of it.
Whether you get away, or whether you don't; whether you arrive at your
destination or whether you reach somewhere else, or whether you never
get
anywhere at all, you're always busy, and you never do anything in
particular; and when you've done it there's always something else to
do,
and
you can do it if you like, but you'd much better not."

I really don't know if my experience is indicative or not but I just
returned from Chaguaramas, near Port of Spain, Trinidad and there was,
according to many cruisers I spoke with, a substantial and sudden
increase in crime, specifically that cruisers were being targeted for
armed robbery, as well as dingy thefts. On the other hand, my sailing
companions went off to the capital city, Port of Spain, and walked
around the town at night without problems, they reported that they
didn't feel they were in any danger or that there was any problem in
that area.

Since I spent only two weeks in the harbor there, I can only speculate
that perhaps these incidents were related to the area I stayed and might
not represent an overall change, but there was certainly an atmosphere
of unease among the cruisers and locals I met.

The local shop owners and folks running the marina, as well as every
cruiser I spoke with, all cautioned me about being out at night,
especially when walking along the road or using the public
transportation, or even standing outside of the marina at the bus stop,
where it was reported that a cruiser had been robbed at gunpoint the day
before we arrived. Everyone described this as a radical change from
the recent past and were disappointed and alarmed by the current situation.

Many cruisers also advised against appearing to have any aspect of
wealth (jewelry, watches, VHFs, etc) in plain sight even during the day,
and I met several couples who had gone to the extreme of removing their
wedding rings. They also strongly encouraged us to hoist our dingy
every evening. This was a common practice among cruisers in the harbor,
in fact I don't recall anyone who didn't stow their dink up on deck at
night, but this just seems like common sense to me anyway. No sense in
making it easy for a thief.

While I was there, a meeting of local officials and cruisers did take
place, as reported in a previous post, but I did not find out what, if
any, actions were taken. I will contact a cruiser friend still there to
see how things are going and report back whatever I find out.

Cheers,

Robb



Geoff Schultz wrote:
If you want to see a list of boater related crime, go to

http://www.caribcruisers.com/security.htm

This is derived from reports on the Safety & Security net which meets
daily on 8104 Mhz at 12:15 UTC and is out of Grenada. I don't see that
it's any worse than the past. As the motto goes: