On 31 Dec 2003 17:07:26 -0800, (Curtis CCR)
wrote:


So what parts of the Caribbean would be considered "high risk" for a
small group of young adults on a 50-something foot sailboat? I don't
imagine that the demographic make up of the group or the size of the
boats makes a difference - but if it does...
\

Haven't heard too much about the Carribean, but 2 years ago, the ham
radio net I'm with (the Maritime Net) came to the aid of a family in a
sailboat that was attacked by pirates off the west coast of Honduras.
I've also heard that the northern coast of S. America can be a
problem.

The other factor to consider is the lack of law enforcement/SAR
resources. When that sailboat was attacked off Honduras, the pirates
shot the teenage boy on board. The Honduran Navy does not operate at
night (!) so they wouldn't go get him until the following day. And it
was out of USCG range.

AFAIK, the USCG patrols, along with other nations, the Carribean. If
you have a shortwave radio, you can hear USCG aircraft on 5696 KHz.

Bob/WF3H/USCG Auxiliary
---------------------------
to see who "wf3h" is, go to "qrz.com"
and enter 'wf3h' in the field

check my blog at:
http://www.bobview.blogspot.com/

Not exactly a "complete" list.... (especially in the Bahamas)

It failed to mention the 50' sportfish from Miami that was hijacked and
the Captain aimed it at Cat Cay at full blast and jumped off the bridge
and swam to Gun Cay while the boat crashed into North Cat and police
came and caught the two hijackers....

Also there are always several posters in the customs office about recent
boat thefts.

If you are 100% confident in your abilty to use a firearm and have
practice on a moving vessel (different from a range) and can secure it
from thieves and minors then it may be a good idea to have one... .if
not, it will probably be used on you if you ever have the misfortune to
need it.

In 20 years of cruising, I have always had one aboard but only once did
I send someone below to grab it (came across a drug boat during a
pickup...thought it would be good to have it on the bridge) but luckily
have never had to even chamber a round or hold it up to scare anyone off.




Lee Huddleston wrote:
On Thu, 1 Jan 2004 08:30:14 -0500, "Bruce"
wrote:


He is every report of problems in the Caribbean in the last several years
http://www.caribcruisers.com/index.html



Bruce,

Looking at the list of incidents in the Caribbean is instructive.
Besides the numerous thefts or attempted thefts of dinks, there seems
to be an unusual number of boardings while people are asleep on the
boat. In these and the dink stealing instances, guns would be
useless. For the boardings some kind of intruder alarm would seem to
be the most valuable addition to a boat.

Even for those examples when people were robbed at gun point, having a
gun on board would probably not have been helpful. The victim was
usually off the boat and/or was surprised by the robber. If fact, as
I read the list, I could only detect a very few times when I gun on
board might have made the difference. I did not see a single time
when a boat load of armed men approached a boat directly in such a way
that the occupants would have the warning or time to get their gun.
Did I miss something?

Lee Huddleston
s/v Truelove

Not exactly a "complete" list.... (especially in the Bahamas)

It failed to mention the 50' sportfish from Miami that was hijacked and
the Captain aimed it at Cat Cay at full blast and jumped off the bridge
and swam to Gun Cay while the boat crashed into North Cat and police
came and caught the two hijackers....

Also there are always several posters in the customs office about recent
boat thefts.

If you are 100% confident in your abilty to use a firearm and have
practice on a moving vessel (different from a range) and can secure it
from thieves and minors then it may be a good idea to have one... .if
not, it will probably be used on you if you ever have the misfortune to
need it.

In 20 years of cruising, I have always had one aboard but only once did
I send someone below to grab it (came across a drug boat during a
pickup...thought it would be good to have it on the bridge) but luckily
have never had to even chamber a round or hold it up to scare anyone off.




Lee Huddleston wrote:
On Thu, 1 Jan 2004 08:30:14 -0500, "Bruce"
wrote:


He is every report of problems in the Caribbean in the last several years
http://www.caribcruisers.com/index.html



Bruce,

Looking at the list of incidents in the Caribbean is instructive.
Besides the numerous thefts or attempted thefts of dinks, there seems
to be an unusual number of boardings while people are asleep on the
boat. In these and the dink stealing instances, guns would be
useless. For the boardings some kind of intruder alarm would seem to
be the most valuable addition to a boat.

Even for those examples when people were robbed at gun point, having a
gun on board would probably not have been helpful. The victim was
usually off the boat and/or was surprised by the robber. If fact, as
I read the list, I could only detect a very few times when I gun on
board might have made the difference. I did not see a single time
when a boat load of armed men approached a boat directly in such a way
that the occupants would have the warning or time to get their gun.
Did I miss something?

Lee Huddleston
s/v Truelove

Guess being experienced as a Navy Boarding Party member qualifies as
practiced with firearms and weapons from a moving vessel to a moving vessel?
It has been years, and I do not miss it, but I do not want to be without any
defense when it is needed. Lots of defenseless people are slaughtered every
year, as are the armed ones too. Best defense is a good watch, avoidance,
and escape. My last Navy time on a ship was in 1974. We often operated in
conjunction with local police and the US Coast Guard against pirates and
bandits while in the Carribean (and other places too). It was more of an
aside for us, but we had very powerfull radar with integrated fleet tracking
which could track the pirates and vector in the USCG. Mostly drug runners I
think.

"Ed" wrote in message
...
Not exactly a "complete" list.... (especially in the Bahamas)

It failed to mention the 50' sportfish from Miami that was hijacked and
the Captain aimed it at Cat Cay at full blast and jumped off the bridge
and swam to Gun Cay while the boat crashed into North Cat and police
came and caught the two hijackers....

Also there are always several posters in the customs office about recent
boat thefts.

If you are 100% confident in your abilty to use a firearm and have
practice on a moving vessel (different from a range) and can secure it
from thieves and minors then it may be a good idea to have one... .if
not, it will probably be used on you if you ever have the misfortune to
need it.

In 20 years of cruising, I have always had one aboard but only once did
I send someone below to grab it (came across a drug boat during a
pickup...thought it would be good to have it on the bridge) but luckily
have never had to even chamber a round or hold it up to scare anyone off.




Lee Huddleston wrote:
On Thu, 1 Jan 2004 08:30:14 -0500, "Bruce"
wrote:


He is every report of problems in the Caribbean in the last several
years
http://www.caribcruisers.com/index.html



Bruce,

Looking at the list of incidents in the Caribbean is instructive.
Besides the numerous thefts or attempted thefts of dinks, there seems
to be an unusual number of boardings while people are asleep on the
boat. In these and the dink stealing instances, guns would be
useless. For the boardings some kind of intruder alarm would seem to
be the most valuable addition to a boat.

Even for those examples when people were robbed at gun point, having a
gun on board would probably not have been helpful. The victim was
usually off the boat and/or was surprised by the robber. If fact, as
I read the list, I could only detect a very few times when I gun on
board might have made the difference. I did not see a single time
when a boat load of armed men approached a boat directly in such a way
that the occupants would have the warning or time to get their gun.
Did I miss something?

Lee Huddleston
s/v Truelove





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Guess being experienced as a Navy Boarding Party member qualifies as
practiced with firearms and weapons from a moving vessel to a moving vessel?
It has been years, and I do not miss it, but I do not want to be without any
defense when it is needed. Lots of defenseless people are slaughtered every
year, as are the armed ones too. Best defense is a good watch, avoidance,
and escape. My last Navy time on a ship was in 1974. We often operated in
conjunction with local police and the US Coast Guard against pirates and
bandits while in the Carribean (and other places too). It was more of an
aside for us, but we had very powerfull radar with integrated fleet tracking
which could track the pirates and vector in the USCG. Mostly drug runners I
think.

"Ed" wrote in message
...
Not exactly a "complete" list.... (especially in the Bahamas)

It failed to mention the 50' sportfish from Miami that was hijacked and
the Captain aimed it at Cat Cay at full blast and jumped off the bridge
and swam to Gun Cay while the boat crashed into North Cat and police
came and caught the two hijackers....

Also there are always several posters in the customs office about recent
boat thefts.

If you are 100% confident in your abilty to use a firearm and have
practice on a moving vessel (different from a range) and can secure it
from thieves and minors then it may be a good idea to have one... .if
not, it will probably be used on you if you ever have the misfortune to
need it.

In 20 years of cruising, I have always had one aboard but only once did
I send someone below to grab it (came across a drug boat during a
pickup...thought it would be good to have it on the bridge) but luckily
have never had to even chamber a round or hold it up to scare anyone off.




Lee Huddleston wrote:
On Thu, 1 Jan 2004 08:30:14 -0500, "Bruce"
wrote:


He is every report of problems in the Caribbean in the last several
years
http://www.caribcruisers.com/index.html



Bruce,

Looking at the list of incidents in the Caribbean is instructive.
Besides the numerous thefts or attempted thefts of dinks, there seems
to be an unusual number of boardings while people are asleep on the
boat. In these and the dink stealing instances, guns would be
useless. For the boardings some kind of intruder alarm would seem to
be the most valuable addition to a boat.

Even for those examples when people were robbed at gun point, having a
gun on board would probably not have been helpful. The victim was
usually off the boat and/or was surprised by the robber. If fact, as
I read the list, I could only detect a very few times when I gun on
board might have made the difference. I did not see a single time
when a boat load of armed men approached a boat directly in such a way
that the occupants would have the warning or time to get their gun.
Did I miss something?

Lee Huddleston
s/v Truelove





-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =-----