The wife is worried...

Greetings again, we have been talking of late about the trips we would like to take, both in the mid and long term - short term will be just coastal trips to get used to the boat - and unfortunately my wife has seen a few TV programs where pirates and other nasties have attacked 'pleasure' craft.

Given the impracticality of arming oneself to repel boarders rofl does anyone with experience of longer distance cruising have experiences that can allay her fears ?

I am thinking that if one were to avoid places like Somalia, close inshore to certain parts of Mexico and so on, one should be reasonably safe ?

Or am I mistaken ?

Somalia? Yeah probably best not to go there. For sure stay away from the PNW, lots of bad guys up here. Hurricanes in the SE and Texas coasts. Tsunamis in the North and South Pacific not to mention ferocious winter storms in Southern NZ. Pirates in Malaysian waters are common.

Better yet, don't watch TV and boat blissfully in ignorance.

You are mistaken. Boat and enjoy, just don't hang out in bad neighborhoods...

sunchaser said:

Somalia? Yeah probably best not to go there. For sure stay away from the PNW, lots of bad guys up here. Hurricanes in the SE and Texas coasts. Tsunamis in the North and South Pacific not to mention ferocious winter storms in Southern NZ. Pirates in Malaysian waters are common.

Better yet, don't watch TV and boat blissfully in ignorance.

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Umm...sarcasm ! I am pretty sharp you know...

I am merely trying to assuage my wife's ill informed fears...

AussieCraig said:

Umm...sarcasm ! I am pretty sharp you know...

I am merely trying to assuage my wife's ill informed fears...

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Turn off all the news channels on ur TV.

Tell her that life is not like on TV.

It's F... television, produced to sensationalize stuff that without tv, you never would have known it happened.

She has a far great risk of staying home and being injured or killed in a car accident.

Wxx3 said:

Tell her that life is not like on TV.

It's F... television, produced to sensationalize stuff that without tv, you never would have known it happened.

She has a far great risk of staying home and being injured or killed in a car accident.

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Amen

Thankyou Gents, I shall show her your replies...

I'd be more concerned with crime in general on land than on water. On the water we all tend to look after one another in my experience.

Had a rather rough looking couple that lost their way pull up to us at anchor recently, wife and I never felt the least bit uncomfortable having them alongside. In fact we offered and they eagerly accepted food and drink as they where obviously not well prepared.

Wife and I discussed the incident later that had it been ashore we'd of probably felt more threatened by their presence and appearance. We are extroverted by nature so suppose that helps.

You are exponentially more likely to die driving to the boat then on the boat.

AUSSIE CRAIG,
Using common sense, not making one any more of a target than necessary, keeping a watch on what is going on around you... all the same things you would do in a city or on holiday camping. Locking the boat up at night in some places... central and south america, some places in the pacific, the Caribbean will go a long way to deter most issues.The majority of problems we ever hear of are petty theft of stuff not secured or locked. My recent trip to Central America I felt pretty safe 99% of the time.
Get out there and enjoy it!
HOLLYWOOD

simple, keep tv...... get rid of wife

Few powerboats have the range or scantlings to GET to a bad neighborhood.

Dont fear the Harlem River running the loop.

As others have stated the risk of piracy at sea is much lower than other hazards that we face everyday. For example skin cancer is probably a much greater risk. I have found that the best way to reveal unwarranted concern is to use factual data. The definitive resource for maritime piracy attacks is International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Commercial Crime Services (CCS). They have a division known as the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) which operates a Piracy Reporting Centre (PRC) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. They provide a wealth of information which can be accessed online at IMB Piracy Reporting Centre. There are multiple useful links on the right hand side such as "Advice to Masters", "Live Piracy Map", "Live Piracy Report", ...

The live piracy map is obviously useful because it shows the areas to be avoided, but also look at the Live Piracy Report. What you will see is that most if not all of the attacks are on commercial ships. In fact I have been unable to find a private yacht that was attacked in 2012 or 2013.

A google site specific search for yacht (i.e. site:icc-ccs.org +yacht) reveals that the last yacht hijacking was a French yacht that was hijacked off the Somali coast in 2008. The map shown no piracy anywhere near the coast of Mexico.

Wxx3 said:

Tell her that life is not like on TV.

It's F... television, produced to sensationalize stuff that without tv, you never would have known it happened.

She has a far great risk of staying home and being injured or killed in a car accident.

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Wife worried

The only issue we have ever had was on a sailboat in 08 on Tortola in the BVI when we had an intruder on the boat at 2:00am I woke up to see a big Island boy staring down at me when we were sleeping in the front pullman berth.

When I said what the hell, he said "just security man" I said BS and the last I saw was him leaving the boat, I was on the inside as my wife was on the outside of the berth where he came in, she slept right through it.

He tried another boat further down the dock and got into a pulling match with a ladies handbag. Her screams scared him off and he scedaddled (spelling) down the dock with the ladies grown boys chasing him but he was too fast.

As a retired cop I still keep my handgun close while in US waters as the saying goes: I would rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6 goes along way.

Just tell your wife that nastiness can happen anywhere just be observant and vigilant of your surroundings and dont be an easy victim and lock the boat at night.

My ret. K-9 partner used to help keep bad guys away as well before his passing, see below.

Here...read up from a site that collects real data rather than opinions...

http://www.noonsite.com/

can't say that it's totally accurate...but better than someone's personal experiences.

Lots of pirates where I live.. they'll steal your heart, take some of you money and keep you boat at someones dock, not to mention keep you drunk.. SO STAY AWAY.

Oh ya these creatures will crap on your windshield... they have a meeting each day to see who's next..

Find her a boyfriend???

psneeld said:

Here...read up from a site that collects real data rather than opinions...

http://www.noonsite.com/

can't say that it's totally accurate...but better than someone's personal experiences.

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Internet forum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Golly gosh, gee whiz. According to this resource personal opinions and experiences are what a lot of these fancy Internet forums are all about.

Not the brightest bulb on the string...

CPseudonym said:

Internet forum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Golly gosh, gee whiz. According to this resource personal opinions and experiences are what a lot of these fancy Internet forums are all about.

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I can't speak for him, but I suspect he didn't actually mean personal experiences, as that's usually the best information. He likely meant opinions or something else.

So give him a break and relax. Unfortunately, he's one of the few informed persons left on this forum.

beachbum29 said:

Not the brightest bulb on the string...

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Really? Where is your brightness level Mr. Guru? What actual good boating advice or knowledge have you ever given to anyone?

I'm getting tired of the personal attacks on this forum.

Nsail said:

Really? Where is your brightness level Mr. Guru? What actual good boating advice or knowledge have you ever given to anyone?

I'm getting tired of the personal attacks on this forum.

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And yet you just committed one!

You pipped me Walt...

Nsail said:

I can't speak for him, but I suspect he didn't actually mean personal experiences, as that's usually the best information. He likely meant opinions or something else.

So give him a break and relax. Unfortunately, he's one of the few informed persons left on this forum.

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Thank you...that's exactly what it meant...

As for the "brightest bulb" comment....I forgot at what level I have to write to here for some.......and other's I have to forget more than they'll ever know to be down to their level of experience.

Back to the "danger of cruising thing"...the trouble with individuals "perception" or "opinion" is the same with any form of danger. Unless very specific....it is thin air in this case...

A dark alley frightens some...but not others....that's why I pointed out "A" source of collated info on places...not that it's the end all but it's better than the pages of "I think it's OK" you often get in all too many forums.

beachbum29 said:

Not the brightest bulb on the string...

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I also like, " a few fries short of a happy meal"...

Nsail said:

I can't speak for him, but I suspect he didn't actually mean personal experiences, as that's usually the best information. He likely meant opinions or something else.

So give him a break and relax. Unfortunately, he's one of the few informed persons left on this forum.

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He was just yanking his chain...

beachbum29 said:

I also like, " a few fries short of a happy meal"...

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Being from Tejas....I have always liked "one burrito short of a combo plate"!!!

gwkiwi said:

...

My ret. K-9 partner used to help keep bad guys away as well before his passing, see below.

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The last boat I was on had a sonic defense weapon. Not sure of the power requirements. It might also help to wear a uniform with a jacket labeled "security."