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From: Rick Kennerly (no email)
Date: Tue Dec 11 2001 - 16:45:39 EST
=Seriously - you've got a boat approaching, you've warned them off, they
=haven't identified themselves..
=
You talking in port or at sea?
In the islands local people are always stopping by--selling molas, trading
for fishing lures, boatboys wanting to take your trash ashore. Besides,
it's hard to wave off the boat with a guy on the bow holding up huge
lobsters for sale. And boats will be passing near you day and night. At
night the fishermen will be out with their Coleman lanterns then they come
in. Before sunrise, the day fishing fleet heads out. And that doesn't count
all the cruisers zipping around.
On passages between islands, bored lonely fishermen will sometimes approach,
just to look and sometimes wave (but mostly you just get sullen stares, it
seems to me, but they've never tried to board or communicate with us).
Besides, the real problem with fishing boats (long liners and seine netters,
particularly) is that they are often not under command. The autopilot is
set and the captain is back aft working. When we were out in the Pacific,
it was not uncommon to have several Korean fishing boats a year limp into
Agana to be welded up after they ran together. You can give up any idea of
fighting off a determined 20-man crew, all steel, high bowed, very high
funneled Korean fishing boat, BTW.
As far as we're concerned, stealth is the answer. Underway, we avoid all
lights at night, changing course if we have to. We also have been known to
run dark with the radar reflector below. And we never answer or broadcast
on the VHF.
But to answer you question directly,
For use at anchor we have a switch in the forward berth area that will turn
on all the deck and spreader lights. We also have a master cabin light
switch up there (so if we remember to turn on all the cabin lights before we
go to sleep, we can illuminate the entire cabin from the berth).
We keep a portable VHF up there, too. Most boats sleep with the local "chit
chat" channel tuned up on the VHF so they can hear problems in the anchorage
as well as broadcast for help.
We have two cans of pepper spray and once can of mace there (and another
near the companionway).
The loaded flaregun is at hand.
The spear gun is at hand.
The airhorn is at hand.
The million candle power spotlight is at hand.
We have a superb night watchman--our Cairn terrier.
Once, when we felt uneasy after some alcohol fueled trouble ashore between
cruisers and a few locals, we anchored near other like-minded boats and
arranged a rotating on-deck night watch (Xapic takes the 2-4 watch, that
kind of thing) and the person on deck swept the area around the various
boats with a spotlight every now and then.
Rick
----------------------------------------------------------
Rick the Mouseherder - nh2f
Westsail 32 Xapic, Hull #438
Cabo San Juan, Puerto Rico
A small boat and a suitcase full of money
beats a 40 footer tied to the Bank.
Visit our Westsail 32 Xapic
http://www.mouseherder.com/xapic
The Westsail Owners Assn. Homepage
http://www.westsail.org
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