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Subject: Re: [worldcruising] Re: Routes to UK - Piracy
From: Wiets Wilken (cupboards@XXX.XXX)
Date: Fri Jan 12 2001 - 07:01:57 EST
Dear Doug Sterrett
I respect your views and thank you for sharing them.
With great respect, you have it good and you don't not know how bad it can get. Ask most South
Africans about crime and a new fearful picture will emerge.
Regrads
Wiets
Doug Sterrett wrote:
> Rick, I agree with your statements. One has only to look at the crime
> statistics for any metropolitan area in the US, even in my little neck of
> the woods, Boise, Idaho, to figure out that you have a lot less chance of
> being a victim of criminal activity when you leave the US aboard your boat,
> even in so-called pirate hot-spots. Having said that I have no intention
> of being complacent overseas and will take precautions to minimize risk,
> such as choosing routes to avoid known high risk areas, increased
> vigilance, buddy-boating, etc. I will not carry a gun. Morally I don't
> think I could pull the trigger and even if I did, I'd probably shoot myself
> or my wife instead of the "pirate". The "guns on board" issue could start a
> whole new controversy here.
> Regards;
> Doug
>
> At 06:50 PM 1/10/01 -0500, you wrote:
> >Oh good. They've opened a new Fear Monger Shop, right here in our
> >neighborhood. Folks, don't be swept up in the hysteria of armchair tyros
> >like this. What a crock.
> >
> >It is obvious why big ships are hijacked: that's where the goods are. A few
> >dozen containers of cigarettes would make a small enterprise wealthy in
> >Asia. It is also obvious why real acts of piracy against yachts (hostile
> >boarding, not just garden variety thefts) are not reported on those web
> >pages: it just doesn't happen that often. Small yachts just aren't worth
> >the effort or trouble. We spent 5 years in the pacific cruising and another
> >5 years working on Guam. In all that time, the only confirmed deaths or
> >boarding from "pirates" we knew of happened on the SE corner of Papua New
> >Guinea (an area embroiled in a low-level civil war for decades--same area
> >where the killed a Rockefeller many decades ago).
> >
> >One of the great things about being an American is that as soon as you leave
> >the shores of this country, you've decreased your chance of violent death at
> >the hands of criminals many fold.
> >
> >No doubt there are trouble spots, and cruisers avoid them. Hell, in
> >Zamboanga, Philippines, where the Muslims make blood sport of taking
> >tourists hostage, even the priests carry guns. I think I'd avoid Jakarta,
> >right now, too. Same for certain stretches of Central American coast.
> >
> >Forget pirates. If you're going cruising you need to be a lot more
> >concerned about submerged containers floating just below the surface,
> >uncharted horseshoe coral reefs, and meteorological "bombs" than armed
> >boarding. Modern day pirates run travel-lifts or own chandleries.
> >
> >----------------------------------------------------------
> >Rick the Mouseherder - nh2f
> >Westsail 32 Xapic, Hull #438
> >Annapolis, MD
> >
> >A small boat and a suitcase full of money
> >beats a 40 footer tied to the Bank.
> >
> >Creative graphic solutions in vinyl for your boat lettering & designs
> >http://www.mouseherder.com
> >
> >Visit our Westsail 32 Xapic
> >http://www.mouseherder.com/xapic
> >
> >The Westsail Owners Assn. Homepage
> >http://www.westsail.org
> >
> >
> >
> >=====================================
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> >
> >
>
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