Sad story just hit the news. Yachting couple attacked

[wheels 543]

First time I have heard of the Attacking party and I didn't know the Philipines had a problem.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/asia/86241903/german-sailor-jurgen-kantner-kidnapped-wife-killed-by-abu-sayyaf-militants-in-philippines

[Island Time 1,235]

This group has been active in the southern Philippines for some time. Indeed a sad end...

[erice 732]

a very dodgy area to go to for quite a while

 

in 2000 abu sayyaf motored to malaysia to kidnap 21 people from a beach resort  

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_Sipadan_kidnappings

[Disperser 23]

Here in Mexico, cruisers cannot have guns (I advocate an exception for cruisers as long as the guns remain on the boat).  So, we must take alternatives to deal with piracy and theft; a rampant problem here (last summer in La Paz, dozens of boats were robbed by men who were later found and who had guns!)

 

What is recommended is wasp spray.  This is a toxic mess of petrochemicals that sprays out the can in a stream meters in length.  It is quite useful as a deterrent.  And if you get the right kind, you just put a lighter in front of the can when you spray, and instant flame thrower.

 

 

My advice for situations where strange boats come along side of you is to have your wasp spray ready, as well as a white flare.  If the boat is unmarked, the occupants ignore commands to stay away, then shoot a white flare into the boat.  This will distract them significantly, as if they do not remove the flare, their boat will sink.  You can then get out of reach.

 

One important piece of advice:  do not be afraid to kill.  Pirates are usually quite desperate, and if they are not deterred by wasp spray or flares, they will certainly have murderous intent, and you should take the initiative.

 

 

Curiously, the most egregious acts of piracy have been carried out by Israel and the European Union in their "anti-trafficking" efforts in the mediteranean.  International law prohibits interference with vessels in international waters.  Yet these nations routinely violate these well established and vital laws with impunity.

 

 

To be honest, I'd feel safer in the Phillipines than near America or Europe.  There, you can fend off the pirates.  In the US and Europe, they have much bigger boats and call themselves the military.

[Island Time 1,235]

Good luck with that.

 

In my experience (Indian Ocean etc) the pirates are always better armed than you. And a cruiser with say a couple on board are easily outgunned. Robbers you MAY be able to deal with. Real Pirates, say 8 or 10 men all with automatic weapons, you have no show at all if they get aboard.

 

I also sailed through that general area in 2012 - over the top of Borneo. Great experience, but we were lucky...

 

We had steel mesh washboards, and bars over the hatches against opportunist thieves. 

 

Better to be lucky than good!

 

By the way, quite a few cruisers (mostly Americans) do carry firearms, legal or not. IMO this is most unwise.

[Disperser 23]

There was a story published in the Christian Science Monitor in about 2010, an editorial by a young woman who was doing a study abroad or similar in Somalia.  She revealed that the Somali Pirates were no more than fisherman who had no choice.   Their government collapsed, and the WONDERFUL international community saw fit to fish out their waters and dump toxic chemicals en-masse, permanently destroying their way of life.

 

These once-peaceful young men turned to the only thing they knew: piracy.

 

 

Piracy is a noble profession.  In the days of the conquistadors and colonies in the "new world" pirates were defenders of the indigineous peoples.  They raided the merchant vessels and redistributed the wealth.  They served as the only means of defense against the maurading colonial invaders, you know...your ancestors.

 

So for me, Somali Pirates are something I understand.  And what it means is that thanks to the International Community, I cannot safely enjoy the waters off Somalia and a few other places.

[erice 732]

kidnapped from yacht in somalia

 

kidnapped again in the phillipines

 

Authorities are trying to confirm whether or not Jurgen Gustav Kantner had been killed by the notorious Abu Sayyaf group, the Daily Mail reported.

 

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11808789