When Pirates Attack
10/16/2006 2:02:49 PM by Sandy Lindsey
Although extremely rare, it’s no joke when a modern-day Jack Sparrow zooms toward your yacht in a go-fast boat and steals everything from you. So next time you’re cruising the blue-green waters of some far-off paradise, make sure you’re prepared for the possibility of an at-sea ambush.
As the guns roared and bullets began smacking into the fiberglass around them, the last thought the couple onboard the 40-foot Sea Ray had was: “This can’t be happening.” The Sea Ray was cruising alone, several miles off the thinly populated coast of Texas near the Mexican border in the Gulf of Mexico. The husband and wife aboard were in their mid-40s and had been boating these waters for years with no concerns beyond where to anchor overnight. When a sleek sportboat appeared on the horizon, it was barely noticed. Even as it began to close in, the couple assumed it was just another friendly boater coming by to wave hello, as is the custom in these sparsely-boated waters.
But as the two boats were within 100 feet of each other and closing fast, the couple on the Sea Ray suddenly spotted armed men on the bow of the other boat. Panicked, the husband jammed the throttles forward and shouted for his wife to grab the VHF, but she had been knocked to the deck by the sudden acceleration, unable to reach the radio. The chase was a short one, as the much faster speedboat powered by huge outboards roared alongside and the gunmen onboard took aim. A few shots later, with the couple lying on the deck dead, the modern pirates boarded the boat and cut the engines. Minutes later, the couple was dumped over the side like bags of garbage, and the two boats powered off, leaving them drifting in the wake. The husband’s body was found several days later by a passing fishing boat, but neither the Sea Ray nor the wife’s body was ever recovered.
The opening scene for a new Bruce Willis movie? Not even close. While the evening news will occasionally mention an incident in far-off waters like the South China Sea, piracy is still a thriving profession in local waters as well. People and their boats go missing all the time from Caribbean, Bahamian, and even U.S. waters, and while most are no doubt the result of accidents, others meet with varying forms of foul play. Whenever you create a situation of people traveling alone in isolated areas in any kind of expensive vehicle or vessel packed with expensive gear (whether it’s the desert, mountains or on the water), the sad truth is there’s always a chance of an encounter with others who are up to no good, and unlike life in the big city, the closest rescue may be many hours away.
Yachtsmen Beware
Perhaps the most famous incident of piracy in recent years occurred when Sir Peter Blake, the accomplished sailor who headed the New Zealand crew that won the America’s Cup in 1995 and 2000, was killed by pirates during a robbery aboard his 119-foot yacht, Seamaster, on the Amazon River in northern Brazil in December 2001. Two crew members suffered minor injuries.
Back in January 1997, the ironically named Pirate’s Lady was the victim of a suspected pirate attack when the 75-foot yacht vanished after departing Florida’s Apalachicola. Several years later, the yacht was found under 90 feet of water off Florida’s Gulf Coast, with no evidence as to what happened to the two crew members aboard.
More recently, in November 2005, a Canadian surgeon, Steve McVicar, and two fellow British Columbia sailors were attacked on their yacht while cruising the Caribbean waters off the coast of Venezuela. The sailors were watching a DVD when the pirates used the sound of the movie as cover for their approach. McVicar and friends were held at gunpoint for 20 minutes while the thieves looted the 13-metre boat. The pirates escaped with more than $30,000 in cash and equipment. The three Canadians managed to eventually free themselves and get help.
Before you decide to just stay tied to the dock and order a pizza, remember that violent encounters with armed pirates are extremely rare in the U.S., mainly because of the swift response time law enforcement has to an armed attack. If you get on the VHF and start screaming that you are under fire and about to be boarded, help will be on it’s way in a big hurry.
How to Avoid Becoming the SS Lunchmeat
How do you know if you’re being targeted by pirates? Forget looking for the Jolly Roger and a bunch of peg-legged guys with parrots — today’s pirates look like any other boat out on the water. A particularly effective ploy that we all could fall for is bad guys pretending to have experienced mechanical problems. Following the Law of the Sea, you scoot over to offer assistance, but instead of needing a tow, these guys are waiting to rob you and perhaps steal your boat.
It used to be that the preferred method was to target boats at anchor, sneaking aboard at night and quickly taking control. But today’s pirates are bolder, less patient, and more creative, often operating in broad daylight, as a couple cruising the Bahamas Out Islands in a 32 express cruiser discovered.
After a day ashore, they returned to the boat, weighed anchor, and were on their way when the port engine’s RPM’s suddenly spiked as the prop spun off. Almost immediately, two local men in a typical Bahamas Beater — a ratty-looking skiff powered by a huge, gleaming outboard — rushed over offering assistance. Suspicious of the quick response, the husband made a point of retrieving a 12-gauge shotgun from the cabin. The two men appeared shaken at the sight of the gun, but 10 minutes later, they had retrieved and replaced the spun prop, earning $100. Within three days, the husband heard five other cruisers tell the same story of a spun prop and offers of help.
Piracy attacks don’t tend to be long, drawn-out affairs, but even if you did have time to call for help, it’s not like being on shore, where you can dial 911 and expect to hear sirens five minutes later. Even in the case of an immediate priority Search-and-Rescue mission, the Coast Guard expects a helicopter crew to take about 30 minutes before they can get airborne, plus the time it takes to reach your location — assuming you’ve been able to give them your location. So the best you can hope for is someone to help clean up the mess, but when it happens, it’s likely to be just you and the bad guys.
Bad guys look for easy, vulnerable targets, so not looking easy goes a long way towards not becoming a victim. Be aware of other boats in your area; be suspicious of any unknown boats — this is not paranoia, this is prudence — post a watch on the boat if you are anchored overnight in an isolated area, or at least place a simple battery-operated motion detector on deck to alert you to intruders. When anchored in isolated areas, be prepared to quickly cast off the anchor lines and leave the area if a strange boat appears.
A gunfight at sea is the last thing you want — go to whatever extremes necessary to avoid it, but if your back is to the wall, and you have access to weapons and the training to use them, keep in mind that while you didn’t start the fight, it may be up to you to end it. Pump-action shotguns, such as the Mossberg Mariner 590, are the emergency gear of choice because of their ease of operation, huge intimidation factor, and the need to only point it in the general vicinity of the bad guys. Small rifles with short 18-inch barrels are also a viable self-defense option because they are easy to store and simple to operate. Lastly, even a revolver can be an effective deterrent to all but the most committed boarding party.
If you don’t believe in firearms, which the bad guys are certainly hoping for, don’t forget you have some other handy “weapons” already onboard in the form of flare guns, boat hooks, and throwable objects. Only you can decide when it’s best to go along with thieves and when it’s best to fight back. The best option of all, of course, is to avoid letting pirates get on board. With that thought in mind, never run your fuel tanks down too low as you never know when you’ll need the fuel reserves to run fast for a long distance. And you never know when pirates will be knocking on your door as you are adrift in the middle of nowhere.