Pirates, Opportunistic Fisherman, or Just Thirsty? A Quiz…

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Pirates or Opportunistic Fisherman (or thirsty, innocent fisherman) and a quiz…

Pirates? Opportunistic fisherman? Innocent fisherman just looking for water or booze? How do you know? What do you do when you feel you could be in a position to be attacked? You can’t just over-react, be paranoid, and shoot anyone who comes around…But you have to be ready to protect yourself, to keep people away from your home. It’s hard to tell where, when, and what, and you may never even need to know. The majority of cruisers never have to deal with anything bad happening, or anything being stolen. But what if you are the unlucky one? We can’t just “stay away” anymore from dangerous places…dangers lurk everywhere, and we have to be more vigilant than we used to be…Take the quiz, and ask yourself what you would do…

QUIZ

There are 4 potentially dangerous situations we have personally had in the last 12 years of sailing around the world.  They could have gone either way…can you guess which one or ones ended really really badly for our friends?

And later, there is a professionals advice on a few things as well…

But what would you have done in these situations…would you known which one really was dangerous? When does both or one of you lock yourself in a cabin?

  1. 10 people hiding under a tarp, one guy in a black hood and face mask, in a small open boat, coming fast up behind us. Waving his hands claiming to need help, we think, in a foreign language….Pulling up to side of boat, desperate to jump on. Do we let him on? Did we even have a choice? Intuition was used, judgements were made, and when we saw one lady and one kid pop up from under the tarp, we let one and only one guy on…how do you think it turned out?

2.Fishing boat anchored. You slowly sail by. They fire up the engines and start coming towards you with their small 3 boats tied to the back. There is a tradition in this area to pass one’s boat in front of your bow and get their bad fishing luck wiped out for the day.  They believe in it strongly. The 3 small fishing boats are empty but on long tethers that go out like water skis and start to surround you…The men are not smiling…in fact they look quite scary and aren’t saying anything to us, only amongst themselves. What do you do with these punky looking fisherman, now standing on their bow, coming so close to your boat, in the jump position? You maneuver your boat just well enough to stop them from boarding…you let out the rest of your job and fire up your engine too. You sail, and maneuver…they speed up… and repeatedly try to get close enough to jump. They don’t communicate anything verbally.

3.A young fisherman with all his nets is out 6 miles from land as you are sailing along in the daylight. This is the same fisherman you saw back in the anchorage who that you asked, somewhat impolitely, to move his nets because they were put down on top of your anchor and you really needed to leave. Hooks and poles had surrounded your boat. He had not been happy but he had finally picked up his nets and left. Now he is throwing nets and floats aggressively in front of your boat, 6 miles out to sea. When other boats comes around he speeds off, but then comes back when they are out of sight, and does it all again. You fire a flare in his direction. He leaves, and then comes back 15 minutes later, and does it all again despite you yelling and telling him to go away.  He is now putting lines around your boat, within 10 feet of the boat, cursing, and ignoring your requests to remove his nets and fishing gear. Luckily you are sailing so they probably aren’t gonna get in your prop. What would you do? 

4.You are anchored and have just had an early dinner. The sun is setting, and it’s been a beautiful day. The police, with their official Police shirts and badges come up and ask you for your boat papers to be sure you are anchored there legally…standard stuff. They climb aboard. What do you do…unhappy with their black boots scuffing up your deck, and the lack of politeness?

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COMPILATION OF IDEAS FOR SELF DEFENSE ON A SAILBOAT

After all of the thoughtful comments on the last defense video, (and not so thoughtful ones too), we still aren’t sure what we want to have on our sailboat. Some we already have, but still don’t feel 100% decided and protected…maybe you never are 100% safe….

What would you have on your sailboat to protect against thieves, intruders, or pirates…hard core pirates with guns, or just from pirates who want to steal something from you?  Here is a compilation of suggestions we had in the video…Other ideas? (Please go to our Video, listed below for comments as I am unable to manage comments on this here)

-Flare gun (More info on Amazon)

-parachute flares (More details)

-Molotov cocktail

-Pepperballs

-Pepper spray

-Pepper Gel (More Info on Amazon)

-AR15

-Loud PA announcing intentions

-Bow and Arrow

-sword/machete

-glass breaker balls

-Laser light

-fire extinguishers

-Blinding light

-trench knife

-Flame thrower

-a 308, a 45, shotgun, or other

-slipper/soapy deck

-barbed wire, thumbtacks

-Electric lifelines/stantions. Minimum of 1 joule suggested by Geoff Gentil, on SV Arnak in South East Asia… (Surveyor and Sailor) Here is a photo of his unit, with tester and copper ground pole which he puts in the cockpit drain…. He cautions to make sure whatever you have electricized…lifelines, stantions etc are all isolated from anything and everything else electrical on the boat, or pay the price…he has used the system for 2 years, and it has been useful! (BTW, his beautiful boat is for sale…contact me if you want details)

Here is one on Amazon’s that matches the specs

A comparable unit on Amazon

-weed sprayer with flammable liquid (on amazon.com)

-lock yourself in and let them take it all

-grenades

-wasp spray A good one on Amazon

-spear gun

-taser, tazer, tazer gun, taser gun, stun gun

-knife

-potato launcher

-escape by scuba

-frozen paintballs

-greased pole

-buzz gun

-safe room on the boat with lock, radio and epirb

-stabilized binoculars (Nice ones on Amazon)

-avoid all areas that may have any crime  (ie stay at home)

-cricket bat or baseball bat

-slingshot with pepperballs

-pump action shotgun

-ammonia squirt bottle, or under pressure

-Sail fast, in to the waves and hope their boat can’t keep up with that

-Sail out further from land

-party poppers filled with pepper

-water gun filled with gasoline.

-Just a really good security system with the Cloak or the Sound Barrier (The Cloak)

-bars on the windows, with locks, and bars on the companionway, and stay inside, and pull Epirb, call for help on VHF, SSB, Sat Phone, GEOS Safety Solutions, Panic button on the Iridium GO, or other. West Marine for Epirb, and more…

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Tips from a Pro

Now, meet Jesse McNeilly…a recent poster on our Sailboat Defense video with some good ideas. (Video below in case you have not seen it) While we don’t feel all of his advice is perfect for every ssilboat, I’m not sure there IS any perfect advice out there. You must make the decision yourself, and prepare yourself according to what you feel will work for your skills, comfort level and cruising area. We can’t tell you what’s right, and neither can anyone else. You must think about this, and plan , and decide how much you want to leave til the moment it happens, and how much you want to do ahead of time…

 

 

 

 

He writes:

“No equipment will do much of anything without training. For evidence – check out First Person Defender (FPD) on YouTube. Proves the point.

The individuals in the video may lack the real-world experience of being under immediate life threatening danger – I’m highly sceptical of the gentleman in the store, he’s a sales rep by observation, he wants to sell products. The authors are keen but at first glance aren’t trained. Training and experience makes the outcome of a battle you pick on the ground of your choosing, that’s is; Once you step off into being a victim to being a defender, it’s all or nothing, you fight or literally die trying. The second anyone (who you target) figures out your weakness, lack of skills, non-lethal capacity… you’re fu****. They will tactically exploit your fear and previewed weakness and use it against you, inviting harm or worse as you may just piss them off in your attempt/s to protect yourself. In my view; you simply don’t know what they want – your stuff or your life essentially. In any case, I’m not waiting to find out. I’m currently in the process of developing a range of common items which on there own are innocuous – simple items you’d find around the home/boat. These are perfectly legal and on their own simple. When combined you can have a non, to lethal option. You can easily construct tools mentioned in the comments, ideally make it hard, impossible or lethal for these pirates to board your vessel and conduct their operations. In most cases they want things from you, in others they’re looking for a ransom and in others they may want to kill you (such as religious extremists). To come back to my original point. Don’t wait to find out. They MUST understand that if they are to board your vessel, they may be hurt badly, or even better killed. Some items to consider:

-Blinding lights mounted to your vessel

-Speakers which warns them that you are armed and will defend yourself. Also with an audible recording (In their language) broadcasting that you have activated emergency distress and are declaring an emergency.

-Directional blinding lights, preferably with a strobe function.

-Slippery deck soap, or, solution to make boarding difficult.

-Weed sprayer which can take flammable liquid, I’ll let your imagination work that out.

-Pikes/axes/long arm edged weapons and/or a combination

-Several fire extinguishers (Dry Chemical Powder) – careful of wind, speed and direction

-Gas masks/respirators

-Hardened openings, lockable from the inside, window covers/black out shades

-Any incendiary; liquid, solid or gas which can be used for a variety of audible, concussion, directional kenetic options and more.

If you’re gonna go ‘full pirate’ COMMIT, amp yourself up, put on some bagpipes fuken war paint and get into it, you’re (if you decide to commit that is) in a fight for your life to defend your mates, loved ones, life, kids, home etc. do it right and go 110% if you’re going to get into a brawl

-Home made body armour, thick paper, ceramics, stab vests etc etc. Look the part and play into the role you want to display – don’t go at it half arsed. Of course, these are options, you MUST practice and drill and be CONFIDENT that when push comes to shove you COMMIT. If you’re not sure, then follow standard guidelines for being a hostage; don’t resist, given them what they want, comply, comply, comply. Sus out the situation early; if there as 2 or more fast boats, 5+ pirates etc. don’t think you, your Jack Russle and your wife 50+ years in age are gonna do much of anything. It’s not home alone the movie, shit just got real and you need to work out your options in seconds. Trust your gut. Activate a distress call, EPIRB etc.

Personally, I’d never use something like a BB Gun, because if it fails you – if they (pirates) decide to board, you’ve now shown them that you’re armed and they are going to match the lethal ‘perception’ and you’ve created a false sense of security you’re now obligated to match. So what do you do now? All said, avoid areas of high threat. Plan your route and voyage. Simple practices of: ample crew, defence skills, kinetic options and a watchful attitude, hopefully, will avoid any conflict. If required commit fully to defending yourself. Rarely do attackers go for you if they think they will die or be seriously hurt, remember, they’re looking for weakness – don’t give it to them.

On a final note; STUDY, stay up-to-date with your threat landscape, the methods and behaviours of local pirates and their capabilities and general intent. This will help you plan and prepare.

Thanks for sharing guys and opening up discussion on an important topic. Respect.”

We like thoughtful comments like the one above, and hope you will let us know what you think, and which situation above you think didn’t turn out so well…and which ones were OK, if any…Any of them could go either way in real life out here cruising…What would you do? How prepared are you? Or do you feel we should just trust everyone and take what comes?

Quiz Answer: Any of these could turn sour. Any of them could end very badly. And all could end with making good friends and having a nice story to tell on your blog or YouTube channel. All of them could restore Your faith in humanity…all of them could end in a injury, death, or mental trauma.

In our friends case…the one that ended badly was #4…the one with the police…they were not really police at all, and before they could do anything at all…gun or no gun, Plan A or Plan B..their legs were tied and they were chucked overboard in to a small boat, and transported 400 miles in an open boat to a small island where they were held for 6+ months as hostages, being threatened every day by Islamic militants. Only the women made it out intact. The man suffers to this day, and the marriage is no longer…a sad ending to a love story….

Paintball Guns:Alternative Self Defense Weapon on a Sailboat Against Un-Armed Thieves and Intruders: Tips and Tricks

Self Defense on Sailboats, against Pirates, Intruders, Thieves…

Is Cruising Safe? Panama Pirate Attack in Guna Yala/San Blas Islands

Vietnamese Pirates as seen in Blue Water Sailing, Cruising Helmsman, magazine

Scare the Hell out of those pirates, reef hooks, scuppers

Sailboat Security Systems: GOST… always watching!

Sailboat Security (GOST on a Valiant 40 )

Female Crew on a Sailboat: Sailing Safe

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paintball Guns:Alternative Self Defense Weapon on a Sailboat Against Un-Armed Thieves and Intruders: Tips and Tricks

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Tips from one of our Viewers: Paintballs Guns as Self Defense on a sailboat…Loaded with Pepperballs…

We recently did a controversial YouTube Video entitled “Unarmed Pirates, Thieves and Intruders: Self Defense on Sailboats”

One idea from the video which has been particularly controversial has been the use of CO2 powered paintball guns, using pepperballs in a paintball gun, as a form of self defense, instead of actual paintballs, the legality and effectiveness of them in different kinds of piracy, theft and potential boarding of a sailboat, by both “innocent”, perhaps “opportunist”, fisherman, or criminals looking to steel your money or electronics.

We received a comment from one of our viewers, Travis Allen, which was particularly interesting in regards to the use of paintball guns on a sailboat, as Self Defense, that we think you should know about; About the actual accuracy of paintball guns, the types of gas in a paintball gun, the effects of UV on a paintball gun, the adjustments you can make to a paintball marker, and the care and maintenance of paintball guns and the paintballs or pepperballs, to be sure they are there when needed. Tips and tricks of a paintball gun, if you will.

 

Here is Travis’ email, reprinted, with his written permission, that you may find interesting: The video is located at the end, in case you haven’t already seen it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Written by Travis Allen, September , 2019

 

I grew up as an only child in a remote area of the desert off of Highway 58.  My nearest grade school friends lived 3 miles away.  My father worked graveyard shift at Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex which was about an hour commute one way.  This left mom and me home alone at night.  It can be a dangerous world and some of my earliest childhood memories are of hiding in a dark hallway with my terrified mother because someone was trying to break into our house.  Hitchhikers, illegal immigrants, and sometimes even truck drivers were the culprits trying to gain access to our home.  This part of the desert is in San Bernardino County which had (or perhaps still has) the distinction of being the largest county in the United States.  The problem with this is there has just never been enough sheriff deputies to effectively patrol that much area.  So it’s imperative to learn to defend yourself because by the time the authorities arrive everything has already happened.  After the first of these incidents my parents decided that we needed something more than the fireplace poker as home defense.  As such, I grew up learning how to maintain and handle firearms.  From the various articles I’ve read and videos I’ve watched (and the rest of the world’s general viewpoint on guns), I can see how having a firearm onboard your vessel for self-defense can cause ridiculous hassle and, I’m sure, would simply prevent you from even visiting certain parts of the world.

 

All that being said, I stumbled across your YouTube video titled “Un-Armed PIRATES & INTRUDERS – Self Defense against theft on Sailboats (Patrick Childress Sailing 42)” and found it very interesting.  I actually have some experience that I can draw from and would like to pass that along to you.  Whether or not you decided to purchase a paintball gun as a means of non-lethal defense is up to you and none of my business.  Personally, I think it’s a great idea to have as one of many means to protect yourself and, honestly, one I had not until now considered.  I’m going to continue this from the assumed viewpoint that you did indeed purchase one for use.  You see, I used to play paintball on an official field (sometimes not on an official field) in my hometown with my friends.  This was back in the early ‘90’s and technology has changed since I stopped playing the sport but some of the principles haven’t.  When I began playing, the most common (and my first) paintball guns were pump action.  Slowly semi-automatic paintball guns entered the market and were comparatively expensive.  I drifted away from the sport shortly before the full-auto paintball guns were introduced.  Following are some things (in no particular order) that one learns when playing paintball that are not necessarily common knowledge to the average person out there. 

 

A common misconception is that paintballs and paintball guns behave like a normal firearms and ammunition.  Paintballs are not as accurate as the ammunition used in a firearm and there are a few things that factor into this.

 

1.       The barrel on a paintball gun is typically not rifled.  It’s a smooth bore and imparts no spin to the projectile.  Now, to be accurate, I had seen rifled barrels on the market back when I played but I don’t recall that I ever actually knew anyone that actually used one.

 

2.       The paintball itself does not have ballistics like the ammunition used in a firearm because it’s not a solid piece of metal.  The ballistics of a paintball are a little more like that of a water balloon.  The regulation muzzle velocity limit when I played was 300 feet per second.  (Most official paintball fields would lower that to about 285fps to have a bit more of a safety buffer.)  When the paintball is fired at these speeds it meets the resistance of the air inside the barrel.  This causes the paintball to compress to a degree and at this point the paintball is no longer a sphere.  This will decrease accuracy.  Also, the paintball is not entirely filled with paint.  The paint has a tendency to settle at the bottom of the ball.  This will cause the ball to be out of balance and will affect its flight.  Especially if the paintballs have been stored for a very long time.  And that’s another thing.  They do kind of have a shelf life.  Old paintballs can get brittle and are more prone to breaking when they’re not supposed to.  Such as in the chamber when the paintball gun is fired.  Paintballs also have a tendency to be sensitive to weather conditions.   The paintballs can swell and/or “sweat” depending on heat and humidity.  Swelling can cause accuracy issues and “sweating” can cause them to stick together which can cause issues feeding into the chamber.  This sticking, however, can be minimized and/or eliminated by hoppers that have a battery powered vibrator or agitator that allows for a consistent gravity feed into the chamber.

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3.       The air that is pushed out of the barrel ahead of the paintball causes turbulence outside of the muzzle.  Now your no longer spherical paintball has to pass through that turbulence.  This decreases accuracy even further.  There is some good news on this point however.  You may have seen that some barrels have ports machined down the length of the barrel.  Usually closer to the muzzle.  This allows the air to be pushed out of the ports prior to the paintball exiting the barrel thus reducing the amount of turbulence that the paintball must travel through at the muzzle.  Additionally, if you have a barrel that does not have ports machined into it, a muzzle brake can be added to a barrel and will have the same/similar effect.  Most, if not all, of these are easily attached with a set screw.

4.       Gas.  There are two options.  CO2 and Nitrogen/Compressed Air.  When I first started playing the sport everything was CO2.  Whether you were using the 12g cartridges or the 7oz. bottles (some people even used as large as a 20oz. bottle carried on their belt or harness and attached to the paintball gun via braided line.) it was all CO2.  CO2 is relatively cheap and more easily available but the drawback is it’s much more sensitive to changes in temperature.  Hot day, higher velocity.  Cold day, lower velocity.  Something as simple as leaving the CO2 bottle in direct sunlight on a hot day can cause the muzzle velocity to increase beyond safety limits.  Additionally, the CO2 will get colder with rapid trigger use.  A rapid-fire situation can quickly cool down your system and cause your muzzle velocity to fall off.  This will reduce your accurate range.  This can be somewhat mitigated by using an attachment called an Expansion Chamber.  As a matter of fact, it looked like the first “bottle-fed” paintball gun (it looked to be a Tippman which, btw, was a pretty solid manufacturer back when I played) that Zain showed you at about 15:53 in your video was equipped with an Expansion Chamber.  Notice there is a gas line running from the bottom of the primary grip to the bottom of the fore-grip.  That fore-grip appears to be an Expansion Chamber.  The Expansion Chamber allows for a more consistent pressure supplied to the system.  It is also worth noting that the CO2 getting cold can and does damage the O-rings in the internal works of the paintball gun.  (Side note: Always read and abide by the manufacturer instructions of course, but we used to put a thin coat of silicon grease on our O-rings.  This seemed to increase the lifespan of the O-rings and minimize catastrophic failure during use.)  These issues probably wouldn’t be experienced with a system that uses the 12g CO2 cartridges as the cartridge will be depleted before anything gets that cold.  But it can and does happen with the systems that use the higher capacity bottles.  The alternative is nitrogen.  Nitrogen is much more stable, is not nearly as sensitive to fluctuations in temperature, does not cool with rapid-fire, and is not or not as harmful to the O-rings.  The downside to Nitrogen is the cost relative to CO2.  The Nitrogen/Compressed Air tanks for paintball guns are much more expensive than their CO2 counterparts.  I cannot speak to the costs of refilling the Nitrogen tanks as I never personally used them.  I was drifting away from the sport as they were being introduced but had I continued playing I would have definitely switched to Nitrogen.

5.       Velocity adjustment.  Every paintball gun I’ve ever used has had adjustable velocity and I don’t see any reason that would have changed.  Some people might think to increase the velocity if they’re only planning to use the paintball gun as a non-lethal method of self-defense and not really for sport.  And, on the surface of it, this makes sense.  Higher velocity, more range.  And let’s face it, in a self-defense situation you do want to inflict pain to deter the assailant.  However, I would advise against doing this.  Or at least doing this too much.  Again, it comes back to the composition of the paintball.  I have seen people increase the velocity in their paintball gun too high and the end result was the paintball rupturing in the chamber.  Not something you would want to happen if when you’re using the pepper balls.  This, of course, wouldn’t be an issue with the solid riot control balls.

Final thoughts… Try to balance price, quality, and ease of use/maintenance.  Get a spare parts kit and an O-ring kit.  Airgun Designs has always made a top of the line product but they can be a bit expensive.  Tipmann (at least back when I used to play) was affordable and solidly built.  The “Spectre” in Zain’s shop… I remember associating that name with cheap and unreliable but, to be fair, it’s been a long time.  And, whatever you choose, get to know it.  Practice with it.  Become comfortable with it.  Know its strengths and weaknesses, its accurate range, how it behaves with high fire rate.  Know what you can and cannot expect from it.  And I sincerely hope you never have to use it.  But, if you do… as the saying goes “It’s better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.”  I still find it amazing how much that applies to so many things in life.

 

As much as the sailing community such as yourselves, Sailing La Vagabonde, Sailing Nahoa, Sailing Uma, and Emerald Steel have given me by sharing your stories, knowledge, and advice through articles, podcasts, and videos…  Well, consider this my small way of giving back at least a little bit by sharing what I have learned through my own personal experience.  And, who knows, maybe my luck will change and I’ll see you out there someday.  Until then, safe travels.

 

Kindest Regards and Thank You,

 

Travis Allen

 

Here is that video:

Self Defense on Sailboats, against Pirates, Intruders, Thieves…

 

 

Vietnamese Pirates as seen in Blue Water Sailing, Cruising Helmsman, magazine

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The boat that accosted us was like this one but much larger.

 “Rebecca, QUICK, I need another flare from the hanging locker!”

The jib alone was just barely pulling Brick House southward at a pace slower than a lame lamb, but there was no hurry, we were saving diesel fuel. The south west coast of Vietnam was 100 miles to our east and the coast of Thailand, 125 miles to the west. Here at the southern edge of the Gulf of Thailand, the hundreds of traditional wood fishing boats have thinned to a very few.

From several miles away I monitored our approach to a group of three anchored, fishing boats. Depending on the type of fishing they do, some boats anchor during the day and fish at night.

With the slight wind out of the north west, I adjusted the Monitor self steering to sail a safe quarter mile off their sterns, so to pass the boats on our starboard.

As Brick house slipped by, I could see that the 65 foot long mother ship had the two smaller fishing boats tied by lines, streaming off its stern.

But soon there was a puff of black smoke from the mother ship and the boats began to move in a counter clockwise circle. This soon put them on a perfect broadside collision course with Brick House.

There were at least four fishermen on the forward deck of the mother ship who were watching closely as our tracks converged. There were no friendly smiles or hand waves. Shining my high intensity green laser at the people on deck and at the wheelhouse did nothing to persuade them to change their course.

The mother ship was straining from its tow causing it to list hard to starboard as it struggled to turn into us and narrow the distance. In the fluid maneuvering, they had now set up an approach to bring their port to come along our starboard side.

One towed boat was actually attached to a long line fastened forward of their port midship and, possibly because its rudder was turned, was being thrown out to the side like a water skier in a turn. If they continued what looked like a docking maneuver, or if Brick House slowed down, that tow line would soon rake into our backstay creating all sorts of havoc.

Quickly, I hit the starter key on our diesel and throttled up. This lamb suddenly shed its sheepish coat. Certainly these guys were out to cause us harm. It was a very serious chase in slow motion like a conch after a sea urchin.

Because of the drag of their tow, we held our slim distance, but then very slowly we pulled further ahead. This gave me time to have Rebecca hand me an expired parachute flare. With our boat on autopilot, I pressed my legs against the stern rail for support.

Aiming the parachute flare, I pulled the safety pin and let the hammer mechanism fly. Nothing; the expired flare was a total dud. I dropped it into the ocean to insure it did not decide to ignite unexpectedly.

We had one more flare close at hand. Quickly the end caps were unwrapped, I then aimed toward the boat which was following behind and pulled the trigger.

There was a loud kabang, that rung Rebecca’s ears and sent our ships cat flying to shake in a dark bunk. An eight foot diameter explosion of gray smoke obscured the stern of Brick House. The recoil was not much in my left hand but the disappointment was great. Holding the flare slightly higher than horizontal, the drop rate was so great, the flare only went 50 feet before boring into the sea. It needed to fly an additional 100 feet to hit where I hoped. But the effect put a smile on my face. The pirates on the foredeck went running to the wheelhouse and, at the same moment, all forward movement of the fishing boat stopped.

I would loved to have fired another flare landing it with greater accuracy but our supply is very limited, plus, what if they decided to ignore the warning, drop the drag of their tows and come after us again? We had to think ammo conservation.

We continued to quickly motor sail south. Rebecca kept a binocular watch on the fishing boats. It was a relief to see them circle into the wind and reanchor as they had been a short time before.

And all was back to normal.

LESSONS LEARNED

There is a superstition among fishermen in S.E. Asian countries that a fishing boat can wipe away bad fishing luck by passing close across the bow of another moving vessel. Cruising sailboats become an easy mark for this dangerous maneuver. To dissuade boats I shine a powerful green laser light at the wheelhouse. Four out of four fishing boats hit with my laser made an abrupt turn, figuring it would be better luck to pass astern of our sailboat.

Our 1,000mW laser is far more effective than a mere 5mW “pointer” . There are 5,000mW lasers that can set fire to combustibles 18 inches away.

When the pirate mother ship picked up anchor and maneuvered in our direction, it became obvious they could not reach us in time to pass across our bow so I assumed they would turn to cross our stern. All my innocent misunderstandings of their true intentions allowed the tense situation to suddenly develop. As they tried to come alongside, it was immediately more important to avoid a collision.

With that problem solved, the priority became protecting ourselves and stopping the pirates in their pursuit. If we had a gun on board, a couple of shots across their deck or into the wheelhouse would certainly have scared them away. If these pirates were able to gain a proximity so close they would then board our boat, that becomes quite a

different level of anxiety and heightened defense on our part.

The Gulf of Thailand is not known to be a “pirate” area. In hindsight, these were fishermen who became pirates of opportunity and did not appear armed. If someone in our situation decided to wound or kill these unarmed pirates, while they were still on their own boat and someone was left in condition enough to tell what happened, there could be serious consequences awaiting the cruiser in their next port.

It is not unusual for victims in many countries to then become the criminal for defending themselves with excessive force. Plus, it is highly illegal to possess firearms in many countries.

In our situation, what if I had burned their boat or harmed these pirates with my flares and they were able to claim to officials they were simply having mechanical problems with their steering, or they wanted to sell us fish? I do not want to deal with corrupt foreign court systems and predatory lawyers. Our goal was to stop the piracy without causing further problems for ourselves. We could ratchet up our defense as needed. Hopefully these pirates have gone away learning that not all sailboats are easy targets.

There are known pirate areas like the waters between the south eastern Philippines and the north east coast of Borneo. If a high speed powerboat full of men, in dark T-shirts with the word “Police” across the chest, approaches a cruising boat in this area, a cruisers best option is to immediately cut loose with rocket propelled grenades.

Waiting for clarity in these waters can prove disastrous as it has for the crew of commercial shipping and cruisers. This past November, a German couple were attacked on their sailboat. The wife was killed and the husband who was held for ransom was then beheaded. Such attacks have become a pattern. Obviously, most cruisers find it prudent to steer wide of known pirate areas.

Using a yacht’s distress signaling equipment, like flares, to ward off the bad guys, has proven effective for a number of world roaming cruisers. Twelve gauge, pistol-fired flares like the orange colored Orion flare launcher will fly 90 meters with the proper trajectory. These flares will burn underwater so if one should land on the deck of a boat, it cannot be easily extinguished.

Parachute flares launched from a tube can fly 300 meters. In a defensive situation, the first flare launched should have a trajectory of 45 degrees for ranging purposes.

The expired handheld flares used in our pirate encounter expired on February 1996. So far, we have a 50 percent failure rate with that vintage. In a tense situation, to pull the pin on a flare being gripped in your hand, only to have nothing happen, is a real “Oh sh..” moment.