Is Cruising Safe? Panama Pirate Attack in Guna Yala/San Blas Islands
I just read the news of a family on a cruising boat, a trawler attacked, with resulting death of the husband, Alan Culverware, and injury to his daughter, in a previously considered safe area to cruise in the Guna Yala/San Blas Islands, in Panama. I read this with great sadness. We cruised this area more than a decade ago, as do many cruising sailboats, and like in many anchorages, we “felt” very safe there. I have read many comments from other cruisers that “cruising is safer than living in the US”…
Here is my view on it…12 years in to our circumnavIgation. It’s with mixed feelings I say any of this, because we all like to feel we are living safely out here, or anywhere we choose to live. It’s human nature to argue one’s life choices, and defend where one lives.
Crime happens everywhere for sure. I often meet well travelled people out here, in areas I consider less safe than the US, that refuse to travel to the US…”Too dangerous” they say…”I watch and hear American news, and people are getting killed, bombed, and raped every day there. … I rather stay here and be safe!” This is so very true about the US…but because nobody in my family has ever been affected by this, I feel like the risk is minimized for me personally, when I travel back to my family in the US. I feel like my family lives in a safe area and stays away from the bad areas, that these things happen in other places in the US, not where we lived, and not where my family lives. But I suppose every town and neighborhood is safe until one day, something happens, and it’s not considered as safe as it once was.
I am a bit scared here in South Africa to be honest. It’s a bit like the US in that bad things are in the news each and every day here. We are warned to be careful, and not walk places, and lock up our boat tight. I’m not even entirely sure exactly where here I need to stay away from, and I haven’t come to understand exactly where and who to be afraid of. Not go walking in the beautiful lake side greenbelts? Not walk on busy highways in broad daylight? At home in the USA I would know where not to go, how dark of an alley not to walk down depending what town or city I was in. My senses would be keen, and my intuition would be fairly spot on about where I am safe or not safe, short of an ourright surprise. But in this strange land, my senses are dulled, whether I admit it or not, and I must learn, hopefully not the hard way. Even after 6 months of being in this one spot, my senses and knowledge won’t be as keen as a local who has spent their life here. “Feeling safe” somewhere is just that…a feeling, not necessarily the reality of it. Have we Cruisers left our country because it doesn’t feel safe there, and entered another where our ignorance is bliss, until it’s not so blissful anymore, and someone is attacked in the very neighborhood we all felt safe in before?
It is without doubt, prudent to do our research as we travel around. But As Cruisers, we face this lack of true knowledge, awareness and intuition because we are in a strange area to us, with nuances we can not know in time, or in some cases, ever. Sure, we gain a bit of insight as we go, and traveling in different places we learn things we aren’t even aware of, to keep ourselves safer…but our knowledge of each area we go to can never be quite as sharp as where we spent the first 20, 30, or 40 years of our life honing that sense and knowledge. All we can do as cruisers is stick to where violence and crime against cruisers before us has not happened. Use our dulled intuition and awareness to guide us. Be more cautious than we are at home because we don’t have the “home advantage”. Assess the situation with our own brains and previous experiences and interpretations. Pray that karma and luck is on our side, dress down, act poor, and try not to cause resentment of our “richness” as we go. Don’t hand things out and perpetuate that people on boats have lots of money (and hence possessions) to spare. We are operating a “treasure ship” here. Our predecessors have willingly handed out an abundance of used clothes and household items…it’s no wonder we are viewed as such. An act as simple as hanging our laundry out to dry can display just how many shirts we have compared to the person on shore who feels lucky to have one with holes in it. How unfair that they have worked hard their whole lives, and do not have this abundance to give away, shirts and shoes and sunglasses to choose between, money to spend on meals at resorts, and a nice boat to travel the world on !? Is is any wonder that the very few bad seeds at any one location come to harm us, albeit it rarely?
For sure, We have to madly research, and be aware of where the hot spots are, and give these areas a wide berth. But those hot spots are sure to spread as time goes on, just as crime in the US or other areas previously safe are spreading. The world is NOT getting safer over time, nor are the seas, or anchorages, or marinas.
As Cruisers, the difference between being on land versus on the water, in a foreign country, is that we, with a boat of 40 feet “look” rich and are hence targets. There are only 5, or 10 or 100 of us “rich” targets to choose from in each given area. Back in the US, we blend in more, we are not one of 5, 10 or 100 and don’t look “rich” to the majority of people around us. And in the US, we aren’t in a place where we are alone for miles around, as that “rich” person. Rich people who do live in the boonies, far from anyone in the US have to boost their security measures because they stand out to the more average people. So, as “rich” Cruisers (ie anyone with a boat), the odds are greater, and our TRUE knowledge of our neighbors in any one given anchorage is less known because we are the new guys on the block. We are often “strolling through the ghettos”, which we wouldn’t do at home, but we may not even always be aware of in new locations we visit in the world, because it ALL looks “poor” to us, compared to where we originally lived!
I certainly am feeling more at risk these days than I did in the beginning, 12 years ago, and I seek new ways all the time to TRY to be safer both on the boat and when exploring the beautiful places we go. Nothing I have done hence far truly makes us much safer though, I’m afraid. The fact remains… My risk as a “rich” person out here is 1 in 10,000 … My risk back home is more like 1 in 330,000,000. If the odds for two lotteries were this, which would you play?
Another statistic to consider…in the US, to this day… I know of 1 person, personally, who was attacked in his hotel room, tied up, gagged and lost his hand due to it. I know of not one person, personally, who was killed, murdered, raped, or even held at gunpoint..only strangers on the TV, in the 41 years before we left. I personally knew just 2 people who were robbed in their home, nonviolently, while they were away or slept.
Since cruising, I’ve known 9 people personally who were kidnapped, 5 who were mirdered, 3 that were held at gun or knifepoint on land, and 6 who were attacked violently on their boat. That’s in just 12 years, not the 41 I had on land, in the USA.
We all want to hear that we have a safer lifestyle, living aboard. I think the truth of the matter really,is that the dangers are shifted, and that we should all take measures to secure ourselves, maybe a little more than we currently do, so we can keep being safe. Also, new cruisers should not think that they leave all their worries behind when they leave land. Violent crime still exists out here, and if you stay out here long enough, you WILL know someone who has been violently attacked, and hopefully it’s not you or your family. As the whole world deteriorates and becomes less safe, I think cruising will follow suit. Take care, and stay safe everyone, and enjoy this beautiful life while we have it!
These are the statistics and risk that I choose to live with, for the tradeoff of seeing the world, and living each day fully. Hopefully I can keep my head low, blend in, and stay off the radar of the bad guys. Hopefully I can keep having fun, staying healthy and living my little life unharmed.
Hopefully I die having an adventure rather than in the monotony of the white noise in a house, trapped on land in the monotony. Everything in life is a trade off.
Are you seriously making the assumption that because some other cruisers have been charitable toward locals or people in need that they are partly responsible for today’s crimes against cruisers?
“Don’t hand things out and perpetuate that people on boats have lots of money (and hence possessions) to spare. We are operating a “treasure ship” here. Our predecessors have willingly handed out an abundance of used clothes and household items…”
This is a very myopic point of view, in my opinion.
Mark
sv Cream Puff
I am certainly suggesting that if you hang 10 shirts on your clothes line, you are suggesting wealth. I am suggesting that if you give those 10 shirts away, you are even wealthier. And I am suggesting indeed, that if boat after boat is wealthy, why not go and get your fair share from that boat? Obviously not everyone thinks that way, and it doesn’t make it right or fair, but all you need is one bad seed to get wind that their personal Salvation Army is in town and things can go south quickly.
If someone is going to give away bags of clothes or household possessions, Perhaps the solution is to go to the head of the village or another such organization and declare that the Red Cross or other such organization gave these bags to you to bring to their village..if you really must give them all away in one go. Simply to see the smiles of the lovely people you are visiting and make your own happy memories at the expense of these people is not helpful. ONE shirt, or ONE pair or shorts double their wardrobe, why not stop there;why must we rub it in their face how much we have, and how little they have. If it comes from you personally, and you have enough clothes for an entire family or an entire village, you perpetuate the stereotype that yachties are rich and can afford to lose other things on the boat too, without that much heartache or financial peril. I’ve seen outboards dissapear off people boats. What does that yachtie do days or weeks later…they go out and buy another one. The locals often see this. Obviously, that engine was very easily replaceable, right? Most families in a village where you would be giving clothes away to could not afford an outboard motor if they saved their entire lives for one. Our actions, our ability to replace things stolen, our ability to wear a different shirt every day, our ability to pay for a cup of coffee…all of those little things have greater impact on places we visit than probably anything any of us ever do when we travel. It leaves a GIANT footprint..a GIANT impression. How can it not?
Why do we as Cruisers seek out places other yachties have not ruined yet…because we want to find unspoiled people, people who are still glad to see a visitor, people who won’t steal from us, people who will be gentle and kind to us. What do you think ruined them in the first place? Contact with a society that made them realize what they don’t have by getting an entire lifetime of clothes handed to them in a single go, that has flaunted wealth and possessions…that is often how their society has become ugly!
Once the steeling and crime cycle begins, us cruisers seek out a kinder place to visit. We discover gentle caring people and want to shower them with gifts and better their lives. And the cycle begins all over again. Slowly perhaps, but it begins. These places without an abundance are not “poor” until we show them that they are. And then naturally…they want to equalize, and have what we have. And their society doesn’t afford them that opportunity, no matter how “hard they work their whole life”. So a small percentage of them set to achieving that in a different way. It’s so easy to think we are helping people less fortunate than ourselves, but indeed, we are only worsening their situation by showing them the wide gap. And yes, for the bad seeds in that society, we are positively suggesting that we would not miss our possessions that much, and that we can become whole again much more easily than they can. The treasure ship floating in front of their village or city offers a HUGE opportunity for that bad seed to get ahead in life…they often have nothing to lose trying to get their one bonus in life from a yachtie. And a crime is born. I’m not saying don’t donate and help those in need. But do it in the form of a trade, even if not an even trade. Let them earn a pair of flip flops, or a new shirt. Or at least just give one shirt to them, not a lifetime supply. Let them know that what they offer in trade to you is as cherished as what you give to them. Develop pride in them, not welfare. Keep them beautiful for the next cruiser, if nothing else. Do not ruin their pride and eventually their society by giving away…In turn, earn a real friend, protect yourself and your possessions at the same time, and those that come behind you.
It’s not a popular concept I know, and we have been guilty from time to time, of gifting too much. Little by little, we and any other yachtie that gives away abundant possessions perpetuates that we have much to spare…why not rob us? And then the robbing becomes desperate and violent. All of those crimes stem from the poor trying to get some of our perceived wealth. We are without a doubt the top 1% of the wealthy of the world in most people’s eyes around the world…we are the ones that SHOULD be taken from..we can afford to be robbed, violently if need be.
I am not blaming anyone for the crimes that happen now to cruisers…but I am suggesting that there are things we can do to stem the flow, to help stop the perception that we are all rich. Best to look poor, both for your own protection, and for those that follow behind you! I am not suggesting it’s anyone’s fault..it’s the bad guys fault if anyone’s;I am merely suggesting there is a way to try to stem the flow a bit! And I am also suggesting that living on land vs living on the water is not safer as some cruisers suggest; our safety is less everywhere these days, more and more as time goes on. I personally feel a bit safer where I grew up because I am more aware of the nuances of these types if things around me. In a foreign land, I am not as aware, so I personally am a tad less safe. You may feel differently..it’s a very personal thing.
But yes, I do feel strongly that if we give large quantity of things away as we go, we are certainly suggesting wealth and abundance mongst cruisers, and we may all get lumped in to that stereotype that many, sadly, but not properly, have.
rebecca,
I’ve got to agree with you on this.
the first time i bought fish from a local panga in a remote location and wound up “tipping” the fisherman about 400% because I did not have change, really taught me a lesson.
The fisherman looked truly bewildered and concerned by the amount. it was no big deal to me, but to him as i came to understood later, it is was actually insulting.
i broke his idea of what a fair day’s labor should bring. and probably left him re-evaluating the real worth of his labor.
and i certainly created in him a different perspective on what to expect from the next cruising boat to visit his remote fish camp.
Yep…but at least you recognize it and now ya know 😉 We all learn these things..god knows we have made our share of mistakes…hopefully the next cruiser set him straight that you were either nuts or made a mistake…hahaha 😉
Very insightful information! I think you are 100% right! My wife and I are planning on crusing soon and learning from your experiences. BTW we currently operate a port for TowBoat/US on the Gulf Coast of FL. Glad our company is helping!
Yep…people are so lucky to have access to you guys. Wish we had a towboat US or. Towboat anything in most of the places we go. Even after 12 years of cruising foreign waters, there is always that question of the engine failing or running up on a sandbank that we can’t get off of ourselves,..but somehow, we always work it out. Good luck with your plans to cruise soon..it’s a good life!