Sailboat Security Systems: GOST… always watching!

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Sailboat Security Systems…GOST (Global Ocean Security Technologies) will always be watching now! It’s not just for super yachts any more…small cruising boats have them too!

What’s in all these boxes? Global Ocean Security Technologies (GOST) -The Cadillac Of Sailboat Security Systems!

Well, today I returned from the USA to South Africa to my sailboat “Brick House”. I was on a frequent flyer ticket, so I flew the long, wrong, multiple connections route. I of course, had lots of boat bits, so I came with 4 oversized, overweight checked bags, and 2 big carry ons. Even one of the carry-ons was too big, and in the end, they insisted on me checking it. But would I?  NO WAY!!!  Fragile, valuable, and mission critical!

True to my typical style, I had come prepared with other bags inside of my bags JUST IN CASE. I had arrived 3 hours early, for just this occasion.  I had overspilling suitcases and bits scattered around me when the second customer of the day rolled through the door as bleary eyes as me, and I had to shuffle over to make room. I eventually had two properly sized carry ons, albeit without wheels or long enough handles to put on my shoulders. I stayed while they pulled every single one of my checked suitcases aside to do a messy, thorough search. I helped them repack with my cardboard, and styrofoam protectors properly placed to protect more fragile items including a Raymarine autopilot linear drive purchased as a backup. This was for our existing Raymarine autopilot which is doing well after 14 years. We are using the old one as a spare since it’s still in great working order! With 8 boxes from one company and 1 heavy one from another, I crawled to my gate overladen but determined. Why my insistence to carry so much on the plane with me?

I was returning with a complete, state of the art security system from GOST (Global Ocean Security Technologies). I was flying through Johannesburg, South Africa; an airport famous for pilferage, and outright theft of bags. What I had in those 2 bags was valuable, delicate, and vulnerable. I couldn’t chance losing them. In those 2 bags were 2 strokes of luck that I may never have again.

What was in my carry on bags promised to keep us safe and secure for years to come, so I was taking my short 24 hour shift to keep them safe and secure. I was to be laden down for the entire trip, unable to shop or enjoy dining between flights, having all I could do to carry those bags through winding arrival halls, up and down stairs, and through more security checkpoints in time for the next departure. Have you ever carried 8 boxes of electronics through no less than 4 security checkpoints? I had to unpack each time, put them in separate bins along with my shoes, watch everything like a hawk, and then pack them all back in on the other side of security. I had a lot of explaining to do too. I then had to wobble to my next gate as fast as I could, miss meals and hydration, and  then struggle on to crowded planes vying for the most secure location in the overhead bin, begging for mercy from strong men to help me lift them high but gently to a secure position that wouldn’t come loose or get crushed.

Because of all of this I could not run fast enough to make my very last connection to Durban. I missed it, despite the security scanners giving me a good break and exerting every last ounce of energy had.  I was devastated, drained, and sooo concerned about my 4 other checked suitcases. Surely they would be pilfered, or dissapear all together.? And they were mission critical bits too! Most who know me would say I searched online til I found the cheapest flight to Durban.  No…I took the next flight I could get, and I didn’t worry about the price of it. I wanted to get my baggage out of there just as quickly as possible!

We are in South Africa..where there are a lot of nice people…but also a few very bad ones, like anywhere. The locals had warned me profusely about airport problems, and problems right here in Richards Bay. We are heading to South America, where the same is true. This world is NOT getting safer. I didn’t even feel safe in the USA on this trip. I was amazed to see even in my small little rural hometown, where my family still lives, that they lock windows and doors, and have security systems armed even while at home. It’s no longer a world where doors are left unlocked, and people are universally trusted as the default. Yes…there are many many honest and generous people, the word over. This security system is for the unsavory few.

We had decided months ago, if not a year ago, that it was time to get serious about this worldwide reality, and set ourselves up right. We had messed around with a few security cameras and alarms on the boat, Patrick even made some cool home brewed alarms. I had read and emailed, watched countless YouTube videos, and contemplated how best to protect our floating home. (See https://youtu.be/pi0zpy7CH5o) But no security traps were perfect and admittedly, they left gaping holes in our security. There was only a small chance they would work when push came to shove. We don’t really want to just watch someone on a camera as they pilfer our boat and hope someone can identify them afterwards, like with our security cameras that are on the boat now…we wanted a real system that will scare away the unsavories before they get in, with nauseating alarms and blinding flashing lights, send alerts out by phone, email and SMS, and always be reliable, every time…with no false alarms…and even be able to monitor/report this worldwide to us and even local security teams/police, even when we are out of internet range!

We actually had narrowed it down to 4 systems that had some of the different components, different sensors and features that we liked. Only ONE had EVERY FEATURE AND COMPONENT AND SENSOR that we wanted, as well as many new ideas to consider…

GOST – (Global Ocean Security Technologies) was what I was carrying home like a delicate raw egg in my bags…very precious cargo…very critical. Everything we wanted in a security system. Our final solution on how to keep the boat safe from trespassers, pirates, thieves, intruders…

By the time Patrick and I had finished thoroughly examining GOST’s security systems, and has discussed the various options at length with the Installation and Sales team there, we were both absolutely sold that this was the system worth spending our precious stash of cash on. No other company even came close to what GOST offered in terms of having ALL the sensors and security devices we now wanted. Finally I compiled a list and asked for the final quote. The prices certainly reflected the quality that I was seeing, and I was heartbroken when I succumbed to the fact that I couldn’t have all the bells and whistles that this ultimate marine security system can provide. But the technology was so advanced, so tried and true, so respected, and the technician so competent at GOST…that it made it painful to drop a good chunk of change on a different companies system that we felt was only a distant second in quality and reliability. It would have been like buying the Hyundai instead of the Cadillac knowing full well the Hyundai was not going to make us happy despite the endless car payments we would make.  We would always be wanting the Cadillac. Everyone I spoke with in the know, confirmed that GOST was the cream of the crop, the gold standard, that they were THE “go to company” for security systems! I couldn’t find one bad review online, from anyone. So we decided, rather than going for the lower pricetag second choice security system, we would go with GOST’s simplest base system and just not have every last sensor we wanted. Quality over quantity. Maybe we could afford to add more later. At least it would always work and always be there with us, and it wouldn’t collect in the junk drawer like countless other rinky dink dissapointing gadgets already have.

When GOST took my credit card for the most basic, they were probably pretty dissapointed, but remained very helpful and professional. They then confessed that they recognized our names from sailing magazines and YouTube videos, and announced that they would be giving us a bit more than just the basics, “just in case” we did a video or wrote an article about security in the future. Who us? Write or vlog about security? Yeah…I guess we have done a few! And maybe now this YouTube and blog stuff has paid off! I’m sure GOST wants to be sure that if we do a video, we can at least represent them with more than just the basics, though they were polite and didn’t make any demands. We did though, agree to make a video about our new system, so stay tuned.. it will be a brutally honest video if need be! They are confidant…we are too…it wouldn’t go on the boat if we weren’t already completely confidant that this is the best security system made!

GOST makes and uses the technology that the big ships use, and most of us little boats have never even considered before. This isn’t a system for a few hundred dollars, it’s up there with the price of a good Raymarine chartplotter. But if you have more than that to protect, and want hard core protection instead of a toy, GOST is who you should compare all other systems to. It’s worth going to their web site at GOST.com even if just for some ideas on what to look for in other systems. Even if you find you can not afford a comprehensive system like one from GOST, we highly encourage you to find a system that can work for you. The world is NOT getting safer…and we cruisers need to take a hint from those on land. (Beware: the technology you see on their site will spoil you for the possibilities that are NOT available at other security companies!!)

When I received the boxes, I couldn’t believe our luck! Not their amazing “Cloak”, and not the “Sound Barrier” which are really cool theft deterrents, but some pretty great stuff for a sailboat of modest means or more, like ours.  I couldn’t wait to get this back to Africa, get it all installed, test it out..and make a video to show you too! You all know that we would make a video and/or an article about this regardless…it’s been a really big concern for us for a long time (see links below for all of our past security articles, blogs and videos)…but now we will finally, finally have what it takes to protect ourselves against thieves and intruders onboard SV Brick House for the long term ! Thank you GOST for letting us see what’s possible!

Call before you drop by BRICK HOUSE from now on, OK? We wouldn’t want to wake up the whole neighborhood as you board!

More details to come in blogs and videos and articles, so be sure to subscribe for updates! THERE IS SO MUCH TO TELL AND SHOW YOU! You can click on this image below if you can’t wait for our videos and article/blog!

Click here for more infoCheck out the array of sensors this company can provide!

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Here are some videos and blogs we have done in the past. Yes…we really have been very concerned for years! Such a sigh of relief to finally have found something we feel will genuinely work!

Home brewed Security on Brick House(Video)

Is Cruising Still Safe? (Sail Magazine article by Rebecca and Patrick)

Rebecca’s Immediate after-thoughts about Recent Panama Attack on Cruisers (blog)

Flares as Defense (Video)

Considerations for Women Crewing Safely

Fisherman Turned Pirates Personal Experience

Fisherman Punk Pirate in SE Asia

Lively video/discussion on ideas for Non-Lethal Theft Deterrents (Video)

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Here are some non lethal, sometimes legal (depending on the country you are cruising) self defense products and ideas against NONARMED pirates, thieves and intruders: (Consider these carefully before purchasing and watch the above video and read all comments…it’s NOT a self defense weapon recommended or endorsed by us…they are just some ideas to round out the discussions we all have about what to do in this day and age if increased security risks aboard our sailboats)

Some of them are viable. Some are a little crazy…and deadly if the intruders are armed. Some could escalate a situation very quickly in to a deadly attack. But used in the right situation…against non-armed pirates , thieves and intruders…and it could be just the ticket!

CO2 guns

Paintball guns

Pepper Gel

Pepper Spray

Bear Spray

Cross Bow

Taser

It would be better however, in our opinion, to spend your money first, on a good security system that can warn you day or night or when you are away from your boat, that you are about to be robbed, and prevent it before it ever becomes an event. This is why we have made a very serious investment in a system from GOST (Global Ocean Security Technologies)

GOST ONLY protects boats…worldwide…big boats…little boats…all kinds of situations. GOST will now be watching our boat, day and night…but the GOST will never be seen!

Female Crew on a Sailboat: Sailing Safe

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Female Crew on a Sailboat: Sailing Safely

Go to the profile of Matt Ray
I met an interesting man this past year, on another boat. His name is Matt Ray. Yes…a man…And he has written this interesting blog for me…because crewing seems to be in his blood. He has coined a new phrase: “Global HitchHiking”, and has been crossing oceans for a few years now, about to complete a circumnavigation, crewing on other people’s sailboats. Sailing around the world, on other people’s boats… Pretty cool, hah?
But is it safe? What can you do to make crewing safe?…especially for women who sail and want to crew, who may face a few more challenges than a man doing this by himself, with people who start off as complete strangers…
Honestly…it’s probably a little easier for a man to do this “global hitchhiking” kind of thing, and being the kind of guy Matt is…he realizes this, and when he meets women crewing on other boats, he really listens to what they have to say about their experience crewing on other peoples boats, doing much the same as what he is doing. But they are women.
As a women, having crewed a lot before going cruising, his advice touched me, and reminded me about a life previous to Brick House, trying to get ocean experience, and actually, quite trying to get cruising out of my system, so as to perhaps ‘save’ my (first) marriage. It didn’t really work. Saving the marriage that is…
We all know what happened next…I have been cruising around the world for 12+ years now….with a great man, my husband Patrick Childress.
Below is Matt’s article…
I encourage you to go see his other posts on Medium and Living Large by Living Little. 
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GLOBAL HITCHHIKING V: SAILING SAFELY: CONSIDERATIONS FOR WOMEN CREWING

Why am I, a man, writing this article? I don’t pretend to know what it’s like to be a woman, nor do I claim to be an expert at what it’s like to crew on a sailboat as a woman with people you don’t know and particularly with potentially aggressive men. But I do know some women who have crewed a fair bit and they have shared their experiences with me. The focus of this article is to share tips and tricks on how to safely Globally HitchHike around the world as a woman, although the ideas shared here will also be helpful for men who are crewing.

As I’ve mentioned in past articles, crewing is much like dating, not from a romantic perspective, but from finding the appropriate match perspective. I’m not trying to find a date when I’m looking for a boat, but I’m trying to find a boat that I can enjoy being on for a passage or two, one that is going in the direction I want to go, and one where I can get along with the skipper and crew. Unfortunately, there are many single captains who use crewing sites and crewing opportunities for romantic companionship, even though they disguise their attempts as “looking for crew.” Many I have talked to have had experiences where they went aboard a boat to crew, only to find out that the skipper was really just interested in having a nice woman on board to keep them company or more. I don’t really know what to say about this other than it’s an unfortunate reality that lonely skippers will seek out opportunities to invite women crew on board for this purpose. It’s a large part of why I’m writing this article and why you should be extra wary when crewing as a woman. I realize it is a problem, but unfortunately, it’s not a problem I can solve with this article. I can only control my actions, not others.

Three Weeks Can Seem Like An Eternity

I can say that if you don’t do your homework and make sure you get along with the people you plan to sail with, three weeks can seem like an eternity. I sailed from Tahiti to Tonga in 2017 with a guy who I should have spent more time with, getting to know him. I did not get along with him after a day or two. In fact, we ended up hating each other. He was older and was very set in his ways and was really not prepared to share his space with me. Everything I did was wrong in his eyes. In Bora Bora, I jumped off his boat with fins and snorkel and went from boat to boat in the harbor asking if they were looking for crew. In the end, I sailed with him for three weeks to Tonga, but it was the longest three weeks of my circumnavigation. Imagine being stuck on a boat with someone you can’t stand, but you have to eat together, sleep near each other, share responsibilities for the boat together and there was nowhere you could go to get away from them. That’s why it’s important to spend time making sure you’ll get along with your shipmates before embarking on a passage. Luckily, out of the 7 boats I’ve crewed on, circumnavigating, I’ve only had one bad experience. It saddens me that my travels in that section of the world were tainted by the unease I felt in that situation. Bora Bora was a place I had dreamed about my entire life. It was supposed to be one of the highlights of my trip, but instead, I spent the whole time trying to find an alternative ride and feeling uncomfortable on the boat. I believe it was this experience that made me realize how much worse it could be for women in a similar situation.

Here are some ideas I have come up with as well as some that have been suggested to me on how to avoid running into problems with your crewing opportunities.

Be Prepared

This is the fifth article I have written about Global HitchHiking. If you haven’t read the other articles I’ve written, please read them as there are many practical ideas and suggestions about being prepared to actually crew on a boat. The more you know about what you’re doing, the more respect you will have from your skipper and shipmates when crewing. I’m not saying that knowing more about sailing will guarantee you won’t have problems, I’m just saying that sailors tend to respect you more if you have sailing experience and knowledge. In fact, I recently spoke with a woman who has done lots of crewing and has never had a problem, but she said she had lots of experience and really knew how to sail and her shipmates always respected her for it. So having some sailing knowledge will go a long way.

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Safety In Numbers

The personal experience I describe above could have been lessened had there been at least one other crew member involved. I have found that when there is at least one other person on board a boat with you and the captain, it breaks up situations that could arise. Especially in the case when one of your shipmates is being unreasonably vindictive or aggressive. Or even if your personalities are not meshing well. When it’s just you and one other person, there is nowhere to go or nothing you can do to break up that dynamic. Having at least one other person on board might help to do that. It also helps with temporary problems, such as an argument or one person getting angry at the other for something they did. Having a third person on board helps to balance that all out and allows you to get back to a sense of normalcy sooner.

In the case for women on a boat where a captain is being aggressive, particularly sexually aggressive, having at least one other person on board would help in that situation as well. Especially if the other person was a woman. But even if it’s not a woman, there is a sense of accountability in having one other person on board. We tend to try to save face if nothing else when there is an extra witness to our acts of possible aggression. I love the old joke, How do you keep a Mormon from drinking all your beer on a sailing trip? Invite another Mormon! It’s kind of the same idea. People are typically better behaved when there’s someone else along.

Crew on a Rally!

Rebecca and Patrick’s favorite Rally, which offers great opportunity for crewing and learning from professionals!

Here’s a google link to tons of rallies happening all over the world. One of the links says there are over 50 rallies going on right now. Rallies tend to be safer than sailing with individual boats for more than one reason. The first of the reasons go to support my paragraph above; There is safety in numbers. Rallies typically consist of many boats and many sailors, men, and women, and there are often crewing opportunities on these rallies. With so many boats (many of which are a VHF radio call away), you can almost always feel safe on whichever boat you are crewing on. Rallies are also run by a group of sailing professionals who are there to provide support and logistics. And they help settle issues when they come up between sailors. These rallies typically cost money, but when crewing, the expense of the rally isn’t typically passed on to you. So you have a safer environment to work in without the overhead.

Brita Siepker is an attorney from New York I met last year, circumnavigating. She did most of her trip on the ARC Rally. Her blog about her experiences is called, Life Is Water. She wrote a blog about this topic and I believe it offers keen information and insight on crewing safely. It can be found here: Crew Finder

The fact that she never had a problem with skippers and crew, was largely due to the fact she was crewing on a rally, and not an individual boat. A lot more vetting needs to be done when doing this, but with the rallies, most of that is taken care of by the nature of the group. People on rallies tend to have nicer boats as well and are typically better funded, so the chances of having a more comfortable experience would probably be a bonus to the other benefits it provides.

(I, Rebecca did most of my crewing, before I took off on my own boat with Offshore Passage Opportunities I can recommend them heartily as a way to gain experience, and be safe while doing so, with professional captains. Patrick has a new sailing series called “Tips From The Pros”, who is one of the captains on this trip, with 5 crew aboard. (Video is Here)

CREW WITH WOMEN SKIPPERS

There are at least three or four skippers that come to mind who are women skippers, cruising around the world. Dana Paredes has a beautiful Dolphin catamaran called Vida Libre she has been cruising in the Caribbean for 13 years. She loves taking on crew. Not sure of her financial arrangements, you’d have to seek her out to determine this. Linda Lindenau is a sailing instructor and her rolling class is continuously circumnavigating the globe. She only takes on women sailors who want to learn more about sailing, except for an occasional passage with her husband on board. Great couple and a great way to learn more about sailing in an easy, experience-based way. Here is her website.

I’m sure there are lots more out there who would be open to crew, you’ll just have to seek them out. In fact, there are some Facebook groups out there that only allow women. Women Who Sail, Sailing and Cruising Women, and Women Who Own Boats (Without Men) are three of them. I’m sure there are others.

There is also an organization called Offshore Passage Opportunities…that sometimes have reputable, screened captains looking for crew…

 

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

 

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

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

Is this a ghetto, or a simple country home? How are we really to know?
Or how about this one?

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?

Bars on our Hatch…

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.

Security Cameras New this year on Brick House..

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.

 

 

 

 

 

Indian Ocean Emergency Contacts for Sat Phone