Is Cruising Still Safe?

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Is Cruising Still Safe?

(As seen in SAIL Magazine on August 23, 2019)

NOTE: We have since purchased a full fledge security system since this was published. Security is a big concern for us.

The authors have sailed to many countries off the beaten track

The authors have sailed to many countries off the beaten track

It is with great sadness that we read of the murder of New Zealand cruiser Alan Culverwell, and the attack on his family, by criminals who boarded their boat in Panama’s Guna Yala/San Blas Islands early in May. The San Blas were known as a “safe” area to cruise. Aside from petty theft, there had never been reason to believe the region was unsafe, especially when compared to some of the area’s cities.

Many cruisers feel that living aboard, even in exotic locations, is safer than living on land, but is it really? As cruisers, we generally anchor where nature gives us the best protection from wind and waves, not from humans. The human element is far more unpredictable than any weather forecast. What was once a friendly area can have sudden, unheard-of aggression perpetrated by desperate locals. Whether in a city or in a faraway anchorage, vigilance and security should be always in a sailor’s mind. Thieves—both the opportunistic kind who steal when no one is looking and those who aren’t afraid to board an occupied boat—have been stalking cruisers since the day the first boat circled the world. Remember Joshua Slocum sprinkling tacks on his deck in the Straits of Magellan?

You’ve got to be careful out there... the authors with their companionway screen

You’ve got to be careful out there… the authors with their companionway screen

It only seems reasonable that if you lock the doors of your home on land, you should be just as cautious when anchoring in a pleasant cove, especially in remote or impoverished areas where you can never truly know the constitution of every individual. We ourselves had a close call with some pirates off the coast of Vietnam a couple of years ago, eventually driving them off by firing flares at them.

We think that cruisers need to get with the times, and indeed, many are now becoming aware that there are thieves and robbbers in “paradise” and that there is a definite need to lock up at night and have security cameras and alarms, and deterrents like automatic lights, signs, shoes on deck or radios playing. Some of us also carry bats, knives, spearguns, pepper sprays, flares and even guns, although in some instances, even having an AK47 would be inadequate against an ill-intentioned intruder. Still, anything is better than nothing, and even just locked doors and lights may convince a potential attacker to look elsewhere.

Of course, those intrepid cruisers who sail in advance of us are our eyes and ears, reporting on where and where not to anchor safely. As cruisers, we can then do our best to stick to where there has been no reported violence or crime, at the same time relying on intuition and awareness to guide us. Still, we need to be more cautious than we are at home because we don’t have that “home advantage.” We may not, for example, recognize that the innocent-looking village we’ve anchored off is a place even locals avoid for safety reasons. We must also hope that karma and luck are on our side: dressing down, acting poor and trying not to cause resentment of our richness as we go. We must try not to perpetuate the myth that people on boats invariably have lots of money and possessions to spare, and hope that others before us have taken similar precautions.

Security cameras can be useful

Security cameras can be useful

To 90 percent of the world, most sailboats, even our 43-year-old, cosmetically challenged Valiant 40, are “treasure ships” when the anchor is dropped. We have cruised extensively in African and Asian countries and know that the simple act of hanging our laundry out to dry can demonstrate just how much we have compared to the local who feels lucky to have only an old T-shirt and a patched pair of britches. Even though most people in poverty-stricken communities have good hearts and respect others, the odds of experiencing crime, dishonesty or aggression increase as the population becomes familiar with the relative abundance that even the poorest of cruisers possess. There is always a tiny minority that a cruiser either has to guard against or roll the dice and take their chances with. The consequences can run the gamut from the theft of an outboard engine to being physically accosted with a serious outcome. We have taken measure to protect our boat and ourselves from thieves and pirates; there are details on our website (see below).

Many cruisers feel that their hard work earned the nice life they live afloat. We are also fortunate, though, to have been born in places that allow hard workers to get ahead the way we have. That guy who paddles up to you in his beat-up canoe likely worked just as hard as you and has taken advantage of every opportunity he had. But even having many successful days of fishing doesn’t bring the same material rewards.

Certainly, most cruisers can spare some of their possessions. We always have some trading items—sunglasses, shorts, shirts, fishing line, hooks, old pots and pans—on hand to exchange for the fruits, vegetables, fish and handicrafts that most islanders have for barter. Even if we don’t really need these goods, we see the effort they are making and try to help.

Unfortunately, as the world population grows, and the world’s resources remain the same (or even degrade) the resulting economic pressure will inevitably cause at least some people to want to squeeze even more from the passing treasure ships that cruise the world. What begins as their simple attempts to steal the possessions we cannot afford to share, and our attempts to guard against them will sometimes result in dire consequences.

Worse yet, away from daily television reports of crime, and with only intermittent word-of-mouth reports of crime in far-off anchorages, it is easy for cruisers to get soft and let their guard down—whether by leaving the dinghy tied alongside rather than hauling it out of the water every night, or worrying about power conservation instead of leaving a bright light on in the cockpit. Granted, it’s a lovely way to live, but sooner or later, there will be trouble. Are those friendly, smiling fishermen rowing by and offering fish actually sizing up their victim? We should not believe that we leave all our worries behind when we leave our homeland.

We have cruising friends and acquaintances who have been attacked and robbed. We’ve also had friends who have been taken from their boat and held hostage. Some made it out alive. Others did not. That makes us, as cruisers, more cautious about where and how we cruise, and where we anchor. As cruisers, we need to take more precautions like those living on land already are. We need to face reality, beef up our security and not live in the daydream we enjoyed in the past.

NOTE: BBe sure to subscribe for our next blog that is being written right now about Rebecca’s struggle back to South Africa with a full security in her carry on luggage!

At the time of writing, Patrick and Rebecca Childress were refitting their Valiant 40, Brick House, in Tanzania, Africa, before heading around the tip of South Africa and into the South Atlantic. You can keep up with their adventures on whereisbrickhouse.com

Security Camera that doesn’t work

Security Camera we would consider an upgraded version of






Security System We are Most Impressed with so far

 

Patricks Home brewed security traps:

 

 

Maggi Chain USA, New Electronic Charts, AMT Composites for Fiberglass

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LATEST ADDITIONS TO BRICK HOUSE

Brick House is in the Boatyard now… There is a lot of hardcore work going on…There is surprisingly a lot of great companies and products here for many of the upgrades we have needed to do to the boat. Custom upgrades will be the name of the game for at least the first half of this haul out…until we start getting ready for our next Ocean. But that’s jumping ahead…Here us what we have upgraded this year so far…2019…

July 2019 – Maggi Chain USA  This was a long time coming. Our chain was over 25 years old, and after regalvanizing it twice it Was truly a scary pile of rusty chain. We were losing confidence in it, but I all we could find in SE Asia was unproven chain made in China.  So we decided to wait until South Africa. We just could not trust it despite many local cruisers singing praises about how it lasts at least 3 years in not always so windy SE Asia!

In China, chain can be good, but it can be really really bad too due to a lack of quality control and unless you have YOUR run tested, you just don’t know for sure what you have.  We needed American or European made chain if we didn’t want to be replacing chain in a way too short 3-4 years, and we needed to be very sure of what we were going to get! To me, new chain looks all the same…it’s what it does and the physics involved that are important, and We need to go with reputation for quality…hence Maggi.

Before reaching S Africa we ordered a barrel of Maggi chain in the USA, who imports the chain from Italy where it is made, and had it delivered to South Africa. Yes…we went a round about way to get the best quality chain we could possibly find, but this is cheap insurance, since what our boat hangs on with, is worth being very careful about. Consistent quality control was what we are after, and are pleased to finally have new chain. We will sleep much better now during a big blow, because we are very sure we have the very best anchor chain!

This Company is Florida was a pleasure to work with…but the delivery by ship was a little slow, which I suppose is to be expected….but it was worth the wait to get the Cadillac of Anchor chain!

———

July 2019 – Navionics Platinum + We have always used Navionics charts…since we left 12 years ago. We have found them to be very reliable and accurate. They add new cool features so frequently that there have been very few years where I wasn’t pretty stoked about a new feature they added. This year is no exception. The Platinum Plus Charts are actually not new and they are tried and true…we just haven’t been able to afford them and they have not been available in the oceans we have recently sailed. There is a good sale on them right now, and as we prepare to go off to South America at the end of this year, and we needed charts anyways, we got the Platinum + Navionics Charts for South America, instead of the usual basic versions. They include satellite imagery/photography available right on our Raymarine chartplotter, among many other things.  The thought of having the satellite charts right on our Raymarine chartplotter is amazing to me, and I can’t wait to get a good look at it all! Technology is finally evolving very quickly in the yachting industry, and Navionics as usual is on the forefront.

We also got a C-MAP  chart chip for the same area, all on just one chip, simply because we like to be overcautious and have the best charts we can get, not just the best 1 Chart. It’s always good to have redundancy and 2 “votes” of what the underwater topography really is. If Navionics and C-Maps both agree, that’s a good sign. If they differ…we take the most conservative vote until we get local knowledge. We feel well prepared having the 2 heavy hitters nautical charts on our chartplotter!

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June 2019 – Richards Bay, South Africa is turning out to be a real treasure of a place to work on one’s boat. We managed to find a South African company called AMT Composites. 

Not only did the technical professional staff there discuss our project over the phone for more than an hour to be sure we got what we needed,  but they were able to quickly deliver all of the high quality materials, free of charge, right to our boat within days of paying!

To be honest, we did initially buy some not so great resin here locally..so buyer beware…go right to AMT Composites to get it right on the first try!

After our first resin purchase blunder, we started checking with the local contractors here. They ALL pointed us to AMT if we wanted quality materials. AMT Composites imports the best products from all over the world, including Gurit resin, hardener, filler and other materials which are as good if not better than West System, and more affordable! They had every thing we needed including Peelply to paintbrushes. Patrick is happily rolling in fiberglass, fixing decking, hull, keel, and other.  Happier than a pig in sh**!  Our boat will soon be stronger than ever!

————

An earlier recommendation that I made is still working very well here in S Africa. They are the ONLY packages that arrive without hassle:

A Shipping Trick for Yacht in Transit….Use Amazon to Ship!

We are preparing to do something, finally, to up the anti on Brick House against theft and vandalism. This will be a big upgrade…this is why:

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

 

 

 

Bluewater Sailboat Brick House Communications at Sea: Predictwind Offshore & Iridium GO or Sailmail and Winlink on the SSB

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Bluewater Sailboat Brick House – Communications at Sea: Predictwind Offshore & Iridium GO or Sailmail and Winlink on the SSB.

Communications At Sea/Getting Weather at Sea -Upgrades on Sailboat Brick House 2018 and 2019

The folks at SSCA enjoyed our article in Ocean Navigator a month or so ago, and have gotten permission to reprint it on their web site, with some minor tweaks. It tells of our communication evolution aboard Brick House…our change to Predictwind Offshore, using the Iridium GO satellite hotspot for email and obtaining weather at sea forecasts.

This article discusses how we have gotten weather at sea through our SSB/Pactor Modem utilizing the GFS Forecast model back when it was the only affordable method available, as well as Sailmail and Winlink to get our airmail email.

We then switched to Predictwind Offshore, and satellite communications by way of the Iridium GO. We discuss in this article which system is actually more reliable, and what system worked best for us crossing the Indian Ocean.

Read the SSCA Article On Brick House, on the SSCA website (may need to be a member.)

Here is a reprint of the article if you are not able to read it on the above link. But I recommend following the link because it’s laid out better there…and because you should probably think about joining SSCA anyways, if you aren’t a member now!

Communications evolution on Brick House: How two voyagers stay in touch from ocean to island

Published on 5/21/2019, s/v Brickhouse Submitted by Rebecca and Patrick Childress, originally published by Ocean Navigator Magazine…

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Ocean Navigator

Communications on our Valiant 40, Brick House, was once limited to a few methods. The most basic was the very high frequency (VHF) radio used for short-range communications to other boats and shoreside facilities. Single sideband (SSB) radio chat nets were used while underway and from remote anchorages to talk to cruisers at distances over the horizon.
The SSB radio, coupled with a device called a Pactor modem gave us the ability to send and receive text email messages through the software services SailMail and Winlink when the atmospheric propagation was agreeable. We had to train friends and family to keep messages short and without attachments that could easily overwhelm the delicate pipeline of radio waves. Sometimes in port, a hotel or yacht club would offer Wi-Fi, which would be usable on board if we could anchor close enough to the signal. Eventually we installed a Redport Long Distance Wi-Fi Extender on the stern arch so we didn’t have to anchor nearly on the beach.


Brick House’s radio gear: an HF SSB, a PACTOR radio modem and a VHF

 

 

The SSB was once the primary long-range communications device. Life on board was dictated by propagation tables that spelled out optimum connection times, calculated by the state of the ionosphere, and the distance between stations. Happy hours and barbecues were
abruptly interrupted as cruisers raced back to not miss checking into SSB nets or for their turn at being net controller, while others jockeyed for their turn at modem connections.


The RedPort Long Distance Wi-Fi Optimizer

 

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The following article originally ran in the March/April 2019 issue of Ocean Navigator Magazine
(www.oceannavigator.com) and is re-printed here with their permission.
Seven Seas Cruising Association – where cruisers meet.

To make sure both SSB/Pactor and voice communications worked reliably, monthly maintenance demanded copious cleaning of corrosion between the antenna, ground connections, tuner, radio and modem. But in those not-so-primitive times, it was our only option.

Growth of cellular

Over time, cellphone connectivity became more accessible because a forest of cell towers went up everywhere, even in the remote islands of Fiji. Competition drove prices down. Natives who lived in thatch huts would row up in rough carved canoes, handing their phones over, asking for a battery charge. At times, we had adventures hiking to a high pinnacle to get a signal from a tower on the next distant island.
In cruising Southeast Asia, we found cellular Internet had become even easier and less expensive. Communication between cruisers, businesses and those half a world away took a big leap forward. Our smartphone became a Wi-Fi hot spot for connectivity on board and the Internet handled all communications. The VHF, SSB and Pactor began collecting dust and rust.
Though Internet had become more accessible, there was often a learning curve to understanding the system in each country. Smartphones in the U.S. are often sold as “locked,” but cellphones internationally are mostly sold as “unlocked” and can use SIM cards from any country, costing only a dollar or two. Now upon arrival to a new country, it has become top priority to visit a cellphone store with phone and required passport so that we can leave with connectivity pronto.
We needed then, to learn how to put more “load” or “credit” on the phone — usually with scratch cards or by visiting almost any store — and then learn how to buy an Internet plan, usually by punching a series of numbers and pound signs into the phone. Every country has slightly different procedures and little gotchas to learn so as to preserve your data. In the past year, in almost every country we visit now, they have even come out with apps to automate the whole process.
From an energized cellphone, the beeps and dings of Messenger, WhatsApp and email notifications fill the air on board. The notifications are usually from other cruisers, so leaving the annoying VHF turned on and listening to endless impertinent VHF chatter is a thing of the past. SSB nets began their decline in Southeast Asia simply because everyone was connected by cellular, and SSB radios faded away for all but the most dedicated operators. Cellular remains the number-one most utilized communication method in port and for coastal sailing.
But when the Indian Ocean loomed on the horizon, it was time to get suited back up for long- distance remote connectivity. First, I should say, for a while in the remote Pacific, we did have an Inmarsat Satphone on board in case of an emergency. It was such an expensive communication device to operate, full of billing surprises, so we hardly used it. We knew this would not be an ideal way to cross the Indian Ocean, being reluctant to use it to get weather reports for extended intervals. We then made the single most drastic change that we have ever made to how Brick House communicates: We sold the Inmarsat Satphone to help pay for our new communication system, an Iridium GO Marine Package from PredictWind. This is robust satellite communications.
Switching to Satcom
We no longer use the SSB radio/Pactor setup for email or weather — ever. It has nearly gone the way of the cassette player or radio direction finder. We still maintain the SSB, however, just in case. If I were to put money into a backup system now, it would be to have a second Iridium GO. A cruising friend did exactly that but sold it three years later because the original one just never skipped a beat.

 

 

The Childresses’ boat is also equipped with an Iridium GO Satcom unit.
The installation of the Iridium GO was like any other electronic device: a 12-volt power source and an antenna on the stern arch. We mounted the antenna as high on the arch as possible to have a clear view to the Iridium satellites, and above the radar dome more than 6 feet from the wind generator to avoid physical and electronic interference. We had to empty lockers to clear the way to snake a rather monstrous cable through small holes without bending it. We permanently mounted the Iridium GO’s gray box near the chart table in a position that would not be in direct sunlight, not incur accidental splashes or bumps, and most importantly would receive a steady GPS position. The small hinged antenna on the unit not only turns the unit on but gets the GPS position as well — just not the Iridium satellites when the external antenna is attached. Many cruisers who don’t have the external antenna have to take the gray box outside and hope it doesn’t fall in order to get a semi-acceptable transmission.
The GO ships with a common automotive 12-volt plug for power. Since the GO is powered via a common USB mini-B five-pin connector, I cut the automotive plug side off and then hardwired in a Wagan smart USB charger. This device is powered via 12V, and then steps down and autosenses the amperage needed to safely charge each device that is plugged in to its four USB outlets, providing up to 9.6 amps. I installed a manual one-hour timer in the circuit so I can wind it up to charge, and then it automatically shuts down to prevent constant powering of the sensitive batteries.
It’s very important to update the firmware upon receiving the unit and watch for subsequent updates, as well as obtain updates for the GO software used on the devices. There appears to be nothing more to maintain aside from keeping the electrical connections tight and corrosion free.
With the Iridium GO and no-contract Predictwind unlimited data plan, we have easy access to impressively accurate forecasts using PredictWind Offshore. We are able to send and receive our emails as many times a day as we wish, at any time, in any weather, along with texts to our friends and other Iridium users. We have 150 minutes a month of actual phone calls. So now we can communicate anywhere in the world, anytime, whether it be with family or businesses here, or in the next country for marina reservations, to order needed parts or for technical support to keep our boat operating. We can even get a webpage if we don’t mind waiting. The system is somewhat expensive at $139 per month with an initial setup cost of approximately $1,000, but for someone with business interests, the system could quickly pay for itself by nipping a problem in the bud. And, of course, this is a tremendous emergency communication device.
Email considerations
Our email setup with the Iridium GO software is a little more complex than many users’ setup due to the volume of emails that we get, which is easily in the hundreds every day. Some people have an “at sea” address and an “on land” address, but we have just one primary email address that covers land and sea so we never miss an email.
First, I will tell you the two requirements that led to having the complexity (yet the simplicity) of just one email address.
1. I could not afford to miss a single email, large or small, because of having two email addresses, and I needed to have full capabilities on both my tablet and laptop whether at sea or on land.
2. I planned to shut off the GO service when I was in port, yet I needed to access/send/receive all emails that I had access to while at sea and continue to have that access on land — and vice versa. I needed one application on all devices to send and receive email from anywhere.
The solution? XGate software was installed on my iPad, smartphone and laptop. XGate does it all: connecting to the Iridium GO, the SSB/Pactor or to regular Internet, accessing all of my email and keeping it synced between devices. I can access both new and old emails on any of the devices in the same application with any kind of connection, on land or at sea.

The Childresses use the XGate service to manage their email usage.

I have all of my email forwarded to my XGate account — not my Iridium Mail account — and XGate then automatically transmits the short emails. It then sends a list of “large” emails to a folder called “BigMail” (in my case, I chose “large” to be larger than 30kb). I can then decide from that folder which emails I want to receive. I can do this from any device with any connection. I also set up a number of keyword filters to eliminate email that I don’t want at sea, such as Facebook notifications or Dell computer sales.
XGate email management options allow Childress to set the inbound email cutoff size and to mass delete emails.
Note: Some systems, like Yahoo, do not allow forwarding of all emails, and fetching is not recommended in most situations. I will provide a more technical explanation and solution to this scenario on my blog at www.WhereIsBrickHouse.com.
Unless you plan to leave the Iridium GO activated for long stays in port and use it regularly, you cannot access email in the Iridium Mail app or online since it’s only accessible by satellite. XGate not only makes my mail accessible by satellite or Internet, but it does it all in the same application. If two months of email are allowed to get backed up in an Iridium Mail address that can only be retrieved by satellite, there will be a problem. Iridium Mail offers no tools to remedy this case or any other problem, and Iridium offers no technical support, help line or contact information. Using XGate, however, I can simply boot up the laptop where heavy-duty XGate tools reside, and many of
the problems are resolved. Reparation at sea becomes quite plausible. There is even a human being on the other end of the phone or email to help since GMN, the makers of XGate, are actual human beings standing by to help. And, of course, PredictWind support is second to none, though your Iridium Mailbox is not accessible to them either.

There was something salty about the old days of anticipating a chat session with other cruisers on a schedule over the SSB and having little, if any, email at sea — just simple solitude. Sadly, everyone now seems to be glued to their cellphones, on the boat and on land. Cruisers sit at the yacht club, sipping wine, overlooking the anchorage, and all of them are staring at a screen. Maybe they are in a trance, gazing at my husband Patrick’s YouTube Channel.

Comments on this article and other technical matters are welcomed in the Tech Talk Forum
on the SSCA website at www.ssca.org. As a member, you can opt into this special interest forum by going to:
Member Profile→ Forums→ Forum Memberships→ Available Forums→ SSCA Tech Talk Forum.
Click the green icon to the right of the forum name to subscribe. When the pencil icon appears, click it to manage your forum preferences. If you have issues subscribing, contact Home Base at office@ssca.org.

Author: Rebecca Childress and her husband Patrick Childress have been full time, slowly circumnavigating for the last 12 years on their 1976 Valiant 40, Brick House. Having crossed the Indian Ocean last year, and spending many months off the beaten track in Madagascar, Mayotte, and the East Coast of Africa, they are currently hauled out in Richards Bay, South Africa while they do some maintenance on Brick House, while exploring South Africa and beyond by Jeep.

Last year, they began a Youtube channel
at Patrick Childress Sailing in addition to their blog at Where is SV Brick House?
If you’ve found this article useful, you’ll find more similar information aimed directly at sailors/cruisers
on the members-only portion of the SSCA website (www.ssca.org).
Seven Seas Cruising Association – where cruisers meet.

Mozambique Cyclone Sailing Tanzania to South Africa

 

Magazine Articles by Patrick Childress/Rebecca Childress in Sailing Publications

A definite decision : Predictwind