All together now, PANIC

[Troutbridge]

There has been an attack on a boat in the Gulf of Carriacou, just off the Venezuelan coast. After checking out of Marguerita, when about 20 miles off the mainland coast en route to Trinidad, the yacht was boarded by 5 individuals armed with what was described as machine guns. The crew were left with the clothes they stood up in, the rest was taken including shoes.
A very nasty experience and they have my sympathy BUT a glance at a map published by the Venezuelan coastguard shows this area as one of high 'pirate' activity and the advice from them is 'don't be there'.
The boat left Rodney bay before I personally spoke to the crew, but this account was from a person who I saw speaking to them, i.e. not third hand, he said/she said stuff. A report will be lodged with the authorities in Martinique where the boat is now headed. The Trinidadian authorities were reportedly not interested as the attack did not take place in Trinidadian waters.
OK, now let's all panic.

 

[AndrewB]

OK: AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!





Now what? /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

 

[HoratioHB]

This will keep the safety and security net going for weeks and I'm sure it will confirm some peoples desire to assure themselves that the Caribbean is a dangerous place. I wonder how many muggins/thefts there were in Nottingham last night???

 

[jmac]

The Caribbean is a dangerous place - stay away!! I mean, I'm in the USA and there are only 46 murders here every day (on average - FBI). Of course its a bit safer on leap years!

/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Foxy]

VERY dangerous. Only last night, my wits were forcibly removed from me using Jack Iron rum. I for one wont be doing...... something.... cant quite remember what is was now.... Who am I?

 

[timentide]

Don't quite understand the geography, Troutbridge. Gulf of Carriacou is to west of Margeurita whilst Trinidad is to east. If heading to Trinidad then no need to go near the Gulf.

 

[mandlmaunder]

OK i now want to panic but dont know what to panic about?????!!
Cost of living?
Cost of dying?
Cost of Gas??
What are you panicing about Troutbridge, if the local police say that an area is dangerous ,listen to their advice.
Would you walk around Rio or Bangkok or Lagos without taking some advice.
We can all reduce the dangers we face by taking a few precautions, like buddy boating in rough areas or staying far enough off shore to not be seen from land.
There is a cruisers safty net in the Caribbean every day on 8104khz (I think) that gives upto date warnings, but just about every island in the Caribean and the South and centrol American coast is in some way unsafe if you are not aware of what to look out for.

 

[Troutbridge]

Oh dear. It was tongue in cheek, Mandimaunder. You know, irony, that sort of thing...... Mocking the 'lock it or lose it' crowd who seem to get semi-hysterical everytime a fishing boat comes within 10 miles of them. I'm personally not panicking actually, I just won't be visiting Venezuela whilst en route to the ABCs.
Geography: I looked at a chart belonging to a Canadian who had spoken to the crew concerned. On his chart the area in which the attack took place was marked as the Gulf of Cariaco, which on my charts is actually south of Margarita . The attack was marked on the Canadians' chart as taking place SE of Porlamar, which if you follow the link on Noonsite to the venezuelan info site is smack bang in the middle of 'pirate territory'. They took the 'logical' route to get to Trinidad (logical, that is, but for the risk of being attacked) but why they were apparently unaware of the risks involved I don't know.