An Attempt to board a Yacht off Portugal

[Buck Turgidson]

this thread just keeps giving. someone needs to PM the author bloke looking for tips, he's got a chapter of fantasy right here!

 

[RichardS]

Dare you.

What .... fend them off with a boathook?

Richard

 

[Kelpie]

Mine would

That might be the difference. Mine probably wouldn't ?

 

[Biggles Wader]

Or-------You sail downwind and let one of them board on the windward side amidships, then gybe.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

An open can of outboard fuel and a hand held or para flare would do the biz

I can imagine the haste when you realise that your being pursued to be boarded, grabbing the can of fuel, grabbing the flare, wondering which one to put down while you either open the fuel can or fire the flare, then with an open can of fuel and a detonated flare, slipping or tripping and burning your boat to the ground just as you here the words "Hola señor, quiero comprar pescado?"

 

[Beneteau381]

That might be the difference. Mine probably wouldn't ?

 

[Beneteau381]

Air Arms S400, there is 3000 psi in that cylinder under the barrel

 

[Buck Turgidson]

Oh! look at my gun!!!

i'm tempted to post a picture of a mark 46.

 

[Beneteau381]

I can imagine the haste when you realise that your being pursued to be boarded, grabbing the can of fuel, grabbing the flare, wondering which one to put down while you either open the fuel can or fire the flare, then with an open can of fuel and a detonated flare, slipping or tripping and burning your boat to the ground just as you here the words "Hola señor, quiero comprar pescado?"

Outboard fuel in the cockpit locker, handheld flare in the companionway.

 

[Beneteau381]

Oh! look at my gun!!!

i'm tempted to post a picture of a mark 46.

Sigh!

 

[capnsensible]

In 40+ years of cruising the Bahamas, Caribbean and Latin America I recall three thefts from my boat: a dinghy in Ft Lauderdale that was stolen by locals, a stereo stolen from a marina also by locals in south Florida, and a Omega nav computer stolen by an American cruiser when I was anchored in the Bahamas. Never lost a thing to residents in the islands.

Friend of mine was shot aboard his yacht whilst at anchor in Bequia. Few years ago, nasty leg wound. The thieves didn't give a toss.

 

[skipmac]

I have lived in Spain and, whilst occasionally a bit rough around the edges, I wouldn’t really classify it as 3rd world.

Have not lived in Spain but visited there a number of times, first time in 1980 and I wouldn't classify it as third world either.
If you read my post more carefully you might notice that I said " if this occurred in a third world country or remote island." I think the phrasing of that indicates I was not referring Spain since I'm almost positive that Spain is not a remote island but is on the Iberian peninsula.

 

[skipmac]

Friend of mine was shot aboard his yacht whilst at anchor in Bequia. Few years ago, nasty leg wound. The thieves didn't give a toss.

Fortunately no friends have been assaulted or injured cruising but do know of a number of incidents and a few that happened to friends of friends. Assault on a boat is certainly a concern and something I do take into account when traveling, land or sea.

 

[skipmac]

That might be the difference. Mine probably wouldn't ?

Then you need to get a bigger gun. That's the American solution.

I looked into various options for air rifles and pellet guns. The smaller ones including BB guns and low power versions are .177 caliber but you can get high powered, larger caliber .22 versions. The problem is the muzzle velocity on the high powered version of either caliber is over the speed of sound so the pellets generate a shock wave that is a loud as a regular 22 rifle. Not really suitable for shooting squirrels out of the back garden in town.

 

[RupertW]

Fortunately no friends have been assaulted or injured cruising but do know of a number of incidents and a few that happened to friends of friends. Assault on a boat is certainly a concern and something I do take into account when traveling, land or sea.

I had a friends husband killed when anchored off St Lucia but still think being armed with pathetic air rifles and flares and all the rest versus armed criminals is a daft and deeply unsafe idea.

 

[Kelpie]

Then you need to get a bigger gun. That's the American solution.

I looked into various options for air rifles and pellet guns. The smaller ones including BB guns and low power versions are .177 caliber but you can get high powered, larger caliber .22 versions. The problem is the muzzle velocity on the high powered version of either caliber is over the speed of sound so the pellets generate a shock wave that is a loud as a regular 22 rifle. Not really suitable for shooting squirrels out of the back garden in town.

Nah I think I'll pass. I presume where you are there is a much higher legally allowed power limit? I'm pretty certain the crappy break- barrel rifles we used to shoot tin cans with as a kid wouldn't do any damage to a big hypalon-tubed RIB.

I still like the idea of trailing warps... maybe even wire, but you'd need to add floats to that which makes it easier to spot and avoid... but it seems to obvious that you'd think someone would have tried it already.

 

[Roberto]

Good lord I can't believe it. Now the British are starting gun threads on boating forums like American gun nuts.

Same surprise I had (as foreigner). Would you like to come onboard for a cup of tea, we ll have a leisurely time to assess which one of us will survive.

 

[cherod]

Trouble is that being aggressive to criminals with anything less than a machine gun surprising them is likely to cause your family much greater harm compared to a robbery. No good answers but provoking them with less effective weapons than they have doesn’t sound like a good idea to me.

Cant recal the OP stating what the weaponry involved consisted of , other than a boat hook which seemed to trump
Whatever the aggressors had

 

[Mudisox]

2 years cruising all over the place and no theft. Came back to Uk and had my dinghy stolen in Weymouth!

 

[cherod]

To assume all criminals as just poor locals with no food and all they want is your laptop, has the potential to get you killed quicker
As many on here have commented the locals are not the problem but within any society there are bad apples , the fact that they are attempting to board your boat is a red flag waving,
Do you take the risk that they only take your laptop or rape your wife.
Frankly I could not live with that after the event knowing I did nothing.
The flight and fight response is different in all of us those that you think are nerdy may suddenly become Bruce Lee if his family were under threat.
I know my wife the sweetest lady you will ever meet not a bad word about anyone in the 20 years together, but I fear for anyone that hurts her daughter.
The best defence is to not let them on the boat, as mentioned through out out a line to catch their propeller, boot hook, fill a high powered water gun with petrol and light a flame, molotov bombs, petrol on the water through a match, they have to board on a moving boat not easy , baseball bat on the head, throwing of a knife, ropes, spiniker pole, get the gas canister out and create a nice flame thrower, but I will never let them board , they will see the whites of my crazy eyes and think is it worth it. Do you feel lucky punk
And they only wanted to sell me some fish

Some fish are just toooo expensive to even consider