Pirate Threat !!!!

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zeb

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With the increased publicity on this subject what is the future of 'Safe' sailing???
We are recommended to have safety gear on board. What safety equipment can we have to prevent our lives with this threat???
In the middle of the ocean there is no one to assist.
If we all sail further out then so will the Pirates.!!
So whats the answer????
 
10 years ago I sailed from the USA to South Africa, the first port of call in the states was a gun shop and we bought a beautiful .45 with a huge case of rounds 9so cheap as well). We felt very safe.
Also on the occasional day it was great to tie a empty coke bottle on the end of a line and get some target practise in. Love to try that in the English channel :-)

after visiting Bermuda, Cape Verde Islands, Brazil etc... we never spotted a threat - perhaps they heard us shooting the coke bottle.
 
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do you know where i can get some?

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Well I've just done a google and some of those American sites are truly frightening, so I won't be posting links /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

I actually meant you should ask a friendly frigate to acompany you.
 
Ok thanks dudes, all suggestions are useful. I do have concern though especially in med as carrying a gun might not go down well with the authourities but to me that is the only answer, reason being if a boat comes along side you as per picture in jan issue with 12 guys on if you are two and they are twelve you are against the numbers especially with out the right protection an oar or a boat knife isnt much good against 12. and its ok to say just give them your money and hope they go away but why would they when its safer for them to sink the boat and dispose of you?????
You cant run as our boat does max 7 knots and I should imagine ther's will be doing a lot more!!!!!
So what do you do????? Serious response would be nice.
 
There is no correct answer from what I have read.

1. If you carry a weapon you MUST be prepared to use is first. These people don't recognise warnings.

2. Of certain coasts armed people in semi uniforms will be Pirates, Local Customs Officers, Local Militia or whats worse all 3 in one, then if you shoot you must follow your own concerns and shoot the lot as any survivers will ensure you are arrested and charged with murder.

3. Minimise risks, travel in convoys, never offer a threat, pay up on demand but have the majority of valuables well hidden.

I get the impression there are more people alive after following 3. than trying 2.

If you are bought up in a civilised country the chance of you being quick enough and more violent than your attackers is remote. We can all think about it but most would wish to react to threats but won't have the ability to effectively become the threat before the event if you follow my drift.

When people are mugged its often the 1st completely unexpected blow from a complete stranger that disorientates them. If you want to practice your reactions I can suggest some areas of London you can walk around late at night with some £5 notes sticking out of your top pocket. If you can survive that you may have a chance when you graduate to dealing with pirates.
 
I'm not advocating carrying firearms, thats a very much a personal decision, but a 12g db shotgun used for clay pigeon shooting of the rear deck would make a nasty mess close up. But ! as has been said before on this forum you have to prepared to use it the moment a pirate vessel comes alongside not stand waving it around in the hope of scaring em away, they'd more likely stand off and riddle you from a distance. On balance unless you've got a friendly frigate or a couple of swivel guns, roll over and give em your loot
 
serious answer

unless you realy know what you're doing i wouldn't have one. Actually, i wouldn't have one anyway. Numerous example on land and sea of things going wrong, petye blake etc etc Your gun would have to be within easy reach. Even then, if they turned up, chances are the gun wouldn't be to hand and again it's only in films that one guy beats 12 others. I don't think it's posible. And as shytalks says, illegal in loads of places.

However i do think that splitting your valuables, and having a "sacrificial" stash of cash is a good idea - with some real money and lots of old credit cards. It wd even be worth reapplying for a new passport and keep the old one which again gives your fakes stash/wallet the characteristic of authenticity. Probably illegal to lie about losing a passport but less dangerously illegal than having a gun. imho.

In e
 
zeb,
that is just the sort of post I was fearing.

<<I do have concern though especially in med as carrying a gun might not go down well with the authourities but to me that is the only answer,>>>

Go search Sailnet to find the mostly US answers. It ran for weeks, and escalated from a mincing friendly wave to a million round a minute mega gun, and killing everything within range.
Its sickening.
 
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its ok to say just give them your money and hope they go away but why would they when its safer for them to sink the boat and dispose of you?????

[/ QUOTE ]There are more survivors that way than the alternative.

Any yottie that tries to outshoot people in fast boats, and who are armed to the teeth with AK47s or RPGs, are complete tits IMHO.
 
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There are more survivors that way than the alternative.

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How do you know? Got proof? Folks lost at sea tell no tales IMHO.
 
Re: serious answer

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It wd even be worth reapplying for a new passport and keep the old one which again gives your fakes stash/wallet the characteristic of authenticity. Probably illegal to lie about losing a passport but less dangerously illegal than having a gun. imho.


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Just as likely to land you in jail as having an undeclared gun. Having two valid passports is contrary to international conventions as well as national laws. You'd be suspect of being a forger, or worse, a terrorist. Good luck with that.
 
Re: serious answer

Nothing wrong with having two passports, especially if one has been cancelled (I doubt if the thieves are going to go through it in detail). Obviously people with dual citizenship have two passports. I seem to remember that the UK Foreign Office will issue you with two passports if for example you wish to visit both Arab countries and Israel - you can have probs in some Arab countries if you have Israeli visas/entry stamps in your passports. Also, some countries (eg. Russia) issue two passports as a matter of course - an 'internal' and an 'external' passport.
 
Re: serious answer

we quite often require to have 2 passports, as we cannot go to work without one and meantime we may need to have visas applied for other countries whist we are working offshore. So 2 passports no real problem.
 
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How do you know? Got proof?

[/ QUOTE ]Yup. Ever worked out why the ones that come back tend not to be gung-ho fuckwits and don't blast off with their stupid guns?

I'd be interested to know how many, if any, of the gung-ho types actually survive armed confrontation.
 
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