Scott,

Sometime in early 2008, we are headed South and then West out of
Hawaii.  One of the circumstances I am concerned about is being
boarded at night at anchor while we are asleep with no warning
system.  This summer, I am going to install parts of a Magellan
security system.  I'll put a long distance proximity detector
centered on the cockpit and the swim platform.  Magellan has a
distance detector that will work out to 150' and I'll hook it into an
inside alarm and loud outside alarm.  Hopefully, the noise will
accomplish the same thing a dog would and give me a few extra minutes
to prepare before they are actually on board.  The Magellan system
can be seen at the following URL among others.

http://www.atlanticrt.com/Magellan.htm

"Pirate Pots" are a good idea, probably more than one; however,
vigilance may prevent keep you from ever having to need a pirate pot.

Phil Eslinger
Flat Earth N50
Ko Olina, Hi.

When the topic of piracy comes up, I always wonder,
how much of a problem is there? Can the risk be
managed?

Jimmy Cornell's www.noonsite.com seems to be the best
source for yachting piracy reports - indeed, its the
most visited part of the highly regarded
www.noonsite.com website. There are 3 incidents listed
for 2006, one being a repelled boarding (the captain
is not certain the 'attackers' were actually pirates,
one is everyone's worst nightmare (attack, rape,
theft, etc).

http://www.noonsite.com/Members/doina/R2006-07-18-4

This article from Trinidad, a well known crime center,
talks a lot about dighy/outboard theft, but only
referenes one boarding/attack (as if one attack is
acceptable...)

http://www.noonsite.com/Members/doina/R2006-08-05-1

Another site is assembled by the German author of
trying to gather data for a book. He's assembled a
list of all yacht piracy incidents he's been able to
find, dating back to the early 1990's:

http://yachtpiracy.org/en/list_of_attacked_yachts.htm

There's not much info on the nature of the attacks,
but it seems like a bunch of them occur in the Red
Sea/Gulf or Aden; Venezuela, Somolia, and a few other
known hotbeds. The book details 75 acts of yacht
piracy, some terrible (murder, rape, etc), others are
agressive theft - the thieves don't care that there's
someone aboard.

Here's some guidance from Jimmy Cornell about keeping
piracy in perspective

---==========
"In a survey conducted among a large sample of
cruising sailors in the latter part of 2001 I found
that the threat to their personal safety is now
perceived as the main risk in offshore cruising. While
there is no doubt that the overall situation has
deteriorated in recent years, one should make a
genuine attempt to see matters in perspective. However
frightening and upsetting the 75 cases mentioned in
this book may sound, I hazard to guess that every year
there are at least as many violent attacks and even
murders of visitors in some well known landbased
tourist destinations, and yet very few, if any,
seriously consider not going on holiday to Los
Angeles, South Africa, Egypt or Moscow."

---==

Reading through the incidents, I was struck by a
couple thoughts:

1. Is being armed and fighting back really the best
   response? The Brazilian Police speculated this led to
   the death of NZ sailing legend Peter Blake during a
   piracy attack 5 years ago.
   http://www.latitude38.com/features/Blake.htm

2. Is it reasonable to believe I could repel boarders?
   The incidents I was able to find seemed to have at
   least 3 intruders who were armed, and sometimes drunk.
   I'm not a retired cop, navy seal, or special forces
   expert ( though I did get a Boy Scout merit badge for
   marksmanship).

3. How much am I willing to worry about piracy? Well,
   since I'm not planning to venture too far anytime
   soon, it's a non-issue. But theoretically, in light of
   all other dangers (fire, sinking, storm, falling
   overboard, etc), how much priority should be placed on
   piracy issues? I gotta say that being boarded,
   beaten-up, and having my wife/girlfriend/partner raped
   rattles me deep to the pit of my stomach, in a way
   that fire/MOB just doesn't. But setting emotion aside
   (if possible), is it really an issue that deserves
   much attention?

4. Many of the piracy hotspots are well known, though
   there's no guarantee an old spot won't reignite at
   exactly the time I'm there (Guatemala's Rio Dulce, for
   example). According to the German author cited above,
   most of the problems are in Sulu (Phillipines), South
   China Sea, Somolian, and the Gulf of Aden. And there
   are pockets that erupt due to poverty - Brazil,
   Venezuela, Columbia, Guatemala, etc.

5. Yacht piracy pales in comparison to ship piracy.
   Somewhere between 300 and 400 ships each year are
   fired-up, boarded, stolen, etc. According to the
   author guy above, about 20 yachts on average succumb
   to a similar fate.

Interesting topic -

Peter
www.SeaSkills.com
(currently in Detroit - where street 'piracy' is a
real threat).

=======================
Peter Pisciotta
415-902-8439

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