by Donald M. Street Jr.
When you consider the total number of yachts in the eastern Caribbean, actual crime against sailors on boats is relatively small. The vast majority of crime is thievery. There is relatively little burglary, breaking and entering, and even less armed burglary. But there is some, and it’s wise to take precautions.
First and foremost, every night, lift your dinghy or lose it. Rig a four-part sling, secure the ends of the lines to a big stainless ring to which the main halyard is secured. Every night, hoist the dinghy a foot or more clear of the water.
In all the 70 years I have been associated with the eastern Caribbean, I have never heard of a boat being boarded by a thief or burglar if the boat had a barking dog on board! It does not matter the size of the dog, just a barking dog. The thief or burglar figures the dog would wake the crew and departs to try another boat.
One cruiser in Venezuela did not like dogs on board his boat, but he rigged a sensor light that would go on if anyone approached the boat, and connected the light to a tape recording of a barking dog. Every night he activated the sensor. This system worked perfectly and he spent quite a bit of time in Venezuela with no problems.
I recommend that boats have a sensor light. On the same circuit, but with a separate switch, install a large horn so that when anyone approaches the boat both the horn and the light will go on. The horn is good when the crew are sound sleepers as occasionally thieves can sneak on board, creep below deck, and get off with wallets, credit cards, money, etc. without waking up any member of the crew. The sensor light and horn will not only wake up the crew of the yacht but will scare off all but the most determined burglar.
While ashore, it is important to make stealing your dinghy very difficult. In years gone by a wire and padlock was sufficient; an easily made up quarter-inch 7×19 wire worked well. But then thieves came equipped with wire cutters, so boats shifted to 1×19 wire, which required big wire cutters. That proved insufficient. Ian Cowan of Island Water World in St. Lucia says the only way to stop dinghy thievery is to secure the dinghy with 8 mm stainless chain. It takes really big bolt cutters to cut through the 8 mm stainless chain. Ian knows what he is talking about as he’s been fighting the dinghy stealing problem since the early 70s when he arrived in the eastern Caribbean.
Gas/petrol tanks disappear regularly. They are very hard to make thief-proof. Our recommendation is to always have a spare tank stowed below. When the tank in the dinghy is stolen, but not the dinghy, pull out the spare tank and you’re back in business.
Forget guns on boats to protect the crew from armed burglary. Customs will insist on your surrendering your guns. About the only time you might need a gun is to defend your crew from a burglar while at anchor, but your gun is locked up in customs. A sensor light and horn are a much better solution.
Take these recommended precautions and enjoy cruising. You won’t regret it.
Caribbean Safety and Security Net (CSSN)
It’s worth being on the Caribbean Safety and Security Net (safetyandsecuritynet.org), not only to report problems, but also to receive information on thievery or burglary that has happened anywhere in the Caribbean region.
Joan Conover, president of the Seven Seas Cruising Association and CSSN partner, provides details about how the site works and how to join:
CSSN is a reporting website which receives trouble reports from small/private vessels, verifies reports/issues, and reports every incident of crime against sailors on their website. There is no fee involved; this is a nonprofit supporting cruisers in the Caribbean.
After setting up your account, subscribe to email alerts (safetyandsecuritynet.org/subscribe-to-email-alerts). You’ll receive an automatic email alert any time a new incident report or news item is posted. CSSN won’t share your name, boat name, or email with anyone.
Users may choose a high or low bandwidth option. The high bandwidth option includes all of the text of each alert received. The low bandwidth option is brief with no graphics. Members can subscribe, unsubscribe or change the kind of alert to be received anytime.
CSSN covers the entire Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. CSSN researches each report, reaching out to the sailor and local contacts to determine the situation and resolution. CSSN also has list of tips and precautions (safetyandsecuritynet.org/security-precautions-for-cruisers). Piracy passage precautions for most of the Caribbean are listed. CSSN’s resource page also links to the International Maritime Bureau Piracy Reporting Centre (icc-ccs.org/index.php/piracy-reporting-centre).
The Boat Watch website (Boatwatch.org) offers an emergency global communications system for boat incidents and missing boats, as well as coordination functions for vessels needing urgent communication assistance. Land crew can report boat situations; Boat Watch will post details to its large base of cruising vessels. Boat Watch can also forward vessel requests from governments and agencies when vessels are overdue on passage.
For more information consult www.street-iolaire.com. Andrew Burton, offshore sailor and delivery skipper (sites.google.com/site/andrewburtonyachtservices), assisted with this article.
