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CSI OVERVIEW: CRUISING WITH FEAR

May 2012

The following is a “Letter of the month” reprinted from Caribbean Compass, April 2012.
The fear expressed in the article is something I believe we can all relate to.

Dear Compass Readers,

It was January 29th, 2012 and we were in a marina at a beautiful Caribbean island. The crew upon Shea-Lena were in REM sleep as it was after midnight. Our radio came alive with a woman’s voice screaming “HELP,” “HELP,” “HELP!” The voice had a slight accent and was giving her location corresponding to landmarks. We did not hear anyone respond or her speaking to anyone in particular. Then we heard “Mayday,” “Mayday,” “Mayday”. At that point the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) from the neighbouring French island inquired about the problem. Then the woman said, “He is trying to get in!” She was asked if she was alone and she answered, “Yes.” MRCC requested her location and she gave it corresponding to landmarks. MRCC asked her location again, and again she responded with landmarks.

We could understand where she was, and relayed her position to MRCC. Then again we heard the woman screaming, “He’s trying to get in!” followed by what sounded like glass being broken.

As this was taking place on VHF channel 16, we were on channel 68 (the local hailing channel) and 16 (between communications) trying to raise anyone in the anchorage near this boat. No response. MRCC was calling a Mayday relay. Again, no response.

The only boat that ever responded was tied up in the marina with their dinghy on deck, as was ours.

We then called the marina’s night security and Vigie Light at the commercial port, asking for help. Vigie Light’s response was that the police had been dispatched. The radio went silent. The woman did not respond to MRCC’s calls. The silence seemed like an eternity; in reality it was probably only 15 minutes. As we could not rest after hearing the fear in this woman’s voice, and then the silence, we called the marina security and were informed that the woman was in the marina office talking to someone. She had managed to escape in her dinghy and get to the marina. I ran to the office to find the distraught woman giving her account of the events to a police officer. After the report was done I brought her to our boat. She was very shaken and grateful as she had only been in the country for three weeks and did not know anyone.

As the rumour mill goes, everyone was talking about “a boarding by person or persons unknown”. There was no response to our calls to help this woman, so we were led to believe no one out in the anchorage had their radios on. Then how and why would someone make misleading mention of this incident on two cruiser nets? Hearsay does not accomplish anything but gets everyone very anxious about the location and puts fear in our subconscious.

Upon hearing the misleading comments, we posted the facts on two cruiser nets. The most upsetting part of this whole occurrence for us is the fact that all of us as a cruising community are part of one family. Not to help a family member in time of need is unthinkable. Through our cruising experiences, we onboard Shea-Lena have towed boats away from nearby reefs, saved a fisherman after his boat has sunk, aided in the search and rescue at night of a lost cruiser in his overturned dinghy, and been able to relay information for the safety of many of our family members. We all have to remember that many of the islands and countries are unable to help. This leaves the responsibility for our safety in each other’s hands.

It is each individual’s call as to whether they do or do not want to become involved, but to sit and listen and not lend aid or “not want to interfere” may not be the best approach. Although the incident described above turned out to be a domestic dispute, at the time it sounded like a boarding. Either scenario can become dangerous for all, but to not give aid and have a person hurt would weigh heavy on your heart.

This event opened up a big debate regarding radio vigilance and giving many reasons why radios were off at night. There were comments made: the chatter is too much, I’m so tired of listening to other languages spoken in the wee hours, perhaps if she blew a fog horn it would have been heard by those who choose to turn off their radios. I also had one female cruiser say that a domestic dispute does not warrant a “Mayday” call.

Having listened to people try to justify their thinking, I am not judging anyone as to their radio habits or radio protocol nor do I want any further debate. I would just like to leave all of you with a thought. The boats anchored next to this woman’s did not hear a thing because she had locked herself inside, thus a fog horn would not have been heard either. She feared for her life so she made a Mayday call. A radio reaches out quite far and behind closed doors, and in an emergency the sound of a person’s voice on the other end can be very reassuring for those in time of need. I hope that most cruisers carry a VHF radio with them always, as you never know if an emergency on land, in the dinghy at night or, as this woman experienced, on the mother ship, will happen. It’s better to be heard by many than not at all.

Bernice and James Ludwig
Shea-Lena
Source: Caribbean Compass, April 2012

This is not a reported assault and robbery, although the fear factor may be similar. It is an observer’s firsthand account of a truly frightening if unspecified event in progress that fortunately ended well. Reports like this fly through the Caribbean cruising community along the nautical grapevine. They morph along the way, so that many versions of the same event may be passed around and mistaken for many events.

As I read the above letter in the April issue of Caribbean Compass, a number of “what ifs” came to mind:

“What if” the woman were better prepared and able to report her position by chart coordinates? In broader terms, what types of preparation should we do, other than just lock the dinghy, before we “turn out the lights”. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Taking action before an incident might occur is always better than afterwards. We can think more clearly when we are in control and not react under stress. How then might we best prepare while at an anchorage or even underway.

The key element in the story above is FEAR. Fear is what causes us to discuss and look to security nets for examples of robbery and assault. It is almost as if by reading a “Police Blotter” we can somehow protect ourselves. The truth is that there is only one real way to protect ourselves and that is to AVOID putting ourselves into such a situation. How is it avoidable?
It is NEVER totally avoidable, but the PROBABILITIES can be reduced significantly by understanding what the PROBABILITIES are in the first instance. The Caribbean Security Index is calculated based on many variables and the net result is that by a rating it predicts the probability of you encountering a problem in a given area. The higher the probability, the greater the need to avoid the area. Or if you choose not to avoid the area, then at least to be able to prepare in every way possible for the higher probability of an event occurring.

As cruisers in the Caribbean, we distinguish among the types of security threats we possibly face in different places. Potential loss of an outboard is one thing; potential loss of a life is in an entirely different realm. Thus the threat that most strikes fear in the heart is ASSAULT AND ROBBERY, or just plain ASSAULT.

In reality, of the 324 reported incidents from 2008 through 2011 throughout all four quadrants of the Caribbean basin, 28, or 8.6%, were assaults and robberies. And two out of the eight incidents reported so far this year were assaults and robberies. Where they took place geographically is an entirely different matter.

For example, CSI continues to recommend AVOIDING Venezuela, mainland and islands, in the SouthEast Quadrant of the Caribbean. Eighteen percent of all reported incidents in the SouthEast Quadrant during 2008-2011 were assaults and robberies — and all occurred in Venezuela.

Assault and Robbery by Caribbean Quadrant, 2008-2011

                                                     Total Reported         A&R                     A&R as %
Quadrant                                 Incidents                  Incidents            of Total

North (Greater Antilles)                   9                                 0                            –
East (Lesser Antilles)                    194                                  7                            3.6%
Leewards                                           28                                 0                             –
Windwards                                      166                                  7                            4.2%
SouthEast (VZ to ABCs)                 84                                15                          18%
SouthWest (Colombia to MX)       37                                 6                           16%

TOTAL                                             324                               28                            8.6%

To look at it another way, 54% of all reported assaults and robberies in all quadrants occurred in the SouthEast Quadrant; in fact, that 54% occurred entirely in Venezuela. These are useful, if unpleasant, facts.

On the other hand, seven, or 3.6%, of the 194 reported incidents in the East Quadrant were assaults and robberies – but all occurred in the Windwards. And in the North Quadrant, where there were only nine reported incidents, none were assaults and robberies.

So far in 2012 two assaults and robberies are reported, one each in the SouthEast quadrant (Venezuela) and the SouthWest (Nicaragua) quadrant. For Nicaragua, the first and only other assault and robbery was in 2009; for Venezuela, it appears to be a continuation of a pattern of four per year, concentrated in the islands.

How will you factor this knowledge into your cruising decision making and planning?

NOTE: The North, East, SouthEast, and SouthWest Quadrants referred to here are terms coined by Frank Virgintino in A Thinking Man’s Guide to Voyages South for ease in understanding the entire Caribbean.

QUADRANT        ISLANDS/COUNTRIES:

North                    Greater Antilles (Cayman, Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico
East                       Lesser Antilles (Virgin Islands through Trinidad/Tobago
SouthEast            Venezuela (islands and mainland) and the ABCs
SouthWest          Colombia through Mexico

Dr. Catherine Hebson
Catherine@freecruisingguides.com