Guns & Pirates
By Dave and Jaja

Jaja and I do not like guns. Except for the weapon we carried with us last summer in Svalbard (for protection against polar bears) we have never carried a gun on board. In the twelve years that Jaja and I have been cruising we have not been in a situation when we wished we had a gun for protection against humans.

If you come on deck to greet strangers with a weapon in your hands you could change a situation that might be passive, into a situation that is decidedly aggressive. If pirates have approached your boat they are probably a little hyped up and the sight of a gun in the hands of the intended victim is going to alter their psychology to new levels of frenzy and hostility.

In the case of the LORNA in Venezuela, they found themselves in a situation that was dominated by extremely bad luck. How could they have possibly known that the fishermen were really dangerous criminals? Had the husband gone on deck with a weapon he may have been shot in the heart, or the head. They may have shot his wife. If the LORNA had had a weapon it would now be in the hands of the pirates who could then use it on other yachts. I think the LORNA coped with the situation to the best of their abilities. If I was the husband I would probably have done exactly as he had. There is not much we can do when a madman attacks us by surprise.

If the wife had been able to arm herself it probably wouldn't have had any effect on these men. She might have been able to pot one of them but the others would have attacked with a vengeance. This couple faced untold horrors but they did actually survive without brandishing a weapon. Would their chances have been better with one?

In Johannesburg, South Africa, where bandits are famous for stealing your car while you sit behind the wheel at traffic intersections, a clever person invented a creative deterrent. By pushing a panic button on the dash, propane-generated flames shoot out from under the car and sizzle would-be attackers.

Maybe on boats in the Western Caribbean you could install high powered, 1000-watt stereo systems near the gunwales. When madmen approach you could hit the panic button and blow them away with the mega bass cranked to extreme levels. Give 'em a beer and they'd probably start dancing. Another idea is having high-powered water jets mounted in the gunwales that spray attackers. 2000 psi ought to do it. Perhaps if we confuse bandits just long enough it would change the momentum of an attack.

My point is, shooting back at pirates isn't going to work. It could even make the situation worse. If we carry a gun and shoot whenever we see a suspicious looking fishermen there are going to be a lot of dead fishermen floating around.

The Western Caribbean is famous for piracy, dating back centuries. Rampant tourism has also created hostilities. To be safe, we can cruise in company with other boats, arm ourselves, or use trickery. Is it worth it? Every locale has risks attached, and not every "native" we meet is going to value life as much as we do. Even in America there are certain places to avoid after dark - or even in broad daylight.

Perhaps the best way to avoid the piranha is to swim in a different river.