Two links from channel5belize.com – one concerning Rio Dulce and one concerning violence against boaters last weekend.
Coming on the heels of the last report (on Vieques), be doubly aware of your surroundings. If you have the time, read through some of the postings I have done prior, and let me know how we here at Maritime Vital Asset Protection can assist you.
Note: Apparently the sites come up with a malware notice/malicious website warnings – News about the incidents can also be found at Noonsite.com – sorry for the inconveniences.
“One strategy to employ is to be friendly (yet aware) and humanize yourself as much as possible – it’s easier to steal from ‘them’ than from a friend.”
In the nineties Wendy and I used to walk all over Nassau. From the harbor up as far as the Fox Hill prison. We always dressed down and never had a problem aside from solicitations for money or dope.
Funny; we had on two occassions an elderly driver pull over and invite us to “get in dears, this is not a good place to walk”. We turned them down of course.
We always had a German Shepherd Dog on the boat, which perhaps helped regarding petty theft but would not stop a serious boarder of course with an AK. Never had a dinghy go missing though….
One interesting thing we found was that the grey color of our boat had us blend in with the commercial boys. We could anchor and pick up fuel where the “yachts” would not be welcome.
In three decades of crusing we were boarded only 3 times, all by petty thieves sneaking around at night (and fast scared off by a big dog and a screaming siren): in Puerto Vallarta, Norfolk and in Toronto.
Joe,
Great to hear. Sounds like you already adopt many of the principles we like to stress.
Thank you for your input.
Don
Sad to see all this trouble flaring up again.
I hear from friends in the Bahamas that life around Nassau and on Andros Island are becoming like it was back in the early eighties but instead of the drug trade, it’s now just poverty driven senseless violence….
Unfortunately, that seems to be the case (land or sea). As the economic gap widens (or even the perception of the gap), so does the tendency to ‘take’ from those who have more – especially if it means food for the family. Self-defeating in the long term. One strategy to employ is to be friendly (yet aware) and humanize yourself as much as possible – it’s easier to steal from ‘them’ than from a friend.
Don,
The link in your post is causing security issues for some users. It’s being flagged as a malicious link in some browsers. Please take a look into it when you have a minute.
Thank you
Jacob
Delinked and a new link in place. Thank you for the feedback.