Pirates of the Caribbean - Mostly in Venezuela

by Nancy Knudsen on 10 Aug 2008 Caribbean Security has over the years become so much of a problem that way back in 1996 local cruisers formed a self-help organisation - now a website - to alert intending sailors to the do's and don'ts of visiting the region. However now the Caribbean Safety and Security Net claims that recent newspaper reports are so skewed that intending visitors do not have the correct information.

Chateaubelair, an anchorage in St Vincent and the Grenadines in the Windward Islands, has been a particular hotspot, and as recently as last month another yacht reported being boarded by four men armed with machetes and knives, who robbed the crew of about $400 EC. Yachts continued to be cautioned to use extreme security precautions if anchoring at Chateaubelair, or, better yet, anchor in another bay.

It is in Venezuela, the organisation claims, that piracy has increased recently, not in other parts of the Caribbean. Recently there have been seven reports from Venezuela, armed boardings of the paria Peninsula and in the Venezuelan island of Margarita, in both usually safe Porlamar and the 'off-limits' bay of Pampatar.

Melodye Boatmillie, who runs the Security Website, has particularly complained about the LA Times and Yachting Monthly, quoting them as saying that there have been 'attacks on yachts with increasing frequency and dozens of incidents involving beatings and stabbings'and that the Net has been wrongly quoted as the source of that information. This, claims Melodye is untrue of the rest of the region.

Recently Melody told Sail-World Cruising, 'While I acknowledge that the Security Net does not receive reports of all crimes against yachts, I believe that what we do receive is a fair indication of what and where the problems are. Yes, Chateaubelair has been a problem spot, since the recent rash of armed robberies began in November 2007. But the data indicates that in the time period since then, the increase in reports has come almost exclusively from Venezuela, an area not even mentioned in either the LA TIMES story nor the YACHTING MONTHLY article.'

As to what is the cause of the rash of attacks on yachts in the Venezuelan region, Melodye has this to say,'Let's not fall back on blaming poverty as the excuse. None of these men were robbing in order to feed their families. It's guys who don't want to work, but still want the cell phones, the CD and DVD players, and yes probably, the drugs. If in fact, poverty was to blame for the crimes against yachts, the incidence of crime would be much higher.

'Most of the people in the island chain and in Venezuela are good, honest, hard-working folks who do not consider crime as a means to an end. In fact, they are as horrified as we are when their community is damaged by one of these incidents and are insulted to hear that some are saying that the standard of living is responsible for crime.

If you're thinking of going to the Caribbean any time soon, refer to the Caribbean Safety and Security Net for the latest information on security.