Horror Attack on Cruisers in Guatemala

by Capt. Pat Rains, The Log/Sail-World on 23 Aug 2008 The story began just after dark on Saturday, Aug. 9, when four machete-wielding men slipped aboard Dan and Nancy Dryden’s cruising sailboat as it swung at anchor in Monkey Bay, an uninhabited jungle cove a mile northeast of the Rio Dulce Bridge.

The Drydens, ages 66 and 67 of Sutton, Alaska, were experienced cruisers. They had bought the boat, a Southern Cross 39 named Sunday’s Child, in the Rio Dulce region in February. The couple had anchored in Monkey Bay the night before with no problem, within sight of Monkey Bay Marina and within 10 miles of hundreds of fellow cruisers.

While the Drydens were preparing dinner in the galley, they heard a noise. Dan Dryden went up on deck to investigate. A few minutes later, he would be dead.

'They poked us and stabbed us with machetes,' Nancy Dryden told Juan Carlos Llorca of the Associated Press, from her hospital bed.

She said the attackers seemed to know their way around the boat, because they went immediately to the electrical panel and turned off the cabin lights, using their own flashlights to carry out the attack. Then they went to Nancy Dryden’s jewelry box and demanded U.S. dollars. She said they were angered by how few Quetzales (Guatemalan currency) the Drydens had aboard, and they held an ice pick to her head, repeating their demand for dollars.

At some point Dan Dryden grabbed his own machete and tried to fight back — but he was eventually overpowered and hacked to death. Pushing the severely wounded Nancy Dryden toward the back of the boat, the invaders tried to get keys for the boat or dinghy. Failing that, they swam to the nearby shoreline. She was able to crawl to the boat’s VHF radio to call for help.

Although by then it was nearly 10 p.m., a few other cruisers still had their VHF radios on, and friends of the Drydens on other boats immediately came to her aid. Nancy was by taken ambulance to a hospital in nearby Morales, accompanied by cruising friends. While being treated for a punctured lung and multiple stab wounds, she was able to describe the assailants and give details of the attack.

Dryden’s family was flown down by the U.S. Embassy with emergency expedience. Asistur and Inguat, Guatemala’s tourism departments, have been covering all her expenses and providing translators and other services.

When able, she plans to return to the U.S. with her family to fully recover, according to the local news Web site Rio Dulce Chisme Vindicator. RAM Marine in Rio Dulce volunteered to berth Sunday’s Child at no charge, and a memorial blog has been set up by the Drydens’ son, Dan Dryden III, at www.danieldryden.blogspot.com.

Dan Dryden’s remains have been cremated, and his ashes will return to the U.S. with his family.

According to Prensa Libre news reports in Guatemala City, the National Civil Police (PNC) suspected that Dryden’s attackers were part of a gang of robbers responsible for a three-month spree of break-ins on unoccupied boats and the theft of numerous outboard motors. That spree evidently escalated to armed robbery and murder, the police said.


Two more attacks on yachts were reported within two days of Dryden’s murder.