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08-13-2008, 11:17 AM
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#1
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Retired Mod
Join Date: Mar 2007
Home Port: Durban
Posts: 2,984
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At approximately 10 p.m. on Saturday night, 4 men with machetes boarded an anchored vessel, with apparent intent to rob. When they were met with resistance, it became a cruisers biggest nightmare.
Dan and Nancy Dryden had bought SUNDAY'S CHILD several months ago, and were looking forward to years of pleasant sailing experiences. They were anchored off the small cove near Monkey Bay Marina and Lubi's house when the incident occurred. Details are still somewhat sketchy, but in resisting the robbers, Dan was killed and Nancy, although seriously wounded, was able to use the VHF radio to summon help.
The stations and boaters that still had their radios on at that hour came to assist, and Nancy was transported to a private hospital in Morales, reportedly with a punctured lung.
Full Report Here - (News) (Aug '08)
And Then Again Yesterday:
Three boats anchored between Livingston and Texan Bay were coming to Texan Bay today.
We made radio contact with one of the boats, s/v Mima, owned by Mark and Sue with their two young children last night after dark. They said they were about two miles from Texan Bay and would arrive here sometime this morning.
During the night, five men boarded one of the three boats with machetes and one of them had a gun. One of the boats attempted to call Mima on channel 68 on the VHF radio to warn them of the danger.
Mima was not boarded. They made radio contact with a cruiser at Texan Bay who offered assistance if needed. They also contacted Raul in Livingston. The men demanded US money. No one was hurt . We have no other details at this time.
Full Details Here - (News) (Aug '08)
Guatemala & Rio Dulce on the Cruising Wiki.
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08-16-2008, 05:48 PM
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#2
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Retired Mod
Join Date: Mar 2007
Home Port: Durban
Posts: 2,984
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Suspects arrested!
Quote:
By ROY McNETT, Editor Two suspects were arrested Aug. 14 by Guatemalan police in connection with the Aug. 9 brutal slaying of Dan Dryden and the serious injury to his wife, Nancy.
According to information received from El Periodico in Guatemala City, Carlos Ernesto Lemus Hernandez, 19, and his brother Elfido Concepcion Lemus Hernandez, 33, both of the village of Esmeralda, near Mario's Marina, were taken in custody after a search of their home resulted in the discovery of an ice pick, binoculars believed to have been taken from the Dryden's sailboat, s/v Sunday's Child, as well as a quantity of marijuana.One source who had seen the body of Dryden said the fatal wounds appeared not to have been caused by a machete, but would be consistent with those inflicted by an ice pick. INGUAT has also confirmed that the wounds were made by an ice pick, not by a machete.
At the time of this writing, seven other houses in Esmeralda are being searched by police, according to sources.
The two suspects were said to be under the protection of a woman nicknamed "Reyna del Sur" (Queen of the South) of Morales, believed involved in various illegal activities in the area, including drugs and stolen outboard motors.
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From Riodulcechisme.com (News)
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08-16-2008, 10:25 PM
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#3
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Lieutenant
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 78
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lighthouse
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I'm glad they got the cowards! I wonder if a gun on board would have saved an innocent life in this case?
Food for thought....People who commit these type of crimes are not men, they are simply cowards! When cowards are presented with an even fight, they always turn and run.
My sympathies to the family...
Steve
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For the truth is that I already know as much about my fate as I need to know. The day will come when I will die. So the only matter of consequence before me is what I will do with my alloted time. I can remain on shore, paralyzed with fear, or I can raise my sails and dip and soar in the breeze.
- RICHARD BODE
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08-17-2008, 04:17 AM
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#4
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Admiral
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 2,098
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I wish that were true, but from all that I've heard and read, presenting a gun has generally escalated a theft to a tragedy.
Sir Peter Blake, for example,when threatened by thieves came running into the cockpit brandishing a gun, and was shot dead. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1697358.stm
Many years earlier a cruiser in Venezuela was boarded late at night by three Venezuelans who wanted the significant amount of cash he had been flashing earlier in the day. He had a gun, shot it and hit one of the guys, but instead of frightening them, they shot back at him and killed him, and then escaped without stealing anything. They were caught and claimed that they had not planned on using the gun, but they panicked when he shot at them.
A cruising boat anchored in Las Perlas, Panama was boarded by three locals who threatened the couple. The fellow told his wife to get "xxx", she ran into their forward cabin to get the gun, one of the thieves followed her, grabbed the gun and shot her husband. They turned out to be escaped prisoners, unarmed, who took advantage of the cruisers' own gun.
How do you know what's a bad guy, who's a good guy. This is an excerpt from one of Watermelon's logs, when we were in the Solomon Islands: " As we were snorkeling the first day five big guys came by in their canoe -they were the biggest, meanest looking men we'd seen in the Solomons so far, and they didn't smile. Peter went back to the boat, but I stayed in the water. The guys came up to the boat and were talking with Peter, and everything looked peaceful so I came back to the boat. They were even bigger and uglier close up - but they were also very nice fellows..." We ran into them later on in the main town and they greeted Peter like a long-lost friend, and helped us immensely. First impressions can be very wrong.
See my report on an act of piracy in Indonesia. The fellow who fought off the thieves said there was not way they could have gotten to a gun in time. They were unhurt, and succeeded in repelling the Indonesian thieves. http://www.cruiser.co.za/hostmelon39.asp
Okay, enough of my soapbox and rant. REad any good books lately?
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08-17-2008, 05:48 AM
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#5
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Lieutenant
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 78
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The poor dead guy would probably disagree with you as he was killed with his own ice pick. If you could ask him if he'd wished he had a gun in the last moments of his life and he said "No" I'd be amazed! It only takes 1 time! The gun would be used of course to prevent them from getting within stabbing distance. If they never were allowed to board the vessel, he'd probably still be alive. Everybody is definitely entitled to there owm opinion, but if that was me, they'd (the cowards) never get a chance to harm me or my crew without a battle. "Don't bring a knife to a gun fight".
There's my rant...I just read " At the mercy of the sea", by John Kretschmer... An amazing tale of three sailors brought together in a caribbean hurricane. True story! Worth every penny!
__________________
For the truth is that I already know as much about my fate as I need to know. The day will come when I will die. So the only matter of consequence before me is what I will do with my alloted time. I can remain on shore, paralyzed with fear, or I can raise my sails and dip and soar in the breeze.
- RICHARD BODE
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08-26-2008, 03:37 PM
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#6
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Ensign
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 7
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I respect JeanneP's position on guns and cruisers however I disagree. I have worked in law enforcement as a street patrol officer for the last 20 years and have seen more victims than i care to even think about. I do not recall in all those calls where presenting a firearm "generaly escalated a theft (rape,robbery,ectect) to a tragety" for the victim. I am sure that you can find incidents to support what ever position you wish to support as she has but i just hav'nt seen it. I DO NOT UNDERSTAND how it has become OK to be a victim. ITS NOT OK. Unlike the movies I rarely if ever got there to prevent the crime. To my sleepless and fitful nights its usualy over by the time I arrive. The calls I enjoy the most has been where the bad guy(you'll know who he is, he's the one that kicked your door in) did not encounter a person that thought it was ok or enlightened to be a victim.
For me.. if i take my family cruising i am as responsable for thier safety from criminals as from heavy weather. I would have the proper training with the firearm as i would anyother safety equipment. If the need should ever arise I would not threaten with a gun. If it has come to the point it comes out it comes out to be used immediatly.
Come to think of it I think I'll take two,it takes to long to reload
Quote:
Originally Posted by JeanneP
I wish that were true, but from all that I've heard and read, presenting a gun has generally escalated a theft to a tragedy.
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08-26-2008, 05:41 PM
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#7
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Retired Mod
Join Date: Mar 2007
Home Port: Durban
Posts: 2,984
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Hi all
The original post in this thread was a very sad report of a violent attack on a cruiser in the Rio Dulce.
Please can we give respect to the couple involved and avoid a side issue - discussion on the armoury we should be carrying.
Although "Guns Aboard" has been discussed in other topics (ad nauseam), topics started for the purpose, please feel free to start yet ANOTHER if anyone feels that more discussion is necessary.
Let us not drift away from this original topic post - and hopefully get some update about the cruisers concerned.
Thank you for your understanding.
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