Piracy in Panama, Beware

The following article courtesy of Noonsite, incidence of piracy. 
 and the Cruisers forum

By Sue Richards — last modified Apr 25, 2014 06:22 PM
This nasty incident occurred over a month ago, on March 15th 2014, however it’s taken some time to get the facts clear and verified before reporting. The boat owners who made the report have asked to remain anonymous, however they are keen to warn other Panama cruisers of the possible dangers in this area.

Published: 2014-04-25 00:00:00

Topics: Piracy 

Countries: Panama 

File photo, not the boat in the article

“This morning at 02:30 our vessel (a private cruising yacht on a circumnavigation) anchored at Taboga Island, off Balboa, Panama City, was attacked by three pirates.

“The Captain heard voices beside the boat as we slept and went up into the cockpit. One of the pirates had come aboard whilst being warned not to very loudly by the Captain, waking the other crew members. Five shots were fired from a 26' vessel (approx) with a black rub rail nearly as high as our freeboard, but none injured our crew despite holes in the fibreglass top sides just inches from where the Captain stood. They appeared young, fit and organised and they were intent on robbery at the very least.

“We were at anchor with no one else in sight, close to shore in the cut between the two islands. We had arrived at 17:00 the day before and had not been ashore.

“We responded to defend ourselves and the pirates were overwhelmed by the response. The one who had boarded jumped back into his boat when he realised they had underestimated the situation and they fled. There were no other incidents that night as far as I know.

“We left the anchorage immediately and went back too Las Playita de Amador”.

Editor’s Note: This incident took place near the southern end of Taboga Island in an isolated area, not at the Taboga mooring field. Nowhere in Panama should yachts anchor at night in remote areas without being accompanied by other yachts.

Yacht "Sails" 550 NM in 17 Days Without It's Crew

A cautious cruising community put out the alert:  "Venezuela, Morrocoy National Park: Yacht found adrift with no crew on board".  

Because of recent attacks on cruising sailors, this story had the stamp of piracy all over it.  What happened to skipper and crew?  Who was the unfortunate owner?  

This is a story that has a happy ending.  As it turns out, no piracy was involved at all.  Instead, Andrew W. Connell writes in his blog:


"If your wondering what happened? Here it is My sailboat broke loose on the evening of the twelfth, from Gustavia, Saint Barthélemy.

 

Corcovado, a 40ft Standfast 

I was delivering a sailboat, at the time from the Bahamas to St.Barts a thousand mile upwind slog.  When we got news of my boat missing from St.Barts, we were off Puerto Rico, and my phone came to life. Keep in mind the days are still clicking by.

When our delivery ended in St.Martin, 24 hours later,it had been three days afloat, or drifting fast to the south and west.

The wheel being locked center line, also I believe, is the reason it moved south so quickly. If the wheel were locked with a little angle to it, it would have done circles, meaning drift in the current/ wind much slower. I think the boat was sailing 35 miles a day. JUST IN WHICH DIRECTION?

My phone rang on that Saturday I believe? It was the coast guard from France who had info for me, from a Dutch Curacao dash 8 aircraft. The coast guard had pictures of my boat, and knew about the alert of an abandon sailing vessel.

They gave me a position, or coordinates, for an attempt of a rescue,,
130 or so miles South West of Guadeloupe, near the Venezuelan islands of Los Aves. 

Over 200 miles from us at the time.

I instantly found a sailboat, and a good friend with a sat phone,who would go on a mission, knowing the dash 8 aircraft out of Curacao, which was still sitting on the tarmac in St.Maarten, was heading back to Curacao. Perfect, the chances of retrieving my boat are looking, okay!

Corcovado Photographed from French Dash-8

From Andrew Connell's blog

The next morning the dash 8 did not find my boat. damn!

We left with the feeling that the aircraft would fly again in a few days.
Okay, We provisioned this 38 foot German sailboat for 7 days, with two people on board. 

We took off towards Los Aves, directly south 100 miles or so first.
The next day we called the pilots and heard the grim news of no sightings and that the aircraft, which is payed for by the Dutch Government, will be on the ground in Curacao till Wednesday.

SHIT

We had 5 or 6 days to go before we had a possible, aircraft sighting.
The second or third night out in rough weather at around 2 in the morning, Hans went forward of the mast, to take the inner fore stay off to enable a better tack, with the head sail.

We rolled hard to weather, and he was gone.

Instantly I turned into the wind and pinned the headsail on the opposite side of the boat and hoved (sic) too.

The next thing was a halyard over the side and Han De Bruyn Kops was dragging in twenty knots of wind and bigs (sic) seas behind my stern, doing 4 or so knots.

It was not easy to get him on the boat!

Our goal was to create a sort of goal line between Curacao and Puerto Rico, where the boat would eventually drift. 

Hans and I sailed back and forth from North to South for days, looking 300 miles away from St.Barths, (sic) down wind and to leeward of the Lesser Antilles.
My anchor light was on when I left, so I thought it would be easy at night, to find her.

After countless hours of, strong sun rays and tedious hours at the helm with no auto pilot, twenty plus knots of wind and north swells, we were exhausted and thoroughly disappointed.

None the less Hans was eager to carry on looking for my lost 40 footer.
Eventually it was time to think about our safe and long upwind passage, from 245 mile's north of Curacao back to St.Maarten.

We made it back with very little to eat or drink. It took three or four days of upwind slow sailing.

The trip was exciting, dangerous fun and horrible at the same time.
If the coast guard had flow another day, we would have been close to my boat.

I believe were were close to my boat. I took into consideration current charts which Hans had on board, and the waves and wind, at 35 miles a day.
We plotted a sort of projected corse, considering the 120 miles the boat moved in 4 days.

It is a huge body of water.

The two of us made it back to Simpson Bay St.Maarten, last night.

Im in St.Barts now, wiped out sad and still in dis belief.

Huge effort, no luck. 

I believe it is still out there and someone will find her.

Thanks for everyones support, peace out"


As it turned out, the boat drifted over 550 nautical miles to the coast of Venezuela's Morrocoy National Park.  The authorities found a business card with the owner's name inside the boat.  A very elated skipper was soon to be reunited with his boat.

You could spend a lifetime studying the ocean currents to figure out where things drift to over time.  Many RCC organizations use sophisticated SAROPS software to estimate the time and drift of people and boats in the water.  Yet as Andrew points out, something as simple as a jammed rudder can throw a monkey wrench in all of those figures.  They might call drift modeling a science, but really, finding anything adrift in the ocean is an art.  You have to have a lot of talent combined with a healthy dose of luck to be successful. 

At least, we don't have another incidence of piracy on our hands.

Lady Domina On Radio 1150 AM

Tim Paynter and Willie Rouge talked about the missing yacht, Lady Domina, on 1150 AM radio, Denver.  They asked all of their listeners to phone home and ask their relatives to be on the lookout for the missing yacht.  

Demographics show listeners of Un Dia Sin Fronteras come from mostly Spanish speaking countries. Those include the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Venezuela, Colombia, Puerto Rico and a host of different places that are in the Caribbean

The Lady Domina

The Lady Domina Disappeared March 31st, 2013.  She was reported to have arrived and left Puerto Rico on April 4th, 2013.  Some people believe she is taking the long route home to Norway.  Others think she may have had engine problems

File Photo

and is floating in the Atlantic.  She carried a large amount of food and water.  The crew were solid people and good sailors.

You can listen to the program HERE.  The program is in Spanish.  Just hit the button "Show 1013".

Marigot Bay, St. Martin

If the yacht is spotted please notify us HERE, and Tore Christiansen HERE.

We are also looking for pictures, videos, personal anecdotes, of the boat and crew, anything that might give us a clue as to where this boat is.

One suspicion is the Lady Domina was hijacked, though hijackings on the route are rare.  Such event could have occurred while the yacht was in Puerto Rico.  If so, the yacht could be ANYWHERE including in central and South American ports.

San Juan Puerto Rico

Also missing are the crew from the French yacht, Grain de Soleil.  The boat sank after encountering a severe storm about 500 miles Southwest of the Azores.  An active search continued for an extended period of time.  However, no sign of the missing crew was found.  

All ships and all sailors to the region are asked to keep a sharp lookout for the Grain de Soleil and the Lady Domina.



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