We enjoyed living on a sailboat in the Caribbean for 8 years. A common question we get is about security and hacking.
The short answer is that we had no problems, not even one incident, in those 8 years. Why? I don’t think we were lucky, we just used common sense.
By sailing in the Caribbean, I mean Windward and Leeward, Trinidad and Venezuela. That’s where we sail. We went to our father west of Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela. Why? The prevailing winds are from east to west in that part of the globe. Every time you venture west, you are dealt a heavy blow when returning east.
Piracy… if you were a drug addict and you wanted a boat to smuggle drugs, would you want a sailboat that goes 5 knots or a fast one that goes 80? The fact that the sailboats are not fast is part of their appeal, but it deters pirates.
Weapons on board… I’ve never had a weapon, so we managed without it. I never wanted to have one on board either. This is a personal choice folks, but I’ll pass the guns. Each island had custom and immigration forms to fill out. Every island from the British Virgin Islands to Trinidad asked if we had any firearms. I said no with a clear conscience.
Anchored…our boat was a 35ft Island Packet with 4-5ft freeboard, retractable ladder aft, no swim platform. We towed the boat at night, this was not only quieter but made our boat less attractive to a guest.
On land…no jewelry, go out with other people at night…the same things you would do at home in the US, in an unfamiliar city. Stay close to the ship and you’ll be fine.
Who had problems? We heard of some ugly incidents in our 8 year old. Both occurred in Venezuela, involved single people, and both involved some alcohol. If you’re alone, I’d be very careful not to stray too far from the ship. As for alcohol, have your big party on your ship or on another cruise ship, not on land.
Communications… on the Single Side Band radio network on AM cruise ships are in communication throughout the Caribbean. The daily weather network would be a good place to report any issues anywhere. A lot of the conversations would go like this… “my boat was stolen last night in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas…”, ask “was it on the davits?”… uh no, it was tied to the boat”… a pause… asks, “Was it closed?”… “Uh, no. Capture the picture? This was reported very, very rarely and would have been completely avoided with a bit of effort.
Living on a sailboat in the Caribbean is a great way to live. It can be a safe way to live with a little common sense. Enjoy.
