International Waters

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pdkflyguy

New member
As a resident of South Florida, I live only 65 miles from the bahamas, and only a short distance from the rest of the Carribbean Islands. I would like to start sailing these waters in my sailboat, but I know that as stupid as it sounds, pirates still exist in those waters. I have a Florida CCW, and under FL law, it's fine to keep a gun on your boat. However, does anyone know what the laws would be for the rest of my travels? I assume that since mush of the Carribbean was at one time under British influence, they have the same "no guns" attitude. I don't want to be at sea for a long period of time without protection. And yes, I know that the Coast Guard is only a radio call away, but they're not always close. I also don't want to violate international laws, and carrying legally is important.

If anyone has any advice, or interesting websites that might have more information, that would be appreciated.
 
I have brought guns to the Bahamas many times. They want you to declare your guns and ammo when you enter the country, but I've never had them actually search a boat to see if there are more guns.

I'm told that it's not a great idea to tell them if you bring really valuable guns into that country. Sometimes, a national emergency develops in your area, and the Bahamian Defense Force needs to take your valuable weapons to meet the crisis. They'll get them back to you soon, mon.

Just a rumor, I'm sure. (But I don't bring anything too nice to the Bahamas, at least as far as they know. ;))
 
BTW, what do you sail?

Here's my ride:

pgsc162pic.jpg
 
There was an Armed Citizen account in American Rifleman years ago.

A guy was doing some boating either in the Gulf of Mexico or south of the Florida keys when he was set on by pirates.

He called for help over an open channel, Coast Guard responded that it was coming but would be awhile.

He told them he had an M1 rifle and a ton of ammo.

Apparently the pirates were listening to the emergency frequencies because they turned around and left.
 
They'll get them back to you soon, mon.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'll bet.

Publius,

We had a Catalina 22, but I'm looking at buying something in the 26-28' range. Probably either a Hunter or a MacGregor. I'm not quite ready to go over the horizon yet, but once I feel comfortable in the new boat, I'm sure I'll be fine. Besides, it's not hard to find a Captain down here that will take you over for your first trip and show you all the good sights.

Apparently the pirates were listening to the emergency frequencies because they turned around and left.
Click to expand...

I've heard of this happening before. Of course, I've also heard of pirates monitoring the emergency frequency so that they will know which boats are disabled, exactly where they are, and how long it will be before the Coasties arrive.
 
PDK,

I'm the MacGregor dealer over here, and we have a few used ones as well. Let me know if we can help. gisails.com and pgyb.com for details.
 
I wrote a column about Piracy on the High Seas a few years ago. At that time more than 4,000 incidents were recorded World wide in one year. About half occur around Sumatra, Indonesia. Pirates generally go for the easy pickins.

Pirates have two objectives, take your vessel/contents or hold you for ransom. They are well armed with small arms as an intimidation factor and will approach in fast boats. They are quite bold and will attack large container ships.

Radar is one of the best defenses, if you see a vessel on an intercept course, change your course by 90 degrees. If the other vessel changes to a new intercept, ya just might be facin down Black Beard.

A good GPS and Marine Radio are "Must Have" items. It may take the Coast Guard several hours to reach you even with aircraft.

Pirates like to hit at night so have some good NVD gear and high power spotlights.

You can have any type of armament you want in International Water but it will be a problem in any Carib port. Best to contact your ports of call and determine local rules.
 
Publius,

That's good to know. Punta Gorda is close enought to me, I might just take a trip over there; I see you have a lot to choose from. Will your company be at the Palm Beach Boat Show this week?
 
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