Find Us On Facebook
Follow Us On Twitter
popular tags
Tag Archives: somalia
Danish Released, Chandlers Talk & Piracy Poll
Only four days in and already the week has been a busy one on the piracy front. We have three important news items for your perusal: the release of the Danish sailors from Somalia, the Chandlers talking on BBC and the Piracy Update Facebook page and poll.
Cast Aside The Technology
Broken steering, hurting backs, sweaty cupboards and incessant chat on the VHF enough to drive the calmest person up the wall. Sometimes it’s best to just turn off the VHF, stop looking at the chart plotter and put to one side all the stuff that interferes with what sailing is really all about.
The Chandlers Are Free – So Where Does This Leave Us?
What fantastic news that the Chandlers have been freed after 388 days of captivity by pirates in Somalia. Our thoughts go out to their family and friends. The last year must have been very difficult so now it is time to celebrate their freedom and give them time to recuperate from what must have been a harrowing ordeal. But what now? Where does this leave the rest of us? Has paying the ransom actually made the situation worse?
EXCLUSIVE: Navy Trades Secrets With FTB About Piracy
Exclusive! This is a classified recording between the Royal Navy and followtheboat about anti-piracy tactics. Much of this conversation is secret and for the safety of future sailors making the same passage we are obliged to not broadcast any strategy undertaken by the British Royal Navy and the Vasco Da Gama rally. What we can broadcast, however, is a very interesting discussion between two senior Naval officers and the skippers and owners of private sail boats on the rally. The British Navy is one of over 60 different countries operating in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean in the fight against piracy. If you know little about the piracy situation or what we as boat owners have to go through when considering our route through this dangerous stretch of water then you will find this very interesting.
Chatham Heroes In Cyclone Rescue
It seems our heroes aboard HMS Chatham have been in the thick of the action again this week, this time rescuing a vessel in a cyclone, saving 23 men from 65 knot winds and 8m waves. We befriended the boys aboard HMS Chatham when we were in Salalah, Oman, when the British Navy frigate was taking a breather from anti-piracy actitivies in the Gulf of Aden. They left just a few days before we did, heading towards Somalia. It appears they found trouble…
Arabian Pirates Been Around Forever
Finally we leave Salalah! Long haul ahead of us so time to grab a book and get reading.
My brother, Tim, bought me ‘Unknown Seas, How Vasco Da Gama Opened The East’, by Ronald Watkins. I couldn’t think of a more suitable book to be reading on this journey, since we were taking part in the Vasco Da Gama Rally. Right now we are in the middle of the Arabian Sea, very much aware of the recent pirate activity.
It seems, however, that we were not alone in keeping a keen eye open for the odd marauder in these waters. According to the book, which opens with the early spice trade scenario, Watkins notes thus: