Should you carry a gun on board?
This is an important question, often a dilemma, for many long-distance sailors. It's a generalisation for sure, but European sailors tend to decide they are not worth the risk, whereas Americans feel happier carrying firearms.
But what are the arguments for and against?
Against is a stronger argument, in my view. First, there are the practical aspects: in most countries you must check in firearms on entry and they are held ashore in a safe.
Shotguns are sometimes allowed to remain on board in a secure gun cabinet, provided they are declared at Customs. However, regulations vary.
If you do have to relinquish your gun(s), you will of course not have them at anchor, when you are most vulnerable to intruders or attack. Additionally, most countries require you to return to your port of entry to reclaim guns; the authorities won't forward them to a port of exit.
Firearms laws differ hugely from country to country, but the penalties for not declaring firearms are usually heavy and involve prison time.
So, those are some of the practical considerations. Then there's the worrying prospect of firearms escalating a situation. Sir Peter Blake was killed while cruising on the Amazon after meeting intruders with a gun.
Once you have a gun in your hands, you should be trained and prepared to use it - and must live with the consequences. Two years ago, a yacht crew approaching the Gulf of Aden were confronted by armed men in a skiff and while taking avoiding action the skipper fired his gun and shot one of the pirates, mortally wounding him he believed. He did not hang around to find out and quickly made his escape.
Even when acting in self-defence against an armed aggressor, this situation is one that would make many of us feel very disturbed. If you carry a gun, you do have to ask yourself whether you are prepared to pull the trigger and kill another human being.
Guns on board can also make a crew feel very uncomfortable. Sailing in the Red Sea, I once met a (British) crew who had several guns on board, including a handbag-sized mother of pearl handled revolver for the missus. They used to practice by throwing beer cans over the transom and taking pot shots. I felt very uneasy about that.
So, if you chose to sail unarmed, as most sailors do, what can you, or should you, use in self-defence?
I've heard lots of suggestions. One skipper told me he kept a technical ice axe below "small enough to be wielded to shatter kneecaps" - and that he had once used it north of Jakarta.
Some say flares or flare guns might be effective. A ship crew had some luck in repelling Somali pirates not so long ago by making and lobbing Molotov cocktails from the aft deck - easy to create but a bit dangerous to use.
Still others say the best deterrent is a Mayday on the VHF, as well as firing off a satellite message to the Coastguard and setting off an EPIRB. The trouble is that there are some situations, Paul and Rachel Chandler's kidnapping among them, where none of these deterrents is likely to work.
Let me know your views about guns on board and other possible deterrents to intruders/pirates. Comments are up and running below.
Eamon Green,
October 29 20:58
My initial emotional response to stories of piracy such as the Chandlers is that I would want a powerful weapon such as a rocket propelled grenade to sink and kill at range. But on more considered reflection I feel that any kind of armed response is likely to provoke an aggressive response from the pirates which is unlikely to result in a successful escape. The chandlers had around 10 pirates on board, not very good odds! So my view is no firearms.