Posted on 03/20/2005 4:22:16 AM PST by SLB
"We are safe in port of Aden. It‚s been 3 days repairing the damage. 30 bullets holes in deck, cabin house, dodger, and alas, newly varnished mast. Our bow shows evidence of a satisfying crunch. Our new paint job was not meant to be. Dinghy on deck was seriously wounded but in stable condition, much repatched. No wine was hurt.
This is the „official‰ report filed with the Yemen Coast Guard, Yemen Navy, Aden Port Control, US Coalition 5th Fleet, US Embassy and State Department? but not Carol‚s mother. Unfortunately, the poor guy that shoots has to write up the paper work. The one that rams does not engender any paper-work, except sand paper work.
March 11, 2005, written by Rodney J. Nowlin, USN Retired Pirate Attack off Yemen Coast
On Tuesday, March 8, 2005 at position 13 Degrees 28 North / 49 Degrees 07 East, in the infamous Pirate Alley of the Gulf of Aden, two sailing yachts, Madhi and Gandalf, were moving SW 30 miles off the coast of Yemen proceeding to the port of Aden from Salalah, Oman.
At about 0900 local, two outboard powered fiberglass longboats, about 20 feet long, each containing 3 men, passed off our sterns moving south at about 25 knots into the open Gulf between Yemen and Somalia. An hour later they returned, one coming quite close and looking us over carefully. The second boat passed off our bows but quite a ways away. These boats were obviously not engaged in a normal activity like fishing. At that time we were south of Al Mukalla, Yemen. The area around Al Mukalla is well documented as being a piracy, drug & people smuggling problem area and we maintained a careful watch for anything out of the ordinary.
At about 1600 we observed two different boats approaching us head on from the west with the glare of the sunset in our eyes. These were 25-30 feet long, had inboard diesel engines and higher freeboard. We immediately motored closer together. As soon as they saw us close ranks they started coming very fast directly at us. There were 4 men in each boat. They separated at about 200 yards with one boat coming down Madhi‚s port side, shouting and firing into the cockpit. The other boat, firing automatic weapons came at Gandalf. There were no warning shots. Carol on Gandalf began sending Maydays on every frequency.
The first boat swung around behind Mahdi‚s stern to come up and board us. At that point, I , Rod Nowlin aboard Mahdi and armed with a 12 gauge shotgun loaded with 00 buckshot, started shooting into their boat. I forced them to keep their heads down so they could not shoot at us. I am not sure I hit anyone at that point. I could see the driver of the boat crouched down behind the steering console. After firing three shots at them, their engine started to smoke and I swung around to try to shoot at the second boat ahead. At that point I saw Jay Barry on Gandalf ram the second boat amidships almost cutting it in two and turning it almost completely over. I turned back around to shoot at the boat still behind Mahdi. That was when they turned away from Mahdi and headed toward the stern of Gandalf. Gandalf was beside us about 100 feet away. The bow of the pirate boat came right up against Gandalf‚s stern and two men stood up on the bow with guns to board Gandalf. That was a serious and probably fateful error on their part. I shot both of them. That boat then veered away and I shot the driver, although I am not sure of the outcome because they were farther away and I didn‚t knock him down like the other two trying to board Gandalf.
Mahdi & Gandalf kept going at full speed to put as much distance between the pirates and us as possible. As soon as we were out of rifle range, we looked back and both attack boats were drifting and seemed to be disabled.
A merchant ship nearby finally answered our Mayday and diverted course to position itself between the floundering pirates and the fleeing yachts. They said they would contact the authorities‚ by Sat phone and then sailed alongside us for 4 hours after dark to make sure we would be all right. Best speed was made to the Port of Aden 180 miles away.
If Jay on Gandalf had not had the presence of mind to veer over into one boat and ram it, the outcome of this attack would have been totally different. All the guys needed to do was stand off a ways and shoot us to pieces with automatic weapons. We were extremely lucky. We broadcast Mayday calls on VHF 16 and all HF radio frequencies, including two HF frequencies that were supplied by the US Coast Guard near Oman only a few days before. Frequencies which the Coalition Forces Warships in this area were supposed to be monitoring. There was no response. The pirates were well organized and well armed. There were at least 4 boats involved. They had set up a picket line out from the Yemen coast probably covering 75 miles out, so if you transited the area during the day they would not miss seeing you. The two attack boats appeared to have come from the south before positioning themselves ahead of us in the sunset.
There has been speculation in the past that this ongoing piracy problem off Yemen‚s coast was being carried out by Somali pirates. Given the number, the types of boats involved, and the direction the supposed spotter boats were coming from, this does not appear to be the case. The men in the attack boats looked both African and Arab.
There was no evidence that this was a people smuggling operation. There were no men, women or children cowering in the boats. These were not fishing boats with nets or overhead sun protection. They appeared to be purpose-built boats, 25-30 feet long, with wooden splines or poles fashioned above the gunwales to which a plastic tarp or shield was hung chest high for the men to hide behind after shooting. The problem is getting worse and the pirate attacks are getting deadly. One could only expect that the Yemen Government will take more direct action At very least, allow yachts to group in Salalah, Oman and at some point along the NW Yemen coast request an escort until Aden or the Straits.
Rodney J. Nowlin, USN Retire March 11, 2005
Yep, outside of the big tourist trap (jet runways and cruise ships) islands, the Bahamians are GREAT.
Thanks- that is a very interesting map.
Funny that mini 14s should come up now for discussion. I just had mine to the range for a short while yesterday, after doing a couple of accuracy improvements about 2 years ago.
I just hadn't had the time.
I was pleased as punch with preliminary results.
Where once, it was difficult to print a 4 inch shot group at 50 yards, I now have a half inch shot group of 5. I ran out of time though and could not take my board out to the 100 yard rail. The range was very busy. Maybe next trip.
I guess my point is that you can improve the mini. It's a bit of work, but it's doable.
I found some articles on the net about 4 or 5 years ago. One involved grinding some material from the gas rod, and in my case, the nipple that the gas rod slides over when bolt closes. The idea is to get bolt to stop against receiver on the locking lug, without having gas rod slaming into that nipple, which sends reverberations down the barrel.
The 2nd involed glass bedding. That was tricky with all of the different parts that lay into that stock, and all of the places where you can get glass where you don't want it. I managed and it helps alot.
There are two more that I need to get done. One involves working the trigger a bit, a tricky operation that I am told is best left to a pro. There is one in Connecticut somewhere. A google search may find him. Mini 14 triggers are his specialty.
The other is simply replacing the less than optimum sights on the gun with something a little nicer. Either a good peep site or a scope is what I have in mind.
All of this is supposed to get you sub 1moa groups. From what I am seeing so far, it works.
I should explain something farther...
Tha article on working the gas rod said it was necessary only to take .010 off the face of the gas rod where it goes over the nipple, to keep it from slamming into the shoulder of the nipple mount. I found I had to take like .030 and maybe more, but then ran into another problem. Now the nipple bottomed out in gas rod. So, being the brave soul that I am, figuring worst case, I need to buy new rod and nipple, I took about .040 or .050 off the tip of the nipple and all worked well.
I just kept working it until the locking lug contacted the receiver and there was still clearance between rod and nipple.
I was hoping that a side effect would be to slow the cycling down just a hair so it wouldn't toss my brass 30 feet away, and it did tone that down a bit too. Now I only have to walk 15 feet to get it. :)
You did good.
My story is a little like yours. I created a stop for the op rod so the it wouldn't slam into the barrel. I then screwed the gas cylinder directly onto the stock. That stabilized the barrel so when it heated, it wouldn't be forced upward. The problem was the barrel still needed to be supported a little more so the end was still vibrating. I didn't glass bed like you did so I still need to do that. I also took about .030 off the face of the gas cylinder but it wasn't enough like you said.
I did a lot of trial and error until I read that article.
To tell the truth. I just gave up on it. I did learn that my reloads for my AR didn't work. The twist on the Ruger demands a smaller bullet. I think they have to stay at 55 grains.
I know I can get five round groups on it. It's after that things get stupid.
In order to stop the brass from ejecting to the farther regions of nowhere, you might consider buying another gas port bushing. If the new one matches the old one, you might be able to have another one made with a smaller inside diameter.
I'll live with the brass ejection as it is now. It was really bad when new. At least 30 foot fling. lol
I found the trigger guy btw:
Doing a trigger job on a Mini shouldn't be any different than a Garand or M1A. The NRA has a magazine sized pamphlet that explains how it's done.
I don't suppose your bushing has fallen out without you knowing about it? I knew someone who didn't realize it wasn't in place. After awhile, it started to shorten the brass from being thrown until he had a single shot. The gas piston was turning and eventually shut off.
I've never done a trigger job, so I wouldn't even know where to begin. Those guys do it for $45 plus $5 shipping, so it seems worth it to get it done and not have to worry about messing it up.
And I suppose I should have looked at an exploded view of this gun a long time ago and gotten the actual names of the parts to which I was refering. My nipple is your piston, my shoulder of the nipple mount is the gas block, etc... hehehe
I was wondering, where the heck is there a piston in this gun? lol
The bushing may or may not be there. I had the gas block off once, not long after I bought the gun, and then found out that you're not supposed to do that unless absolutely necessary, for some reason, maybe so you don't lose the bushing? I have not had it apart since, but I don't recall seeing that bushing in there. I will have to do an exploratory sometime today I guess.
If I remember correctly, it tossed brass 30 feet before I had gas block apart, so if bushing was missing it was probably missing since I owned it.
It's good to chat with someone that knows these guns. Thanks for the help!
Jim
The Enfield is a nice choice. Heck, you can even get one in a "marine finish":
Gibbs messed up this picture - it says "see through scope mount" but none is pictured. The wooden-stock Quest II version is pictured with the scope rail on the company website. An EOTech Holosight on that scope rail would really make things interesting.
Connecticut Precision Chambering, perhaps?
An EOTech is a great choice for any boat gun! I think I'd just get an old milsurp Enfield, with a wooden stock. I'd paint "SHARK GUN" on the stock with red paint!
"Just my innocent shark protection gun, sir. Honest!"
Never mind, I see it *was* CPC. It's been a few years since I had any work done by that fellow, but he took my plain old 10/22 and cut a new chamber and crown; now it shoots darn near as well as those fancy Volquartsen custom rigs. Glad to see he's still around, he does good work.
Heh... leaving the outer coating of cosmoline might be a good idea, too. Who needs nickle-plating to resist salt spray? :-)
A 12 gauge loaded with 00 buck beats calling 911 most anytime, but especially when you are a couple of hundred miles out to sea, and farther than that from help, assuming the "helpers" can even hear your radio calls.
There's even a lesson here for less unusual circumstances: Most anything can be a weapon, especially something big and with a fair amount of power behind it. Could be a car or truck rather than a motor yacht, but the principal is the same.
Unless you're Annie Oakley or Wild Bill Hickock and are accustomed to shooting accurately from the saddle of a galloping horse! :-)
Sounds like they were continuing their circumnaviagation of the world. Probably heading from Thailand after the Tsunami, to the Suez Canal. Hard to get to the Canal without going past Yemen. Of ocurse that meant they'd already gone through the "pirate waters" aournd Malyasia before the tsunami off Thailand.
Someone trying to get from the Indian ocean to the Suez Canal on a circumnavigation of the world?
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