Travis McGee
Posted on 03/20/2005 4:22:16 AM PST by SLB
An large American flag will be feared and respected. "Beware the Amriki! They shoot back!"
Bad, bad place to sail. Be well armed and on guard at all times, imo.
Thanks for sharing this story. Glad they made it out safely.
Wow. Nothing like a "pirates on the high seas" adventure story!
Landlubbers cannot offer advice of much worth concerning marksmaship on yahcts.
Shooting from a yacht is similar to shooting from the roof of an SUV, while driving across rutted fields. It has NOTHING to do with range shooting. You cannot get a "rest." You can only shoot offhand, while your boat is moving in several directions at once.
OTOH, you can see your splashes, and correct accordingly. Of course, on your next (offhand) shot, your boat has twisted another way under you, and you must take an entirely new aim.
Shooting from a boat is NOTHING like shooting on solid land. NOTHING. Your super accurate M1A is no more likely to hit than a Mini-14. The skills required to hit are all different.
If you want to practice for the sea, shoot from the roof rack of a Suburban, while your buddy swerves all over a bumpy field, trying to throw you off.
For target practice on boats, I enjoy shooting balloons. They stick to the water, and get smaller as you sail away. They go up and down on swells, as you are also doing. You can see your splashes, to know how close you came with each shot. Of course, a hit makes the balloon disappear.
Not only an effective weapon, but the person using it was obviously proficient using it.
Anyone up for tryin' this?
Travis McGee
What'd you shoot'em with?
A freakin' twelve-gauge, what'd ya think?
I think that thousands of troops with Iraq convoy and road patrol duty would be great at this kind of shooting.
Of course, they would be used to belt fed weapons on pintle mounts...
A modern holo-sight would be perfect for this kind of shooting, with a semi auto rifle.
And as the story showed, inside of 100 yards, a shotgun would be terrific.
Two sailboats close by are a good tactic, to provide supporting fire to each other, and allow each boat to concentrate on defending only one side.
Sounds like a typical weekend for me, 'cept we use jeeps.
I did mention the Mini may not be considered as an assault weapon. It's too bad about the gun laws in those countries when you're traveling inside your home with everything you own. I'm sure the super wealthy don't have those problems when they can travel with their security teams.
"Abdul, don't go closer! The stars and stripes flag means death! A sailing boat with a red and white maple leaf flag is coming later, let us wait for him!"
Then you are ready for boat defense duty!
I've spent quite a bit of time in Bahamian waters over many years, professionally during the 80's, never been boarded yet, though was approached once near Norman's Cay 5 or so years back - the patrol vessel veered away at the last moment on noticing we had kids aboard our 28 Whitewater. I always check in and do the required paperwork, which is what I think you ought to do while a guest in a foreign country. Then, your firearms are registered with another office, at the port of entry. I can imagine our LEO's would not be too friendly to Bahamians illegally fishing Florida waters either, loading up coolers, as Floridians often do in the Bahamas. Bearing in mind what you say, though.
I did once have a crew member busted by a Bahamian constable for smoking dope. Had to fly the guy out of the country pronto to keep him out of Fox Hill. The constable asked for a few books from our on board library, I was glad that's all he wanted - I wouldn't give him my nautical slide rule which he was fascinated by, this was before the days of GPS!
We used to carry an AR 15, 12 ga, and 336 in .35 at least, in the old days. Presently I'm usually content with just a mini.
I own at least one of your fishing rods, had it for quite a while, it's a nice piece of equipment - A 20# conventional rig that I modified for heavy deep jigging - it's been in the Bahamas a lot.
As for the guys in the article, one has to wonder how they justified "yachting" in such a well known pirate corridor. I do admire the way they fought, however.
12 guage good up close....BUT...They would have no problem whatsoever if they carried a 50 calibre rifle.....flat tragectory for about a mile and will penetrate just about anything.
Given a 2nd chance to arm up, I bet this guy would want a whole lot of weapons more powerful than a 12 guage with 00 buck.
Something in the 50 caliber range comes to mind
Doesn't the bobbing of the boats throw off your aim?
Seems a reliable 7.62x39 semi-auto with 30 rd mags for sending bullets out a distance, and a 12 ga shotgun loaded with 00 buck for if they get up close and ready to board, would work best.
Pistol grip AR-15 vs wood stock Mini-14 would be no distinction at all in Australia, England, etc. Both would be totally banned, on a level almost with C-4. You have to pay for bonded armed security guards to transport them to a government armory. On leaving the country, you do it in reverse. MAJOR hassle!
A "field grade" shotgun that is pump action or (legally safest) double barreled is the least problematic anywhere in the world.
Some folks bring an old milsurp rifle, like an Enfield, and call it their "shark gun."
Another tactic is to buy an AK-47 when you arrive in Africa or Yemen, and ditch it when you get to the Med and back to "civilization."
How far off shore do you have to be as to not attract attention from the Coast Guard? That sounds like a great way to practice.
I have a mini-14 for boat duty. You aim more by spotting your splashes than anything else. Ultimate "bench group" accuracy has little to do with hitting targets on the ocean. A mini is fine, or an SKS.
Plus, with a cheaper rifle, you will not hesitate as much to deep-six it if that is your best legal choice when being found with it might mean jail time in a 3rd world hell hole.
If you have a thousand dollar AR-15, are you going to toss it overboard?
AGAIN???
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.