I think Lew was referring to their "mission" to deliver bibles that was mentioned in some news reports. That was given as a reason they were in the area on their own... as I recall. Lew?
Yes, the bottom line is that this was a tragedy. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Steve Weinstein" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 2011 9:36 PM Subject: Re: [Liveaboard] Pirates get another one > I've held off on responding to this tragic thread but am compelled to > chime > in now. > > First, beyond any doubt, this is a tragedy and affects all of us in the > sailing community regardless of how often we may (or may not) leave our > dock/mooring/anchorage. > > Having said that, I first want to respond to someone (can't remember who) > who said they made the mistake of heading off on their own. I tend to > agree > since from everything I've read about that area, prudent sailors don't go > anywhere except in convoy. For whatever reasons - and it's likely we'll > never really know - these four sailors decided to sail those waters alone. > Having said that, I understand that we (the US through the US Navy) have a > large presence in those waters and our ships 'shadow' large merchant ships > (freighters and tankers, etc..) but are also just over the horizon when > "convoys" of sailboats sail from A to B in those waters and notify the > Navy > of their intended course. That's the way most sailors I've heard of > transit > those waters. > > For whatever reason, these folks decided to go it alone. > > In terms of what Lew suggests, I can't for the life of me see where their > religious leanings (or zeal) had anything to do with this at all. First of > all, I don't believe (I could be wrong, though) that they ever were even > near Somalia so it's not like the government(non-existent)/pirate > hierarchy/whatever targeted them for 'preaching'. From what I've read > about > this instance (and the recent spate of pirate attacks) this has nothing to > do with anything except as a means to get cash - either by ransom, or > selling a freighter's cargo. > > Unless we've got some really good interrogators around (Guantanamo > anyone?) > I doubt we'll every find out why those pirates (I was about to say 'kids' > since they're mostly teenagers!) shot the 4 of them. Or why, when the Navy > boarded after the pirates fired off an RPG, they found two pirates dead, > evidently killed by the other pirates. > > The bottom line is that this was a tragedy. > > Could this have been prevented by sailing in convoy - maybe. > > But it is what it is and we'll never really know the reasons why it > happened. > > > Steve Weinstein > S/V CAPTIVA > 1997 Hunter 376, Hull #376 > Sailing out of Oyster Bay, NY > > All outgoing mail protected by VIPRE A/V > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Lew Hodgett" <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 2011 8:14 PM > Subject: Re: [Liveaboard] Pirates get another one > > >> Here in Los Angeles, the reports continue to come from interviews with >> friends >> and the priests at St Monica's church, their home parish, emplacing >> the religious >> thrust of this sail around the world program. >> >> In the end, that religious zeal may have been their downfall. >> >> Lew >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Liveaboard mailing list >> [email protected] >> To adjust your membership settings over the web >> http://liveaboardonline.com/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard >> To subscribe send an email to [email protected] >> >> To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >> The archives are at http://www.liveaboardonline.com/pipermail/liveaboard/ >> >> To search the archives >> http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] >> >> The Mailman Users Guide can be found here >> http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html > > _______________________________________________ > Liveaboard mailing list > [email protected] > To adjust your membership settings over the web > http://liveaboardonline.com/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard > To subscribe send an email to [email protected] > > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > The archives are at http://www.liveaboardonline.com/pipermail/liveaboard/ > > To search the archives > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] > > The Mailman Users Guide can be found here > http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html _______________________________________________ Liveaboard mailing list [email protected] To adjust your membership settings over the web http://liveaboardonline.com/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard To subscribe send an email to [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] The archives are at http://www.liveaboardonline.com/pipermail/liveaboard/ To search the archives http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] The Mailman Users Guide can be found here http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html
