Trick or treat
30 October 2005
El Salvador, Bahia del SolHurricane Beta has been downgraded to a tropical storm having hit land fall, leaving its damage to Nicaragua and Honduras on the east coast (Atlantic/Caribbean side). We are nearing the end of the Hurricane season; a welcome "finale" for many who suffered much from this year's events of nature. As for us, Hurricane Beta has brought a pleasant breeze throughout the day and night for the last 30 hours (Ah, fewer lingering bugs). No rain yet, but some predicted threat of thunderstorms for the next three or four days. We could use the water to fill our tanks. Otherwise, we are fine and grateful to be on the Pacific side of all these events of nature.
We aren't quite sure how to report our most recent neighborhood event. We want to put the event in perspective as it could happen any where, in the USA, Europe or in El Salvador, but where ever it happens, it is a sad statement of our society when we disrespect other humans and their property.
Some who read this, will surely know more than me, but as we understand it, there is a growing population of gang influence around the world. Maybe, we should be watching The Sopranos or Law and Order to learn how to deal with gang warfare? Is the war really in Iraq or on the streets of our towns and villages?
Gangs are taboo here in El Salvador, but they exist. I know gangs have existed for nearly 100 years in San Francisco, Chinatown. In El Salvador, young men, who left the country during the civil war (1980's), many to the United States, became disenfranchised, alienated, and seduced into the society of gangs. In the case of young El Salvadoran men, they are initiated and proudly demarcated by tattoos that cover their entire bodies. If found back in this country, they are put in prison or deported. The El Salvadoran government is attempting to halt any growth of gang society. Reform is not an option.
Our excitement in the Bahia occurred yesterday when our friends were boarded at 1:30 AM, by "hoodlums" with tattoos. Four young men boarded their 50' steel boat from their bow. One man stayed on the canoe while four others quietly walked on the deck to the aft. They passed a five foot by three foot open center hatch, they passed both unlocked pilot house doors (5' by 18"), finally reaching the large aft hatch. They must have thought this was a hatch to a storage bin, instead it was the hatch above our friend's bed. Yes, our friends were asleep, deeply sound asleep. It was the sound of the PVC 6" pipe that propped up the hatch, as it dropped from the hatch being lifted, that woke our friend.
And from his startled sleep, he saw the silhouettes. He growled like a bear. "GRRRRRRR". Obviously, it took the hoodlums by surprise, they dropped the hatch and sprang from the deck into the water. We assume that the others seeing their friends jump in the water, they jumped, too. Our friend, his adrenalin pumping, threw off the hatch, just as his wife handed him his pants and a flashlight. He began screaming, "Get off my boat" and other explicative's. The Admiral immediate was on the VHF radio, alerting the fleet and calling for assistance. Lights on the surrounding boats began to shine. The fleet has shrunk significantly in the last month, so they had only two nearby boats. Captain and Admiral walked the deck, spotting the men in the water with their flashlights. They were thinking that they'd spot the guys as they waited for the Navy to arrive. As they watched the men swimming away, they heard the exchange of hollers between the swimmers and the canoe, conversations-- some in Spanish and some in English. When the Captain heard the word "pistola". He paused, "pistol? gun? thought our friend, did they say, "we have a gun!" or "we will shoot our gun!" or "where is the gun?" Now, get this picture, they are standing with flashlights, in the middle of the night, and someone in the water has a "pistola". Immediately, the Captain yells to the Admiral to turn off her flashlights and go below. They did not need to be targets. I think I have this right, although I may have mixed up the order of events, but at some point, the Admiral finds a two foot long, machete by the opened hatch. Yikes...the hoodlums came armed with a machete and a gun! Yikes.
And at some point, four shots are heard across the anchorage from these hoodlums. In the morning, the Captain will find no evidence of a bullet penetration to the boat or gear, but they were shots heard. Did they shoot in the air like drunken cowboys existing the scene. Maybe, I've watched Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, a few too many times.
Is your heart pumping? Amazing what a real life thriller can do to temper just an ordinary day in a tropical paradise.
Thirty minutes later, the Navy and the police arrived. A search of the island, estero, and shoreline was made for several hours. Other boats and residents of the island came to aid in the search.
The next day more was discovered. A boat next to this boat had been rampaged. The owners are in the USA. The entire liquor cabinet had been consumed and every cupboard scattered and searched (for money or drugs?). Was the medicine chest left in tact? Possibly for several hours the hoodlums had a "Friday night party" on one boat, drank it dry and decided to try another, the next boat over. They probably thought our friend's boat was unoccupied.
In the morning, at 8 am, from San Salvador authorities came to the Estero, including a fingerprinting team. A local source has come forward, who has face recognition of at least one of the culprits. A suspect has been identified. And by nightfall, all except one of the boats at that end of the anchorage, had moved to positions closer to the Navy boats and center of the Estero. Actually, closer to s/v Encanto. We liken it to "circling the wagons" in 'em old western frontier days of the Cowboys and Indians. The one boat left out at the edge could not raise his anchor after having been in the same spot for six months. His anchor was a tangle of barnacles, debris and junk and it would take a day or more to get him moved and reanchored. So, at 8:30 pm last night, the Navy reanchored one of its boats next to this lone boat and conducted surveillance to protect it from any possible reassaults.
Sunday, October 30, 2005
We are all re-living the events, learning from the experience and feeling a sense of relief that no one was harmed. We talk about locking ourselves in at night, a bit of a foreign concept as most of us sleep in peace with unlocked doors and open windows. When was the last time you slept with open windows and unlocked doors?
Everyone is checking their "security" set up. Conversations at dinner are about ways to secure hatches and doors with locks, bars, and motion detectors. We all know the temptation of not locking up on the one night that is very hot and one is very tired. Some sleep outdoors, can they still do this? Complacency gets discussed. Everyone's sense of "security" is different. What do we stow on board? What is valuable? When you have to put bars on your windows is it time to move or time to install the bars? Could this have happened in San Francisco, California as easily as Costa del Sol, El Salvador?
Tonight is Halloween and Muertes de la dia (Day of the Dead). May your tricks be few and your treats be many. We will gather, the remaining ten boats to watch Ghostbuster with BIG bowls of popcorn and sugary treats on sailing vessel RDreamz. You might say we are having a neighborhood party. We are so close to the Navy ship that the sailors may be able to watch, too. Ah, a Drive-In Movie with machine guns nearby, luckily, no DRIVE-BY's.
Trick or Treat???