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FeedAttack on cruising couple in Panama
Panama. Bocas del Toro at upper left
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According to a report from Don Winner at Panama-Guide.com, two cruisers were attacked on board their sailboat in the Bocas del Toro region of northeast Panama. Two assailants climbed on board at approximately 1:00 am and physically assaulted the couple before stealing "...cameras, electronics, a computer, cash, and jewelry. The attack lasted at least two hours, during which time the victims were assaulted and brutalized. The victims were finally able to put out a call for help on the radio at 3:30 am in the morning, after the assailants had left."
According to Winner, "There is a report that some would be assailants - possibly these same two men - tried to board another sailboat at 10:30 pm ... on Saturday 7 July 2012. Reportedly these would-be victims were able to 'repel' that boarding attempt, and nothing else happened."
Does this kind of report put you off cruising? Or do you see it as an isolated incident?
Every time my wife reads these incidents she becomes nervous. We are always searching for ideas and ways of prevention. It seems incidents are becoming more prevalent. Recently, we talked with a couple who were held at gunpoint and assaulted in Venezuela a year or so ago. Maybe it is because these things are better reported in this information age that we hear more about them. We are headed to Panama next year and will still probably go, but will not linger there.
David