Cruisers Attacked in Ecuador

Although they ultimately were not seriously injured, we’ve received yet another disturbing report of cruisers being attacked while at anchor, this time in Ecuador, where we don’t remember there being any problems in the past. The couple attacked were from a Seattle-based boat. They are the authors of online cruising guides to Central America and Costa Rica, and have been cruising for the last four years.

Here’s the report from one of the people aboard: “I’m reluctant to write about our being attacked on our boat at Punta Perdernales, Ecuador, on November 7, for two reasons. First, as foreign travelers, we look forward to and rely on the kindness of strangers. Many of these wonderful people in Ecuador live an existence that is unimaginable to Americans, yet they still smile and offer what help they can. By telling our story, I don’t want the acts of a few bad people to destroy goodwill and openness towards strangers.

“Secondly, I’m reluctant because of the tendencies for humans to be in denial. ‘They must have done something wrong — that could never happen to me,’ some might say, trying to point out faults on our part. I kindly request that readers put aside that kind of thinking, as no amount of second guessing would have changed what happened to us. Sometimes other people can simply take control of your life. Despite our hesitations, we feel it’s important to get this message out in hopes that it won’t happen to anyone else.

“On November 7, we anchored behind Punta Pedernales, Ecuador, along with John Gratton and Linda Hill aboard their Redwood City-based Hans Christian 33 Nakia. Unfortunately, the anchorage offered poor protection in the rough conditions. We were awoken about midnight by a panga bumping into our port side. I assumed it was just a fisherman who hadn’t seen us on that very dark night. But when I got to the top of the companionway ladder, I saw two guys with guns entering the cockpit followed by two more large men, one with a big knife. A fifth man was waiting in the panga. Two of the men pinned me down in the cockpit, shoving a gun in my mouth and holding a knife at my throat. Meanwhile, one of the big guys pulled [my wife] into the cockpit and began smothering her by putting his hand over her nose and mouth.

“My wife thought, as did I, that they were about to kill me. As I could only hear her muffled screams, I thought she was being raped. Our assailants were extremely jumpy and erratic, presumably jacked on adrenaline and/or drugs, which made them very unpredictable and dangerous. Curiously, they made no demands. I repeatedly asked them to stay calm. When my wife’s attacker finally lifted his hand from her mouth so she could breath, she pleaded with them to stop. Meanwhile, I continued to struggle with the guys who had me pinned down. We frantically did what we could to protect each other.

“My wife continued yelling eventually woke John and Linda on Nakia. When they saw what was happening, they sounded their air horn, shone a spotlight on our boat, and shot off two rocket flares. This seemed to panic the attackers, as they headed back toward their panga. But apparently realizing they hadn’t taken anything yet, they grabbed our GPS and a backpack that contained about $40. We were very lucky to have Nakia close by, and they responded very effectively. We shudder to think what might have happened had they not be there. After there was no response by the Pedernales Port Captain’s office to our mayday calls, we weighed anchor and headed 50+ miles up the coast to Punta Galera.

“We’ve been regrouping here for the last two days among friendly fishermen. We’re getting our paper charts in order as our GPS had our electronic charts, and rigging up a temporary GPS. As a result of John contacting the U.S. Coast Guard in Alameda via SSB, the Ecuadorian Coast Guard came to our boat in Punta Galera and filled out a detailed report. We can only hope they can track down the guys who did this. That being said, we recommend that no one stops in Punta Pedernales for the foreseeable future, as we believe it is too dangerous.”