The skipper's going ashore coincided with Chris and Hattie's and so we heard their very sorry tale. The day before they were en route from Trinidad to Grenada, a journey of some 100 miles, when at 40 miles out and just 50 – 60 miles off the Grenadian coast they spied a fast pirogue (Caribbean open fishing boat) speeding toward them. At first they thought the pirogue crew needed help but quickly realised that the boat was in pursuit and started weaving to throw them off. Then a shot slugged into their hull and they saw that the seven men had rifles and were going to use them. The engines were slowed and they were boarded by 5 Spanish speaking men believed to be Venezuelan.

Triton's skipper was tied up, a towel thrown over his head and a gun held to it. The crew, a friend, was pushed under the table and also threatened with a gun to his head. The skipper's wife was in another cabin and when the boarders saw her they called out 'señorita, señorita', which caused the couple great fear. All movable electronics and electrical equipment was stripped out and then the thieves took anything else they could carry including money, clothes, cutlery, jewellery, cosmetics, toiletries. The invaders destroyed the boat's fitted VHF radio so that the owners couldn't radio for help. However, they did not attack the skipper's wife as had been very much feared would happen.

Triton and her 3 crew came into the marina the night before our arrival and were given support from the marina management and staff, this is not just their boat but their home as they are live aboards. Everything was reported and the movers and shakers of the Grenadian boat world whose livelihoods depend on a thriving yachting base have jointly put pressure on politicians to take action with governments in Venezuela and in Trinidad where Trition's owners feel they were first targeted. Over here in the Caribbean, Venezuela is getting an increasingly bad reputation for violent piracy but it seems its politicians show no real interest; this feels sad for the people who rely on visiting yachts and tourism which creates hundreds of jobs and supports numerous large and small businesses in this part of the world. Trinidad, which also has a bad reputation, seems unable to do very much about the increasing crime rates either. The Grenadian government is unhappy and is raising the issues with these close neighbours as they are worried that it reflects badly on Grenada and will affect its own tourist and yachting economy. No one has been caught for the crimes against Triton, the boat was taken out of the water in Prickly Bay, Grenada perhaps for a refit but that is the last we saw of them.

For us this incident has come on top of several news articles and radio reports about the dangers of violent robbery for up to 300 miles off the Venezuelan coast. Reluctantly we have decided to cut out this leg of our journey. We should be in Venezuelan waters and harbours now but we have re-organised and continued north into the further windward islands of St Lucia and Martinique. This has given us the opportunity to meet up with our

Swedish friends Ann and Pér who will be on board for a week before we leave for the ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao) and Colombia which our insurance company tells us is a lot safer than Venezuela these days. We are extremely disappointed to miss out on Venezuela as it is purported to be full of spectacular scenery and generally wonderful people. No matter we will get to Panama Canal by a different route.