Forced at gunpoint to jump off a sailboat in the Exumas

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by boatman61

The authorities did not think it was worth pursuing and that's enough for me.. But for some CF members I guess its another matter..

The criminal justice systems of the world are hardly the arbiters and oracles of all truth; many cases where crimes were indeed committed are not brought for a lack of evidence, for the resource-intensive nature of the required police work, or for a lack of prosecutive merit.


Based on the summary in the OP, this situation suffers from all of these. The OP's personal effects could perhaps be recovered but the effort involved would be large. Without them the evidence is poor as there are no eyewitnesses. From the perspective of the Bahamian authorities, a case involving two foreigners where no one actually got hurt would be a perfect example of a lack of prosecutive merit. From the perspective of the AUSA for the District of Columbia, this would surely be seen as an ordinary aggravated assault case unsuited for federal prosecution regardless of the facts or evidence.


But the fact that there is no prosecution does not mean that, for each of us as individuals, we are obligated to accept that no crime took place.


I believe that there is too much corroboration of the OP's narrative for it to be dismissed out of hand. I believe that it is valuable for other individuals seeking to serve as crew (whether in general or on the subject vessel) to have access to this story and draw their own conclusions from it. I believe that our OP deserves our thanks for having the courage to share his story and for choosing to share it here. I believe the OP should be given a good deal of credit for sharing under his real name. And I believe that the OP deserves a degree of support and understanding that he has not, on the whole, received from us.


Cruisers' Forum fancies it self a community rather than mere entertainment, and in this thread, we have fallen short of the mark.

[JoetheCobbler]

CF drama.
Next.

[RaymondR]

"I got on Crewbay.com and found [redacted] Beneteau 473, [redacted] near Nassau and heading South"

If nothing else it informs us to stay clear of, or treat with caution, the character named on the boat named.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by ChrisOwens

Right. We have no idea what the Bahamian authorities did or said, much less what they thought, only what some stranger posting on some forum says the Bahamian authorities did or said.



We don't know anything here. There's nothing remotely patronizing about pointing that out.

Exactly.. only the 'Strangers' own words...

To try to address the actions (or inactions) of the Bahamian authorities, that is still completely baffling to me. The Tourism folks assured me they took this very seriously, they told me that I should be thankful to be alive, and that what mattered that day was getting me safely home. Now, other than one email that let me know they had detained Nick, I have not heard from anyone in authority from the Bahamas - no detective, no prosecutor, no nobody. My gut says that they wanted the victim gone, then they did little to no real investigating, but now that I am 3500 miles away, limited by only phone calls and emails, there really isn't much I can do about that but try to move on and hope they ask the hard questions, whether to me or to Nick.

Last I heard allegations of threatening someone with a gun is taken very seriously..
Journalism 101 was not relevant and condescending at the least.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Jammer

The criminal justice systems of the world are hardly the arbiters and oracles of all truth; many cases where crimes were indeed committed are not brought for a lack of evidence, for the resource-intensive nature of the required police work, or for a lack of prosecutive merit.


Based on the summary in the OP, this situation suffers from all of these. The OP's personal effects could perhaps be recovered but the effort involved would be large. Without them the evidence is poor as there are no eyewitnesses. From the perspective of the Bahamian authorities, a case involving two foreigners where no one actually got hurt would be a perfect example of a lack of prosecutive merit. From the perspective of the AUSA for the District of Columbia, this would surely be seen as an ordinary aggravated assault case unsuited for federal prosecution regardless of the facts or evidence.


But the fact that there is no prosecution does not mean that, for each of us as individuals, we are obligated to accept that no crime took place.


I believe that there is too much corroboration of the OP's narrative for it to be dismissed out of hand. I believe that it is valuable for other individuals seeking to serve as crew (whether in general or on the subject vessel) to have access to this story and draw their own conclusions from it. I believe that our OP deserves our thanks for having the courage to share his story and for choosing to share it here. I believe the OP should be given a good deal of credit for sharing under his real name. And I believe that the OP deserves a degree of support and understanding that he has not, on the whole, received from us.


Cruisers' Forum fancies it self a community rather than mere entertainment, and in this thread, we have fallen short of the mark.

Yet some members of the Community cannot resist making it political..
So he's Russian.. big deal to some it seems..

[svhydra]

hello from the sea of cortes; last year i had an interaction on the dock in puerto penasco sonora that i have thought more than once of sharing on this forum. after reading some of the posts on this thread sadly i think it would be safer discussing covid 19 vaccine options instead...sigh

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by svhydra

hello from the sea of cortes; last year i had an interaction on the dock in puerto penasco sonora that i have thought more than once of sharing on this forum. after reading some of the posts on this thread sadly i think it would be safer discussing covid 19 vaccine options instead...sigh

You can post anything however.. there is no guarantee responses will suit your views, opinions or anything else..
That's the pain that comes with Freedom of Expression.
It either rewards or bites one on the ass..

[Drunkonwatch]

CF drama you guys have lost sight and took over the dudes post with your own stuff. If you feel your in a survivor category start enjoying being alive after it. Grab this for what it is it’s a next level opportunity to embrace life. Sometimes things happen you can’t always have a higher authority to somehow set it right. Certainly not the general public on a forum about cruising. No disrespect but you have only the issued holes in your person still so try enjoying the thrill of adventure this one too. I offer this advice kinda the same I would to my soldiers I am a retired combat arms veteran of too many conflicts.

[poopship]

Originally Posted by paralog

Maybe an anonymous call to certain "agencies" about "stuff" he maybe carrying on his boat would make his life difficult in the future.

You cant be serious.... .

[Not a spy]

Originally Posted by svhydra

hello from the sea of cortes; last year i had an interaction on the dock in puerto penasco sonora that i have thought more than once of sharing on this forum. after reading some of the posts on this thread sadly i think it would be safer discussing covid 19 vaccine options instead...sigh

I was about to post something along these lines, as well.
My take away after reading multiple postings like the OP’s is to not warn anyone about anything. No good deed goes unpunished.

[chubby]

Originally Posted by Jammer

The criminal justice systems of the world are hardly the arbiters and oracles of all truth; many cases where crimes were indeed committed are not brought for a lack of evidence, for the resource-intensive nature of the required police work, or for a lack of prosecutive merit.


Based on the summary in the OP, this situation suffers from all of these. The OP's personal effects could perhaps be recovered but the effort involved would be large. Without them the evidence is poor as there are no eyewitnesses. From the perspective of the Bahamian authorities, a case involving two foreigners where no one actually got hurt would be a perfect example of a lack of prosecutive merit. From the perspective of the AUSA for the District of Columbia, this would surely be seen as an ordinary aggravated assault case unsuited for federal prosecution regardless of the facts or evidence.


But the fact that there is no prosecution does not mean that, for each of us as individuals, we are obligated to accept that no crime took place.


I believe that there is too much corroboration of the OP's narrative for it to be dismissed out of hand. I believe that it is valuable for other individuals seeking to serve as crew (whether in general or on the subject vessel) to have access to this story and draw their own conclusions from it. I believe that our OP deserves our thanks for having the courage to share his story and for choosing to share it here. I believe the OP should be given a good deal of credit for sharing under his real name. And I believe that the OP deserves a degree of support and understanding that he has not, on the whole, received from us.


Cruisers' Forum fancies it self a community rather than mere entertainment, and in this thread, we have fallen short of the mark.

well.



if "community" is about mindless mob justice...
...and randoms on the internet taking the role of the judge, jury, and the executioner, ...on things we knows absolutely nothing about...

....and if it's absolute about posting linkedIn accounts and potentially ruining someone's earning potential...just for the giggles.



i think we're doing pretty darn well for ourselves...

[Janet H]

Moderator hat on:

This thread has been edited to remove names and personally-identifying info. It stands however as a cautionary tale for those who seek crew positions to exercise caution. Not everyone is nice, reasonable, or honest. A number of posts were also removed, many because they quoted redacted info.

The reasons for this action are many but at the end of the day, when one individual accuses another of criminal activity in public posts, the forum itself can be dragged into the legal fray. We ask that members settle their disputes through available jurisdictional avenues and not litigate the issue here at C F.

All that said, there is much to learn here and a general discussion about the possible hazards of temp crew positions merits discussion.

Do not use this board to organize or instigate retaliatory action towards any individual but feel free to discuss IN GENERAL TERMS, the issue brought forth by the OP.

Thanks for understanding.

[Wotname]

4 posts have been deleted for off topic political comment since Janet reopened the thread.

Please stick to the thread topic as requested by Janet.

EDIT - now 5 posts deleted!

[wyb2]

Unfortunately it sounds like a few people are still trying to devolve the thread into an off topic pissing contest.

But I appreciate that the mods took the effort to redact the thread and put it back up vs just deleting it and calling it a day. Who knows when something new might come to light that adds or subtracts from the OP’s story, and if so it will be valuable to have the original version to look back at.

[Janet H]

Originally Posted by wyb2

Unfortunately it sounds like a few people are still trying to devolve the thread into an off topic pissing contest.

But I appreciate that the mods took the effort to redact the thread and put it back up vs just deleting it and calling it a day. Who knows when something new might come to light that adds or subtracts from the OP’s story, and if so it will be valuable to have the original version to look back at.

We put this back up as it casts important light on a fairly common practice - temp/classifieds crew positions. There is value in the discussion. All that said, we can't sustain management of the continued off topic blather that is cropping up here. rough water, little boat...