Guns on a Boat, Yes or No?

[The Garbone]

A better question?

Hello from St Louis,
I am new to sailing and boats in general. My grandad gave me his old Catalina 22 on a trailer and now I want to use it to travel the Caribbean. Possibly going as far as Columbia or Venezuela with a stop Cuba.

Can anyone suggest a waterproof container for me to store my assault rifle in as the one I have will not fit into the locker with my 10lb fortress anchor.



Now where are those grapefruit that guy gave me??

[weavis]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

For cruising the Med, no guns are necessary. Otherwise, may I recommend something sexy and utilitarian in a 7.62 x 39 for US coastal work.

Wow.. thats a speedlite backdrop with the anti refraction colour...

what?

[Sand crab]

Originally Posted by The Garbone

A better question?

Hello from St Louis,
I am new to sailing and boats in general. My grandad gave me his old Catalina 22 on a trailer and now I want to use it to travel the Caribbean. Possibly going as far as Columbia or Venezuela with a stop Cuba.

Can anyone suggest a waterproof container for me to store my assault rifle in as the one I have will not fit into the locker with my 10lb fortress anchor.



Now where are those grapefruit that guy gave me??

An American taking an assault rifle to Cuba? You can't be serious.

[nimblemotors]

GunBoat, Yes. Guns on a Boat, No.

[dannc]

Originally Posted by HopCar

Welcome aboard!

There are two subjects that will start never ending threads here. Everyone is passionate about Guns and Anchors (good rock band name!).
...

Hoppy! I am disappointed in you!

There are THREE subjects that will start never ending threads!

1. Guns
2. Anchors
3. Mono hull vs multi hull

Later,
Dan

[sandy stone]

Let's not forget production boats offshore...

[HopCar]

Dan, you're right mono vs. cat goes on the list.
How about 3m 5200? Devils glue or best sealant ever?

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by sandy stone

Let's not forget production boats offshore...

Ach, never.

The "Windows" won't be able to stand the wawah.

Oh, that's only Hunter owners who call portlights windows.

[td0tz]

LOVE IT! Haven't laughed this hard all day!

"Your gun is too small, it's the wrong kind and you don't have enough ammunition. Your anchor is too small, it's the wrong kind, and you don't have enough chain." [/QUOTE]

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by td0tz

LOVE IT! Haven't laughed this hard all day!

"Your gun is too small, it's the wrong kind and you don't have enough ammunition. Your anchor is too small, it's the wrong kind, and you don't have enough chain."

[/QUOTE]

Aw, have you seen the cost of ammunition these days?

Keep your gun.

It may be empty, though.

[sailorboy1]

what's a portlight? why would you put a light in a port just to cover it it with a curtain?

[dannc]

Originally Posted by HopCar

Dan, you're right mono vs. cat goes on the list.
How about 3m 5200? Devils glue or best sealant ever?

I think I will start a new thread....

Should I buy a cat or mono hull to hold my .50 caliber machine gun, which will be mounted using 3M 5200, just aft of the best anchor in the world, a CQR?

Then I will from the discussion.

Later,
Dan

[HopCar]

Stu, if you have a big enough gun, you only need one bullet.

[Tetepare]

Hi everyone!

My first post!

I joined this forum for a different reason, but lo and behold, here I find two of my favorite topics.

People often approach me for advise on guns or boats (not guns on boats...advise about buying a boat OR buying a gun) and my advise is DON'T. They are always shocked, that coming from me.

But my advise is always the same- if you're not going to use it constantly, and become proficient, it's more of a hindrance than an asset. Both will go to pot, be unusable when you want them, and be a PITA that you'll sell at a loss in five years.

As a lifetime sailor and also sometimes gunwriter, I have combined my passions. I've sailed the Pacific, and I've wandered Guadalcanal, Tarawa, and Peleliu looking for relics and writing material.

I do carry a gun on my boat in USA only because I always carry gun. A handgun, which is useless for preventing boardings. You're just as well off with a flare gun.

In this thread alone people have identified the hazards of carrying a firearm on a boat in international waters. So #1 you'd better be able to hide it incredibly well, and you'd better find a way to keep it from rusting while at the same time ready to use...nearly impossible. Besides which if you aren't proficient it's useless. Do you carry a sextant just in case you might need it? No. Either you're proficient or it's window dressing. Think of a gun as a Bosun's chair that is only for use in a hurricane...you'd best be experienced using it in high seas and wind to be of any use in a hurricane.

So, if you're adept with a firearm and knowledgeable about preserving it and have a great hiding spot that'll never be found but is still readily accessible, go ahead. I still fail that test.

Now, a brick of .22 ammo is a different story. That's worth a boatload of veggies in many places.

And yes, I have a belt-fed Browning .50 but it's not mounted on the boat.

Look forward to all the info here...gotta go read. Thanks!

[Don C L]

I haven't researched the other posts, but having crewed on a delivery from Sri Lanka to Hong Kong, I have often thought about this, to arm or not to arm. We had an M-16, and two shot guns. We had a big boat and we sailed at at up to 24 knots and motored at 10, but that still would not have outrun a determined skiff armed with RPGs. We had nothing to hide behind except the engine, if we had wanted to. So it is crazy but, although I think we really needed to have something ready to defend ourselves with in that area, I did not feel much safer with the weapons we had. When we checked in at Singapore, to my shock, our skipper declared the weapons rather than have them found in the inspection. His gamble paid off, or we'd all still be in prison there, or worse. We were not arrested. We could have been and if you know about Singapore law, we should have been. That was a big gamble. At the same time, that morning in the paper there was an article about two tankers boarded by pirates while moored right there a mile off the coast of Singapore. In the end we never encountered any threats, though we heard about them from others, and I now feel the best way to stay safe is just to stay informed, talk to the experienced folks and locals, and avoid those dangerous areas by many, many miles or be sure you can pass very quickly through them. For me, I'd probably shoot a hole in my own boat long before I'd ever need a gun for defense. But I certainly don't count myself as any kind of expert. The experiences you hear from others here will help guide your thinking.