<Bob wrote: I am going to have to disagree with the availability of hurricane holes in both the Caribbean and Central America> We've lived in the Caribbean for many years...gone thru more hurricanes than the average cruiser....about 15 or so :-( Bob is correct and yet we have never suffered any damage on any of our boats during all those storms. Why might this be? As a "local" one is always privy to spots that others don't realize can be a safe haven. Most of these were weathered in Nanny Cay Marina, BVI in a specific slip where we could tie to pilings not docks. Or inside a breakwater with 8 anchors in a star pattern. Other spots like this exist in many places but they are good for but one boat. The biggest risk today is the bareboat companies that tend to poorly secure their boats or fill up what might have been the spot you wanted. So we took the tact of not being where there are hurricanes last year...south of the zone in Venezuela. At 10 degrees south there's little chance of a blow. Similar to Trinidad but they have had hurricanes so aren't really out of the zone. We're almost to Venezuela again this year and will be in 2 weeks if all goes well. We have seen more boater related crime in the BVI, St Maarten and some other places than we have in Venezuela. Sure it occurs as it does everywhere. We read the State department warnings and they look like they are written with a little bias. From our recent experience there is no anti-American feeling that we have sensed or seen anywhere we've been. There is an anti American government dialogue however. At no time have we seen or heard of US Boats/Citizen's being targeted. Crime is an issue against everyone. The ONSA map on the SSCA site that Bob referred to shows lots of nice colors. We will be in the red zones in a week so will let you know if we survive. As a matter of fact this is where we spent many weeks cruising last year. Just Swan Song...no buddy boats. We have had both Marine Patrol boats, Port patrols, the Coasta Guardia and the Venezuelan Navy make a pass by to check on us during their routine patrols. They never seem to be far away from our experience. We've also been told by our Venezuelan friends that boats of our size owned by Venezuelans always have a small arsenal and crew on board so are not considered good targets by the banditos. Maybe true maybe not but we like to think so. Swan Song appears more like a working style of boat with our big orange/white floats on the foredeck and not like a yacht. If you don't hear from us maybe we been targeted...hope not. As always YMMV... Dave & Nancy Swan Song Roughwater 58 Caribbean Cruise '07