If one includes Mexico, Central America and Florida as the "Spanish Main" (which is not the standard defination)--then there is a very significant risk of hurricanes. I am going to have to disagree with the availability of hurricane holes in both the Caribbean and Central America--The Rio Dulce is a good hurricane hole. No safe places in East Coast Mexico, no safe places in Belize, Honduras. (The fishing boats run back into the mangroves, and leave one maned boat out to pull the rest of the fleet out after the storm.) Very few safe places in the Caribbean--Culbera, only if you get back in the Mangroves. One has to remember that there are hundreds of boats competeing for the good places. Even if you have semi protected place, there is the issue of poorly anchored boats dragging and both causing damage, and tripping your anchors. I have a number of friends who thought they had good hurricane holes or moorings, and who subsiquently lost their boats. SSCA: http://ssca.org/cgi-bin/pagegen.pl?pg=home&title=Home The old bulletins are available on media, if you care to search them for the various attacks in the Caribbean and Venezuela. Off hand I don't have the specific dates and places, but security issues have ranged from the thieft of dinghies and boat items to murder. Most of these have involved the off lying islands. Also there have been several attacks in the Mesa Luna area, and Que Sera bank off Nicaguara. The problems in the Rio Dulce have been well documented in the past. Not sure about security currently. This can change day by day. It just so happens that the sample bulletin on the SSCA page has a pirate attack in Venzuela, plus the insecurity folks felt at Marguarita. Noonsite has the following note on Venezuela; " The number of thefts, muggings and even knife attacks reported by visiting sailors has increased in recent years. Margarita and Cumana seem to be particularly bad areas. Outboard engines and items on deck should be secured and if possibly the dinghy should be lifted out of the water." http://ssca.org/DiscBoard/viewtopic.php?t=3102&highlight=security+venzuela >From the discussion board, specifically addresses security Venzeuela currently... A passage under power directly into the trades and the seas generated by the trades is ill advised. It is not only uncomfortable, but is hard on the boat. I know of boats which have made the passages, and would not do it again. The usual route is to go up the coast of Central America to Mexico, and then either to the Keys or the Gulf Coast. An alternative is to hug the coast of South America, and move when the trades are down, or at night when there are offshore breezes. Our personal experience of security issues in this part of the World, was an incident where a boat registered out of Columbia, with an American Crew, asked if we had ice to spare, and offered to trade a bag of cocaine for the ice. They also wanted to use our Ham radio to "reach their attorney in Miami". We refused to let them on our boat. We kept an armed watch (along with another boat we were cruising with) that night, and left when the light was high enought to safely navigate out of the cove. (It turned out that they were so loaded on dope that night there was no threat.) I called a friend who was with law enforcement in the Canal Zone on Ham radio and he confirmed that these folks were drug runners, had murdered at least two people and stolen several boats. We had two incidents in the Caribbean where natives attempted to board our boats un-invited. One I am quite sure was the perputrator in the attack against "Sitting Duck" (a book about an attack)--the situation occured in the vacinity of the Sitting Duck incident, the scars on the man's face, age and build matched the photo was saw of the individual. I used a machette to convince this individual he was not welcome. Marie was holding a firearm inside of the cabin--and she is a very good shot. When on Lake Isabella in Guatamala, we always carried a firearm, at the advice of the port captain. We met some wonderful locals, but they also warned us about security issue. We had a guide and his jeep for a day--he was heavily armed. On the other hand, there are always poor fisherman, who want sugar, coffee, or water. One has to make a judgement if they want to help these people, and we nearly always do, but being very situational aware. We were on the ham radio or SSB nets daily corresponding with boats ahead and behind us. The situation can change daily--and there are probably only a very small number of bad actors--just as in the US. (We have had more security issues in the US than in foreign countries). Regards, Bob Austin

I agree with Bob regarding hurricane holes in the Caribbean. They do exist, but they are full even when there is no hurricane. If you can't stay at least as far south as Grenada, which is usually safe enough, but not always, then you are going to be more exposed than you'd like at best and a sitting duck at worst. Course, most boats do make it through most of the time, but you also have horrible disasters like the year everything broke loose in the inner harbor on St. Martin. A place people used to think of as a hurricane hole. At least from Grenada you have time enough a to get south enough to avoid all but the freakiest hurricanes. A wise man once advised that the safest policy is never to be in seas that have hurricanes during hurricane season. I've always followed that advice......if you don't count charters anyway! tr