This is a picture of a 21st Century Pirate Ship! How do I know? Well, because they stalked Maiatla for over an hour as they waited for a second boat to arrive before attempting to board us.

When we departed Isla San Andras Colombia on December 2, my birthday, we were met with high winds and big seas forward of the beam. It was a rough slog up wind but the boat was sailing well. I intended to sail due north for a day before turning to the North East so we could swing wide of Gorda Bank, shared by Nicaragua and Honduras.

Aside being a prolific fishing bank it has been the site of many recent pirate attacks launched against small yachts. I planned on passing the bank a good 90 miles to the east in hopes of avoiding any ugly encounters. It was a plan previous cruisers employed with success so it should work for us. A full day and a half out of Andras I altered course to the North East but the seas were so big, they slammed into our bow, the force of which nearly brought the boat to a stop.

To keep our speed up I started the engine and continued to motorsail on our course.
It was a wet and rough ride but all was going well, that is until the engine quit. We laid the boat off the wind to keep up our speed. Jackie kept the boat moving and standing watch while I crawled into the engine hot engine in an attempt to restart the engine. But after several hours of changing fuel filters and bleeding the fuel system of air, I failed. The engine was dead. and I suspected that the fuel injector pump was the culprit.

Under normal circumstances I would not have been too concerned as we were a sailboat after all and I had no doubt that we would reach our destination on Roatan in another 3 days or so. But the problem was that the course we were now forced to sail would take us across the Eastern end Gorda Bank and reported Pirate waters.

Other than turning around and retreating back to San Andras, we had no other option than to carry on. Jackie and I had a discussion as to our best course of action, we decided to carry on. Our timing was such that we would spend two full days and three nights in Pirate waters and I was thankful that the mostly moonless nights that would help conceal us.

Our first day off the bank was uneventful, that is if you don’t count the thunder squalls that seemed to be hounding us. Whenever we sited a fishing vessel we tack back to the east to beat our way around the vessel before resuming our course while praying that we had not been spotted.
We sited a total of 13 fishing vessels in the first two days and if any had seen us they gave us no mind. It would be the longest three days of my life as I seldom left the cockpit, choosing to sleep all curled up in the corner as Jackie took the helm.

A little after noon on our second full day off the bank. I spotted a large fishing boat that appear some 3 miles off our port bow. It was moving fast as it crossed our bow and I was relieved to see that it appeared to be carrying on to the north. I watched it intently through the binoculars as it passed and just when I thought we were in the clear. The fishing boat made a tight turn, pointing his bow towards us, then it came to a stop.

We were hoping that he was just fishing but after a closer look, I could not see any fishing gear, nets or people on the aft deck. I suddenly felt sick to my stomach. The fishing boat drifted down to us then fell in line astern of us about a mile back. We altered course several times and each time he matched our heading and speed. This went on for almost an hour and I was now sure that he had his sites on us. But he did not approach, so I said to Jackie, “I bet he is waiting for another boat to arrive before he boards us.

I was so convinced that we were a target that I got on the radio and broadcast a “MayDay” with our position and that were about to be boarded by pirates. Surprisingly I received no radio response. ( was later told that the Pirates were probably Jamming my radio call by broadcasting music at the same time) We did hear music several times.

About an hour and half after all this started I spotted a second vessel, again about 3 miles out running flat out and on an intercept course with us.
“Well it looks like his buddy has finally arrived Jackie and I think we are about to get boarded!” It was looking like that, one boat would attack from behind while the other cut us off. There were two, 45 foot to 60 foot steel fishing boats closing in on us.

In preparation for what appeared to be the inevitable, I dropped down below to hide some of my valuables. Monies were split up and my good navigational computer was hidden. If the boat was stripped and they let us be, I would need a means of navigation as we were still 180 miles from anywhere.

That done I went back on deck to find that both boats were closing in and fast. There was little to do other than wait till they came in range then I would have a decision to make.
As I peered forward past the second fishing boat I sited a dark shadow on the horizon. It was another vessel, it was a big container ship. A flood of relief filled me as I snatched up the radio microphone. The officer of the watch answered right away and I quickly told him of our situation while describing the Pirate ships and there relative positions.

Upon siting the ship the two fishing vessels turned back to the south and headed off at full throttle. Within 15 minutes the great ship passed between Maiatla and the pirates. I made a full report to the ship’s officer who then said that he would notify the authorities.

Our relief was short lived because as fast as the ship had arrived, it disappeared over the horizon leaving us again engine-less and alone in Pirate waters. Thankfully the wind was still blowing strong over our stern.

It was a long three hours till sunset, time I spent with eyes glued to the horizon fearing that the pirates would return. I was never so happy to see a sunset as I was on this night. It was another mostly sleepless night in the cockpit for Jackie and I but when dawn broke, a land mass became visible directly ahead. It was Isla Gunaja, the eastern most island of the “Bay of Islands” Honduras.

During the night we departed the Pirate waters. But we had a new problem, the wind was failing and we stilled needed to maneuver through the reefs of Roatan and into French Cay where we had a dock waiting for us. We would spend another night at sea, sailing/drifting at half a knot on a glass smooth sea. By 2 pm on our 6th day at sea we found ourselves being towed the last two miles into the harbour where we took a dock at the Fantasy Island Beach Resort and out came the rum!

Over the many years of which we have sailed about, I have often been asked, (often jokingly) “Have you ever seen any Pirates?” up until now it has always been an emphatic, No! Guess I can’t say that anymore.

In the next couple weeks I will be posting more details of this entire voyage with pics on my blog for anyone who is interested. Jackie and I are now safe on Roatan making boat repairs and thanks to the rough seas, there are many.

I and would also like to say that despite all the foul weather and have to attempt to our run pirates, my sister Jackie was stoic throughout. I was lucky to have her along on this voyage.

Fair winds all.

Andy and Jackie.