We were sailing in the company of two other yachts and anchored just east of the village of El Estor. On our second night, April 2, 2008, four thieves boarded us at 2 a.m. armed with a pistol, machete, nightstick, bolt cutters to take our outboard. Waking in the night I entered the cockpit and was confronted by the pistol bearing man and managed to disarm him but was beaten on the skull by one of the others and retreated to the cabin. The engine was taken and I went to a hospital for x-rays and stitches. The police and navy installation there did not respond to my spouse’s calls for assistance. We reported the incident to the authorities that night but they said there was little they could do.???!!!

The Rio Dulce is safe from hurricanes but not ladrones.

Bruce Goforth

British yacht “Serenade”

May 2008