An Encounter With Pirates…the Real Ones

By Nicole Musgrave
Published: Sept. 6, 2014

It was the seventh day of our 15 day passage between the Maldives and Yemen, crossing Indian Ocean waters into the dreaded Arabian Sean and into the Gulf of Aden. Of course we knew that the ‘Pirates’ were out there, but come one…what were the chances they would find us?!

Although we had followed the cruising guidelines and sailed with no mast light day and night, it didn’t stop the Pirates from finding us.  It was real. It was one of the worst days of my life and although the standoff only lasted for five hours, it felt like an eternity.  We were sailing on a 40 foot sailboat, we were three, all in our 30s and absolutely not interested in dying or being captured by skinny Africans who in the end had us surrounded with their crappy wood boats that had brand new twin Merc engines boosting them to high speeds.

Both boys told me to stay down below and to dress like a boy.  Thankfully my head had been freshly shaved and I had no makeup!  I did as they suggested, put on a ball cap and sat with myself, pen and paper in hand, heart pounding and ears wide open.

We had our ten mile radius VHF radio on only to hear a grown man crying and calling ‘Mayday’ from his freighter vessel as he had been boarded by pirates as well.

After four hours of these thieves trying to board us, smash into our boat, veer us of course and yell at us in a language we couldn’t understand, Chris heard something that none of us will ever forget.

It started out as a low hum that grew louder quickly, and we saw a Harrier Jet literally hanging out above us.  The pilots contacted us on our VHF and identified themselves as Coalition War Plane. They had an English accent and they were there to SAVE US!!!!!!!!!! 

The one phenomenal thing that did happen because of the jet’s presence… the pirates, got it.  They kept pointing to the jet and Mike and Chris on either side of Hanuman (our Sailboats name) with puffed up chests and being a little on the cocky side by waving their middle fingers to these Pirates.

Another hour passed with the pirates still hanging around but finally and thankfully without shooting us, taking any of our things or taking me as a hostage, they revved up their engines and left.

It’s a memory that will stay with me like it was yesterday.  Remember, life is precious, so take care and be thankful for every breath you take today.