As reported by CSSN

DATE: 2020-03-30 23:50
LOCATION: Colombia – Bahia de Barbacoas
EVENT: Assault
HAND: 1
STOLEN ITEMS: Dinghy/outboard, fuel tank and fuel line,fenders
SECURED: Locked

DETAILS: 

A foreign flagged monohull with 4 persons on board was the lone yacht anchored in Bahia de Barbacoas (south of Cartagena) for 5 nights. The dinghy was hoisted on a halyard to deck height.

At about midnight the crew heard voices and discovered that 3 men with machetes from a small fishing boat had boarded.

The crew locked themselves inside an interior cabin and the captain turned on deck lights and yelled. One intruder came into the yacht and attempted to get into the locked cabin, and another managed to hit the captain on the head with the flat side of his machete through a hatch.

The intruders slashed the halyard, and took the dinghy/outboard and some fenders from a foredeck locker.

Shore side, a very bright spotlight was shone on the confrontation and the thieves departed.

The captain set off a red parachute flare and noticed the dinghy adrift nearby. They upped anchor and retrieved it, the thieves had damaged the locked outboard while trying to remove it, but were not successful.

The Armada Nacional (coast guard) was contacted by those on shore and arrived promptly and escorted the yacht to anchor in Los Rosarios, but instructed them not to stay overnight as they could not guarantee safety.

The yacht and crew were granted sanctuary despite port closure and accepted into Santa Marta marina later that day, where a medic provided treatment for the head wound.