Threatening Behaviour from Local Boatman

The cruisers that reported this incident to Noonsite would prefer to remain anonymous:

This report is submitted regarding a local on the boat Therapy (his name is James/JJ, according to police and locals) threatening us for anchoring near his moorings in Clifton Bay, Union Island.

He yelled at us to move; we told him we were allowed to be there because it’s legal to anchor. We don’t have to take a mooring. He threatened to steal our dinghy, then when that didn’t work, he threatened to kill us. So we took a photo of him and called the police.

That made him upset and he tried to board the boat with a weapon (metal rod). I stopped him from coming on board and he circled us in his dinghy – 70 horsepower – still threatening and waving the weapon.

He eventually left to ‘go get friends’ after giving us a warning that we had to be gone before he got back in twenty minutes. We reported it to the police and decided to meet them in Ashton, as we didn’t feel safe leaving the boat. We saw him come back, but there were still only two people in the dinghy (the other guy didn’t threaten us; he just snickered throughout). They didn’t give chase.

We reported it to the police, and they ’talked’ to him, but they said he’s a constant trouble maker and they have visited him multiple times before, so doubt that’ll actually do anything. However, he has been told to leave us alone, however good that is. The Police said that as we only had a photo of him with a weapon, they couldn’t do anything as it was a ‘he said/she said’ situation, and obviously he said he didn’t threaten us or try to come on the boat.

So our advice is – take video if he approaches.

9.45am – 22 October, 2024
Clifton Bay, Union Island

Also reported to the Caribbean Safety and Security Net

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Editor’s Footnote:

Doyle Guides have confirmed that there is no anchoring in Clifton Bay near the reef, which is part of the MPA and where the Tobago Cays Marine Park has/had about 20 moorings, but the west side of Clifton Bay is a permissible anchoring area. They report that boat vendors in Clifton have always been pushy and sometimes caused issues, which has probably been exacerbated by post-Beryl desperation. Union Island and particularly Clifton, is the slowest of the affected areas to recover and rebuild after Beryl.