Sitting Ducks

Crimes of a violent nature were pretty much unheard of on Bequia.  Yes, there were break-ins, and while extremely frustrating the thefts usually occurred when houses and businesses were unoccupied.  The Island’s police force in the early 80’s was quite small, and as there were no police cars the victim usually had to go to the station to report a crime and give a statement. The description of the crime was written down in a ledger by an officer, then signed by the victim.  Going to the station to give an oral statement was somewhat tedious, the result being that petty crimes often went unreported.

In 1981 there was a crime of a violent nature on Bequia and it was horrendous.  It involved a yacht at anchor in Friendship Bay, a double-ended sailboat called Cheers.  This incident, up until then unheard of on Bequia, was shocking to those of us living on the Island, and certainly damaged tourism when reports of it spread throughout the cruising industry.

Betsy Hitz and Jim Holman were a couple who had sold their house in the United States in order to buy the yacht Cheers.  They had decided to seek a different and more peaceful lifestyle, and up until the violent episode in Friendship Bay they were living their dream.  They were both experienced sailors, and until selling their house to cruise on a yacht Betsy had been the managing editor of Cruising World Magazine.

Anchored at Friendship Bay, Jim and Betsy were in the forward cabin of Cheers getting ready for bed when a wet, naked man rushed in wielding a machete.  Evidently with no hesitation the fellow jabbed the machete into Jim’s abdomen and chest, then robbed the couple of their money and credit cards.  When it became apparent that the thief was getting ready to assault Betsy, Jim (while bleeding profusely) grabbed some mace they had on board and managed to spray their attacker’s face. This forced the intruder to flee by diving overboard and swimming away, leaving Jim badly injured on a yacht anchored off a tiny Island in the Caribbean.

The whole episode was a total nightmare for Jim and Betsy.  Jim desperately needed medical attention and the facilities on Bequia were extremely limited.  In their home state of Rhode Island a telephone call would have summoned an ambulance as well as the police, while in the Caribbean getting Jim to the Bequia clinic was a nightmare.  Jim was badly injured, lifting him into their dinghy in the dark to get ashore could not have been easy.  A taxi had been summoned, but the vehicle was uncomfortable and the road from Friendship to the harbor was rough and bumpy.

The couple were appalled by the lack of medical facilities on the Island, they were primitive and not what Jim desperately needed.  Betsy was also frustrated by the police procedure … giving a statement was necessary but also time consuming, and she was frantic about getting medical help for Jim.  Cultural differences had an effect when it came to the statement; when asked to describe the assailant Betsy mentioned that he had a goatee.  The officer taking the statement misunderstood the word “goatee”, and as a result the police searched in vain for a man with a “gold teeth”.

Jim fortunately survived the attack.  Those of us who remember the incident recall it as a violent, random event the likes of which Bequia had never seen. The police never apprehended the attacker, although through sheer persistence Betsy evidently found and identified the man.  Betsy, past editor of Cruising World Magazine, subsequently wrote and published a book called “Sitting Ducks”.  The cruising couple’s dream of finding a more peaceful way of life was threatened in an extreme way the evening they dropped Cheer’s anchor at Friendship Bay, Bequia.

Although I never met Betsy and Jim I have never forgotten that terrible night. What that cruising couple went through while visiting Bequia was horrific, and so unlike the Island I call home.  I wish with all my heart that it had never happened.