Okay, I've been mulling over this story of four American senior citizens shot by pirates. Of course it's terribly sad when people are killed by pirates, but probably no more so than many other tragedies. And the question that keeps coming back to haunt me is: What the fuck were these people thinking? And I don't mean the pirates.
First we have Scott and Jean Adam who had a yacht built to their specifications so they could sail the world distributing bibles. They'd been married about 15 years. They lived on the 58 footer in California before starting out on their trek in 2004.
Phyllis Macay and Bob Riggle from Seattle joined them as deckhands late last year.
They joined the Blue Water Rally (a convoy of similar vessels) presumably because there is safety in numbers and then abruptly left it although they knew the waters were crawling with Somali pirates. Shortly thereafter they issued an S.O.S.
U.S. Naval Forces got involved, attempted to negotiate with the pirates, and then the pirates on board the Adams's yacht panicked and ... well, as you know it didn't end well.
Now I have no problem with the whole scenario up to the point where for some reason they left the rally and set off on their own. What was that all about? Do something risky and then you want the Navy to come and save you.
Many think the U.S. must do more to patrol these infested waters, but why? If no one sails off the coast of Somalia, the pirates won't have any prey. Wouldn't that be the beginning of the end of the story?
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