People, who have been cruising the Caribbean, using their boat as a home and place of business, or fulfilling life long dreams by selling homes and businesses to sail the seas in retirement, might want to think twice about that idea. Thanks to “Bidenomics”, middle-class people can’t afford to own both a home and a luxury yacht. And, it’s an even more dangerous world out there today.
The current issue of People, recounted the sad story of Kathy Brandel and Ralph Hendry, who set sail from Hampton, VA in November with 100 others for an annual armada of sailboats headed to the Caribbean for the winter. This married couple were living the dream, working from their catamaran (Simplicity) in the area around Grenada. All was going according to plan until Feb. 18th, when they and Simplicity dropped off of the map.
“On Feb. 21, on the island of St. Vincent, about 80 miles northeast of Grenada, Simplicity was found … abandoned with signs of a struggle and with their passports still on-board. “Although no bodies have been found, on Feb. 26 a spokes-person for the Royal St. Vincent and Grenadines Police Force said the couple are ‘presumed deceased’. Three fugitives were arrested in St. Vincent and deported to Grenada.” Kathy and Ralph were “concerned about safety and caution. They kept a ‘panic basket’ with Mace and an air horn.” The People article didn’t say if they had a gun in the “panic basket”. But, if they had, a gun would have done a better job of stopping the bad guys.
