Shotgun

Franda II carried a shotgun on board. This decision had not been made lightly. There were a lot of pros and cons to consider.

Why carry a gun? The first and foremost question to answer. For hunting? Which countries allow you to hunt? To protect the family? Could any of the crew shoot to kill a person?

As a farmer, Dad always had rifles and/or shotguns. My brothers were brought up hunting. Starting with a .22 shooting bunnies and moving to a shotgun, ducks and pigs. My sister and I, as young as we were, had shot bunnies with the rifle and shot at targets with the shotgun. The Riffle also puts an animal out of its misery or into the pot.

If Franda II were attacked, it would have to be "shoot to kill". Could any of my family do that? What happens to you in a foreign country if you do shoot and kill someone?

It may be acceptable if they are pirates in international waters but inside a country's border? No language, no friends, The foreigners!

Dad undoubtedly took every opportunity to speak to foreign yachts that entered "The Bay of Islands," asking questions about travelling to foreign countries. There was no quick way to find these answers in the 1970s. Back then, there would only have been a handful every season. How do you know what you don't know? What questions to ask? But he did ask about carrying guns onboard.

Franda II carried a gun mainly with the idea of "the boys" hunting for food on the way. It was used for this a few times in Australia and The Red Sea. It was also used for sport; while far out to sea, a bottle would be thrown forward and away from Franda, and as the bottle came past, it would be blasted. In this way, the family was kept proficient in its use.

As a reception to unwanted guests, Franda II carried a baseball bat in the cockpit. It had its place and was always in it, ready. Having the bat in the cockpit "ready to hand" but visible to all caused no issues. A baseball bat is an implement of sport, and customs did not see it as a weapon.

Carrying a gun on board just adds one more item to the list of items to declare when "clearing in" to another country. It was only on the very occasion that we did not report it. No doubt that this decision caused Dad and Mum much angst. What would the penalties be if found on the boat? A fine? Jail for the Captain or crew as well? Confiscation of gun or yacht? A very weighty decision indeed.

Upon Clearance, the police sometimes took the gun and locked it up in their compound onshore. This was normally OK, but if we cleared in one port and wanted to clear out of another port 500 km away two months later, this caused issues.

Sometimes, they agreed to seal it in one of our cupboards, along with the alcohol and cigarettes. They would put some of their unique "Customs" sticky tape across the join or tie a wire around the latch and crimp their seal on.

Obviously, one could easily break in, but on clearing out, the customs agent would inspect the seal or tape to see if it had been tampered with. We never found out what would happen if it had been tampered with. In some places, the customs officer never even broke their seal and checked the contents against their list.

The shotgun featured on our voyage across the Indian Ocean from Seychelles to Djibouti and was housed in the cockpit because of all the talk of pirates.

By listening to the Yachtie grapevine, we learnt which ports would enable us to seal it in a cupboard and which would not. Sometimes, it was possible to retrieve the gun back from the police and hand it in at the next big town. Every country had a different set of rules, and sometimes, ports within a country had different rules.