Couple outwits pirates: High seas drama
By Jules Crittenden
Tuesday, June 7, 2005 - Updated: 03:55 AM EST
A Massachusetts couple facing a deadly attack by Red Sea pirates turned their boat and rammed the murderous buccaneers in a desperate bid to save themselves.
Joseph Barry and Carol Martini - he reportedly a car restorer and she reportedly a doctor - were sailing around the world on the Gloucester-based boat Gandalf when they ran into trouble off the coast of Yemen about two weeks ago.
``It is a rough neighborhood,'' said Hillel Reshef, director of the marina in Ashkelon on Israel's Mediterranean coast where Gandalf is now tied up.
``They did something which is not common in our rough neighborhood,'' said Reshef, refering to the banditry and terrorism that plague the region. ``For the first time, the bull won the fight over the matador.''
Barry and Martini were on a side trip to the ruins of the ancient city of Petra in Jordan yesterday as they continued to unwind and went on with their tourism plans after their ordeal, and they were not available for comment.
Reshef said Barry described how Gandalf, sailing with another American boat, saw two Arab fishing boats approaching, each with two men on board. When the pirates came within range, they opened up with AK-47s, peppering Gandalf with bullets.
``I saw bullet holes in the mast, the spray hood over the cockpit and in the rubber dinghy,'' Reshef said. ``They were shooting to kill, not to warn.''
Martini went below to operate the radio, trying to reach some American naval vessels in the area. Barry tried to outrun them, but when he realized he couldn't, he turned around.
``Barry, with his steel-hulled boat, he rammed them with full power,'' said Reshef, who said the wooden boat was badly damaged and the two attackers in it severely injured.
``The ones in the other boat approached the stern, still shooting, and were trying to climb on board,'' Reshef said. That's when the other American sailor opened up with his shotgun, wounding both of the other attackers. The two sailboats were then able to get away, leaving the injured men behind in their boats.
Unlike some bluewater sailors, Reshef said, Barry opted not to have a gun on board. He said he doesn't know if this incident might have changed his mind, but Reshef said, ``He is sure he will never go back to this area.''
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