I am writing concerning disturbing events which occurred on Sunsail’s base in Guadeloupe and the dangers which their lack of security subjected my family to while there.
We arrived at Sunsail’s Guadeloupe base on Saturday, May 20, 2006. Sunsail’s charters begin at 6:00 p.m., and as a result we were required to stay onboard at the Sunsail base because there was insufficient time in which to sail anywhere from their Guadeloupe base. Its base is located in a busy area, and lacks adequate security features. The fence lock fell apart when using the key to the entry gate. The bars on the gate had been bent so that my teenage children could easily pass though the gate. There was no security guard at the base, though the other portions of the marina at Pointe a Pitre, outside of the Sunsail base, did have security guards.

Our boat was located about fifty feet from the bathroom/shower facilities within the Sunsail base. At approximately 2:30 a.m. my teenage daughter went from the boat to the bathroom onshore. She was followed by a male into the bathroom. She went into the bathroom stall and locked the stall door. The intruder tried to coax her out and then tried to open the stall door, which was fortunately made of metal. She remained in the stall traumatized for an hour and a half to two hours. About that time an intruder came upon the boat and stole a camera, jewelry and my daughter’s clothing on the port side of the catamaran. When he went to the starboard side of the catamaran the intruder woke one of my guests in the forward cabin and left the boat. Everyone then got up and discovered that my daughter was missing from the boat. My wife went to the restroom where she found my traumatized daughter who then wanted to go home. Of course, we thought of the death of Natalie Holloway last year in Aruba, and wondered what would have occurred if the intruder had gotten to my daughter.

We were informed by a Sunsail employee that there had been other security problems at its Guadeloupe base before, but it is apparent that Sunsail had done nothing to respond to the security problems there. When I returned to the States I wrote Sunsail about the risks on the Guadeloupe base and it was Sunsail’s position that it is not responsible for the safety or security of its charter guests on the Guadeloupe Sunsail base. This position is not made known to Sunsail’s clients, Sunsail has no publication advising charterers of the risks of the area, and Sunsail staff informed me that they do not intend to take steps to correct the hazards there or apprise its clients of the risk they face in Guadeloupe. Accordingly, I have written this letter to advise your readers of the hazard.