The last week or so has been a blur with the tragic news of the murder of two members of the Salty Dawg Sailing Association, Kathy and Ralph of SV Simplicity.
Before they hijacked Simplicity, three young men escaped from jail in Grenada where they were being held for other serious crimes. It seems that their escape was a relatively simple effort, reported as them just opening a door with a faulty lock scrambling over a roof and jumping to the ground. In their desire to escape the island, they boarded Simplicity, anchored near shore at a popular spot in Grenada. About 13 hours later the couple had vanished, the boat abandoned, and anchored in a very exposed area off of the shore of St Vincent.
The three made repeated trips to shore, offloading most anything of value all, of which was recovered after their arrest soon after making landfall.
St Vincent is an island with few harbors that offer protection and with a reputation for lawlessness, causing most cruisers avoid the island entirely. For this reason, the discovery of Simplicity on these shores was particularly surprising.
A good Samaritan, a professional captain on a catamaran owned by someone from the US, who happened to be paddle boarding in the area thought that the boat, with shredded genoa and anchored in an exposed spot seemed out of place and took a look inside.
What he saw was evidence of extreme violence, and fortunately, he was able to find contact information for Salty Dawg and sent an email to our office. His note was forwarded to me and I called his WhatsApp number. He described the state of that boat and and agreed to go back aboard, take some photos and call the St Vincent Coast Guard. That exchange began what has become a quickly unfolding description of violence and murder.
Kathy, Ralph and their crew, aboard Simplicity, had participated in our 2023 fall rally to Antigua from Hampton VA, and as with all participating boats, provided an emergency contact. And it was at this number that I left a cryptic message. Some hours later I received a call back and shared the tragic news. To tell one of their sons of the death of his parents was a moment that I will not soon forget. As hard as it was for me to deliver the news, I can only imagine what their children felt. I would expect that they will struggle forever to attempt to process the details of the brutal killing of their parents.
The good Samaritan sent me this drone shot of him on his paddleboard with Simplicity in the distance. The peacefulness of the image belies the reality of the story behind it.
As peaceful as it appeared, the setting was anything but that, with Simplicity anchored and abandoned in a place that most cruisers would not go, in an exposed area, and with a tattered genoa.
After I spoke with the good Samaritan, he contacted the St Vincent Coast Guard and from there things quickly escalated to a point that news organizations from around the world were clamoring for information. I have never been involved in anything that has captured the attention of so many and it was breathtaking to see how fast news travels.
As I worked through reaching out to family, speaking with contacts at the US Embassy in Barbados, the only US consulate in the Caribbean, along with members of the coast Guard and police in St Vincent, I learned the brutal details, and was struck by just how difficult it was to satisfy reporters trying to cover the story as well as respect the wishes of a grieving family.
The story unfolded at breakneck speed, and the sons of Kathy and Ralph asked Salty Dawg to send out a number of news releases so suddenly Salty Dawg became a “source” and I quickly learned just how awkward that position would prove to be.
Early on I spoke with People magazine and was ultimately impressed with how balanced the reporting was in spite of their reputation of being a bit sensational. The result of that discussion can be seen at this link.
I also spoke with Fox news and once I was on zoom with the reporter I realized that I was way out of my depth. The interview was incredibly uncomfortable but fortunately, the portions of that interview that they aired were reasonable. While we all see interviews daily, it’s hard to conceive how complex speaking with the press is, with their own goals of capturing “eyeballs” and increasing their ratings.
Perhaps one of the most balanced pieces that I saw was published a few days ago in the Times of London, a paper that I have subscribed to for a number of years. I thought that the reporter was thorough and thoughtful about this terrible tragedy. Unfortunately, I don’t think that you can read that piece unless you are a subscriber. Try the link anyway.
So, here we are in the aftermath of an unspeakable tragedy, the “news cycle” has run itself out and reporters have moved on, chasing the next “nightmare” only to quickly abandon that and focus on whatever comes next.
The cruising community that Brenda and are a part of is very close knit and it will be a long time until the implications of this tragedy fades from our collective memory. For the family, I doubt that they will ever be able to get the images of the unspeakable violence that befell Kathy and Ralph and blatant disrespect for human life that ended their lives, out of their heads.
As tragic as this event has been, the outpouring of support from all corners of the cruising community has been heartening and we can take solace in the fact that the senseless violence that took the lives of two of our own was a random, if tragic, act in an area that is generally safe, the Eastern Caribbean, where so many of us spend months each season enjoying the beautiful beaches, clear waters and varied cultures.
For so many, making our way to the Caribbean is the culmination of a lifelong dream. And for Kathy and Ralph, that dream was cut short. Our community of cruisers, who live a lifestyle little understood by the general public, has been thrust into the public consciousness with this senseless tragedy with reporting my most major news outlets.
Whatever each of us might be feeling, the family of Kathy and Ralph are facing a gaping void in their lives.
As tragic as this is, perhaps the one bright part, small as it may be, has been the outpouring of love and support from those who knew Kathy and Ralph and whether you knew them or not, these words from Nick, son of Kathy, and Bryan, son of Ralph, will surely illustrate the close-knit nature of our community.
“We would like to say a few words about Kathy and Ralph that we wish all to know. We live in a world that at times can be cruel, but it is also a world of profound beauty, wonder, adventure, love, compassion, caring, and faith. Our parents encompassed all those values and so much more. If we have learned anything from this tragic event, it is that we know they left this world in a better place than it was before they were born. Ralph and Kathy lived a life that most of us can only dream of, sailing the eastern coast of the United States, living on their home Simplicity, making friends with everyone they encountered, singing, dancing, and laughing with friends and family – that’s who Ralph and Kathy were and that’s how they will be remembered in our hearts.”
Over the years I have been struck by how our community supports one another, always eager to help, whether it is to tow someone with engine problems into an anchorage, bring a needed package from the states or to share tools and expertise.
Cruising carries risk, and it is up to each of us to stay diligent and do what we can to stay safe. At the same time, we need to remember that this event, as heinous as it was, is extremely unusual and that there is risk in whatever you choose to do in life. What we’ve all chosen to do, sailing to faraway places, visiting tropical islands, is something that most only dream about. For all of us to be a part of the cruising community is a gift to be cherished.
Sadly, for Kathy and Ralph, that dream was cut short as a result of unimaginable violence, but their memory lives on through those whom they touched in so many ways.
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