20 years ago and crime on cruisers was non existent. No one ever locked their boats or dinghies. I don't remember one single time that I heard about anyone being involved in anything. It's amazing how an area can change in one 20 year period. Venezuela was a Paradise. Inflation was high and the people were starting get unhappy with the government but and there were armed guards at the marina but no crime on cruisers occurred that I can remember. Now I hear about pirates attacking boats quite often. Columbia was the place to avoid. Now you can't find a slip in a marina around Christmas. It's the place to be. I went through the Panama Canal in 1989 and made it out just a few days prior to our invasion. Colon was known to be bad so we avoided it. Same thing but to a lesser degree with Panama City. There were a few dinghy motors stolen but no gun play. The bottom line is that places change over time and you need to keep up with what's going on around you. Next season we are going to head south again. We'll skip right through Mexico with only a few stops at our favorite places, visit a few friends we have met over the past three seasons and get on down the road. We will leave Mexico at Puerto Madero and skip much of Central America and briefly stop on the boarder of Costa Rica. A few days in Punta Arenas and Golfido and then into Panama. From Mexico to Panama will be provisioning stops. There isn't anything I need to see on that entire coast. Once we get through the canal we'll slow down and start smelling the roses but we'll hang out in anchorages with other cruisers and not anchor out alone. We don't like the idea of "security bars" on our boat so we won't use them. If it's that dangerous we'll move on. My friends idea is that he can hide down below and make enough noise that the bad guys will give up and leave. Maybe that would work but on the off chance that we would ever be boarded, I'm not willing to deal with the bars every time I get into and out of the boat. I've carried guns on board in the past but I believe I will re-think that in favor of not dealing with it this next time out. We usually hook up with other cruisers heading in our direction and feel the company gives us a bit of security. Maybe that's wishful thinking but so be it.