Let me put it this way. If you sailed a 40' boat 10 miles off of Somalia, are your chances of being pirated, kidnaped, etc. greater or less than sailing a boat off of Cape Cod?

Same question about off of Honduras vs. San Francisco? How about the Strait of Malacca vs. Atlantic City?

If you're anchored in one of the tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay or up in Maine or near Vancouver, are you more or less safe than in Rio Dolce?

Yesterday, as I journied down the from NYC back to DC, I had little concern with being hijacked, shot, or assaulted while on the NJ Turnpike either. And if I was in trouble, I would have little qualms about asking any public safety office for help and expecting most of them to risk their lives to help me. That is hardly the case in most places in this world.