The author is obviously from the US where fear of others permeats everything (and requires carry of arms to defend one's home, for instance). They even talked of pirates in the story.
While US is not universally like that, there is probably a large proportion that is (citation missing).
Sailing is a very international activity, and if one is doing large crossings, then meeting sailors from around the world is quite common.
A lot can go wrong on a boat, and sailors - especially, small family crews can be forgiven for putting their safety ahead of a boat full of men that can outnumber and overpower them.
I may not know much about how horrible the US is because I've never been, but refugees are regularly endangered in European waters despite help being technically around. In one case I heard of even the Italian coastguard would do nothing until the UN was called and put pressure on them. The refugees had called emergency services and were ignored, without UN intervention they would have died.
So yeah, you might want to check your bias. This isn't something that just happens in the US, it's a worldwide thing. Refugees are mistreated in Africa, in Asia - everywhere.
I never said US is horrible: it is a magnificient country, and people are very friendly and welcoming to strangers (in familiar settings).
But they are also very fearful of others at the same time. The article talks of refugees encountering 5 other boats which wouldn't help them before the author did.
My (completely unsubstantiated, iow, my gut feel) claim is that they are a bit more fearful of other people being out to get them than people from most European countries. Think of it like 35% of Europeans would help vs 25% of Americans (again, numbers completely fabricated, or pulled out of my behind): a small percentage points difference, but a huge relative difference.
I think it really depends on where you are. There are still many places in the world where piracy is real, and where distress can be used to lure naive victims. In other places, piracy isn't an issue and you're legally required to offer help.
I found that more than a little odd. Sailors are universally out to help other seafarers and hope for help themselves when they need it. This was the guys first blue water trip, I guess he wasnt a true sailor yet, and hadn't lived life abord for long enough to adopt the culture.
“Every master is bound, so far as he can do so without serious danger to his vessel and persons thereon, to render assistance to any person in danger of being lost at sea.”
Sailors are. They intimately know the sea and her dangers, they know looming death and despair during many months of being subjects to powers immeasurably stronger than any human can ever imagine.
I would argue that two blokes on a sailboat doing fun rides in the Caribbean are hardly sailors. I guess when they talked to other 'sailors' who were 'agast', it was the Jonas Grumby/Gilligan type.
I have a far less interesting and infinitely less daring story (but that is my response to the author's contention, "risk everything" and your question "why people are aghast").
When I was young in my mid 20's, I've just moved to a hip and hipster neighborhood of a college town lively with grad students, artists and musicians and comics; But I was just a lonely and geeky guy lookin' to fit in and meet and make new friends with the glitsy scene.
One one evening, driving back from staying late on the job, I stopped for a fellow who motioned for help in the middle of the road. It turned out that his car battery died - but peculiarly his battery would not hold charge and his engine would only run if the jumper cable hooked up at all times. So really wanting to help, I offered to get into both of our cars with the jumper cables still connected - like 2 hungry hippos joined at the open mouths and drive down gingerly down 5 city blocks 'till we got to his driveway. Someway, somehow, against many honks and even incoming traffic, we made it. I was elated and thought I had made a friend and had a great story to tell; we exchanged phone numbers, and I asked the guy to have drinks with me some times.
Except the guy never replied back to my messages. And while disappointing, it wasn't a big deal in the grander scale of things in life vis-a-vis major breakup's, "major reorgs" at work or major rifts with family relatives. But with passage of time, I've learned why it still nagged at me - because if I was honest with myself: what I did was actually not very altruistic. I stopped because I was a lonely young man who was looking for some kind of excitement to take on a "hero" role even if only for a moment. A situation I was hoping would garner me some dopamine hit with truly minimal cost to me - and yes even an covert expectation that the stranger would return my " kindness" and maybe even a social reward if I re-told the story [chasing an aesthetic pleasure disguised as an ethical act in the Kierkegaardian sense].
So I don't think I'd be keen to stop for someone now - not because I've become a grumpy old man who don't believe most people are bad and you shouldn't take un-necessary personal risk. But because (a) I think real heroism is deliberately pushing all your chips [at true emotional or material sacrifice to yourself] to the middle of the table for something or people whom you love over a long sustained period of time - not some impulsive act in the moment for an emotional reward, and (b) I think those people stranded on the road should have purchased an AAA membership; or should have carried an radio for emergency contact, brought on additional provisions or a marine GPS for their course on the high seas.
This story was told in 2007. A used entry level marine GPS was in the $700 range at that time. Current map was $200 extra. In the boondocks there often isn't much price difference between used and new, so the price could have been in the $1000s also.
A used long-range radio could be cheaper, but not that much.
While US is not universally like that, there is probably a large proportion that is (citation missing).