June – Piracy, Guemes Island, & Tide Catcher Dreams

© Copyright by John B. Gargett 2008/2009 All Rights Reserved

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Marty and Denise Bakerstead confirmed their reservations for the 14 Night Ultimate Alaska Cruise. Denise booked one of the deluxe suites, costing about $7,000. Since this was their once in a lifetime cruise, and their 35th wedding anniversary, they did not even question the price. It was going to be a great 35th. After eight nights in the Alaska wilderness, they would be leaving Sitka late in the afternoon on the 18th of September. Then they would cruise for the next 40 hours or so down the Inside Passage. First thing in the morning of the 20th they would be tying up in Victoria, where they would leave the cruise, and spend a couple days celebrating their anniversary in the Empress Hotel, the same hotel they spent their honeymoon. What the Bakerstead’s did not know was that Suegali had finalized his plan, a plan that would prevent them from ever reaching Victoria.

Over the last eight months Suegali had put everything into place for the attack. Suegali wanted to embarrass and shame the Canadian Government. Canada represented everything bad about the western world. He blamed the UN for the problems in his Somalia, and the Canadians were willing UN patsies. He wanted to show not only the Canadians, but also the world, that nowhere would any vessel be safe and that Somalia had worldwide tentacles that could be used anytime. He wanted to show the stupid powers of the West and their precious Security Council at the UN that the Horn of Africa should not be considered as outlaws living in a “Failed Nation State.” The West destroyed his country with their Western “Democracy.” The United Nations Operations In Somalia (UNOSOM) ignored four thousand years of history, a tribal system that worked, and, of course, their religion. Their “Aid” crushed their economy. Suegali never forgot being on board HMCS Ville de Québec, where the forward gun turret had “World Food Programme” labeling a picture of a Canadian Cowboy stepping on a map of Somalia. The picture symbolized the arrogance of the West and the West needed to learn a lesson and Suegali was going to use Canada for the first lesson.

His plan was simple – his men would seize the Radiance of the Seas in the Gordon Channel on the north end of Vancouver Island. Suegali contracted with Stubbs Island Whale Watching in Telegraph Harbor near Port Hardy for a two-day “nature” cruise for the Dervish Sales Company, a company he made up, but that had its roots in the history of Somalia . Following the end of World War I, the British turned their attention to the ongoing violence in British Somaliland. The British had previously been defeated at the Battle of Dul Madoba in 1913 and four subsequent expeditions to defeat Mohammed Abdullah Hassan and his forces had failed. The 1920 conflict between British forces and Somaliland dervishes was the fifth and final British expedition against the Dervish forces of Hassan. Lord Milner, the Colonial Secretary for Britain, honored the Canadian men who fought hard as members of the “Somaliland Camel Corps” This attack would be retribution. The Suegali Warlords, aboard the M/V Gikumi, a 60-foot converted freight boat, would hail the cruise ship as it was approaching Nigei Island, making an emergency call to the bridge claiming it had just run aground on Alex Rock, was taking on water, starting to sink and saying they were abandoning ship.

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Guemes Island has been the home for smugglers since the middle of the 19th Century. One of the most famous was Lawrence Kelly, and to this day his memory lives on with the southwest point of Guemes Island known as Kellys Point. Some say he was the master smuggler of his time. His specialty was opium and Chinese workers, bringing both into the US from Canada. He had quite a career and even put a ring on the hull of his boat so he could tow his opium underwater. Ironically opium was not illegal at the time, it just had a high import duty so anyone who could smuggle it in from the opium factories in Victoria could make a bundle of money avoiding the taxes. Kelly was a dedicated smuggler. From the day he married he put everything he had in his wife’s name and had her help him by starting a smoky fires that could be seen for miles if Customs Agents were known to be in the area, enabling Lawrence to keep away and not be caught.

Bahdoon had read about Lawrence Kelly when he was researching smuggling in the San Juan’s. He was impressed that Kelly was a Confederate solider before starting his smuggling in the 1870’s. He also found that a number of his smuggling routes were pretty good ones. It was from this history that Bahdoon had identified a number of the Watcher positions. In honor of Lawrence Kelly, Bahdoon decided to make a run of drugs to a buoy off Indian Village, located on the West Side of Guemes Island. The beach houses on Guemes are, by and large, occupied on weekends only. Bahdoon’s contact in the US knew the owner of one of the cabins on Indian Village and he had told him which buoy to use in front of which cabin.

Bahdoon did not yet know it, but this was going to be the last drug run that would be made by the Pender Pirates. Suegali was putting his plan into action and he did not want some stupid kids pretending to be pirates getting caught smuggling drugs. In fact, he knew there was only one choice in order to eliminate any links back to himself and his empire. Not only would the Pender Pirates have to go, but Bahdoon would have to disappear. Suegali had not decided is if Bahdoon should be taken out of the Country (he was, after all, his nephew.) But Suegali also knew that after the attack on the Radiance of the Seas that anyone from Somalia who worked near the water in Canada would be rounded up, and conversely, any Somali who disappeared would be put on terrorist watch lists. There really was no choice, family or not.

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Ryan, Jason and Derek knew that someone else was manipulating Bahdoon and that he was just a front person. They knew this new smuggling operation to Guemes Island was even deeper in the United States than Lopez Island was. The three of them talked between themselves and agreed that rather than take on Bahdoon, they would make the run, then find out who Bahdoon was working for. The timing was good because they only had one more boat that had not been taken back to the US for the boating season by the owners which meant that for July and August there would be no more runs. They would have the time to check out Bahdoons background and to accomplish this they would turn to the man who helped them get started, David Henry.

The Pirates were amazed at how complacent they had become on smuggling. For this trip, the one remaining boat was a 26’ stainless steel Pilothouse made by Woolridge Boats in Seattle. This boat had been custom built for West Coast Marine Services in Bellingham and was outfitted with twin 135 Honda’s, enabling it to easily cruise at 40 miles per hour. Hugh Johns had just purchased the boat from West Coast Marine Services. The Pirates were going to deliver it to him at the Bellingham Yacht Club. The boat had been in Van Isle Marina where the Pirates maintained it for a film crew shooting a National Geographic special on the “Salish Sea”, a new name proposed by environmentalists for the waters stretching from Tumwater, Washington to Johnstone Strait, British Columbia.

The Pirates did not to take the most direct route, deciding instead to go around the San Juan Islands and come up from the south. Once the drugs were loaded, the Pirates took off, entering Miners Channel between Sidney and Forrest Islands. They stayed on the Canadian side of the line, running down Haro Straight to Middle Bank. Staying on the Canadian side of the border with such a fast boat enabled them to keep clear of any DHS boats. When they reached Middle Bank, they headed east into US waters, rounding Davidson Rock at the South end of Lopez Island and into Rosario Straight. They ran across Rosario Straight, then Guemes Channel, into Bellingham Channel, reaching their destination at the buoy off of Indian Village. It only took them an hour and a quarter to get there, and by now the guys were great at making drops. They used a stainless hook on a stainless wire attached to the canisters. They would pull up to the buoy, snap on the cable and drop the canisters in the water, all in 30 seconds from reaching the buoy. From there it was a quick 22-minute trip to the Bellingham Yacht Club.

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As they walked into the Yacht Club from the dock, they reflected on the last eight months. Never had they even seen a patrol boat from Canada or the US. Homeland Security had never questioned them when they gave the NEXUS and BR’s. They had never heard that any of their drops had been discovered. Of course, they did not know that Suegali had watchers on key observation points in the islands and at the air and marine unit bases in both the US and Canada. He had watchers in boats and he used technology to his advantage. To Suegali, the Pender Pirates were nothing more than stupid mules, but stupid mules that needed protection. The Pirates had a different view, they saw themselves as shrewd smugglers who learned the business from one of the best, David Henry. They had no idea what was about to happen and that their smuggling was funding a major terrorist attack against their Country. They did not know they were in their last three months of their lives.

Hugh Johns saw them walk up, met them at the door and signed them in. He was glad to see them because it was Louise’s birthday and he was taking her over to Poets Cove for the weekend. He had also agreed to take the Pirates back to Poets Cove. While Hugh was excited about getting out for the weekend with Louise, he wanted to buy them a drink before they took off. As Ryan, Jason and Derek walked in, they saw two couples who were customers (and who’s boats they used to smuggle), Andy and Zeta Barker who were sitting with Erick and Kathleen Canard. It was almost embarrassing when the Commodore, asking for members to introduce their guests, that the Barkers and Canards made a point of telling the entire club about what a great job they did on maintaining their boats. Hugh also introduced them to Sergeant Bill Newman of the Department of Homeland Security (he was there to give a presentation on DHS.) Hugh told Sergeant Newman that if DHS ever wanted to know about any of the great places to hide in the San Juan or Gulf Islands they simply needed to ask the Pender Pirates.

After the introductions were over, the “briefing” on DHS Air and Marine Operations and its impact on recreational boating started. Sergeant Newman was a good speaker, and the guys found the presentation very interesting. He talked about how in the run up to the Olympics boaters could expect to see more random boarding’s. He talked about how the number of boats was to be increased and that the air unit was going to be deploying an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) for tracking smuggling, both on the water and in the back country. He talked about how with a NEXUS and BR number it would be unlikely that anyone would be asked to report to one of the Points of Entry, but they still are subject to boarding. He concluded by saying that seizures were up and that the San Juan Islands were one of the most secure areas of the Country. After the presentation, the Sergeant gave them his card and said if they ever saw anything suspicious to let him know. Ryan choked on a swallow of beer laughing at that, but after a kick to the shins from Jason, he quickly recovered.

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Sitting in the corner of the deck overlooking the harbor, Adam and Ruth were holding hands and looking in each other’s eyes as if no one else was there. The Tide Catcher season was starting and so Adam had to move out. He hated to leave Mallard Cabin and move back to his boat in Fairhaven Harbor, although the weather was great, he was going to miss Ruth coming “home”, enjoying the dinners together, watching the sunsets, and sharing a blanket in front of a fire on the beach. Adam found the love and warmth of their relationship was what he had always wanted in a relationship. Ruth had just told him it was time for them to consider a more permanent relationship. She asked Adam to move in with her rather than moving onto his boat.

Adam was emotionally challenged. He just finished getting the explosives for his September 19th mission. He was torn between his mission, and what it meant, and his desire for Ruth. He was tired of the years of building a better world through acts of violence. It ate at him. He knew that as a result of what he did, threats had been eliminated, governments were stabilized, and lives had been saved. Doing what was right did not make it any easier for Adam. Sometimes people died, sometimes they were injured, and sometimes they ended up in jail. He knew his contact with Global Transnational, but still did not know who was running it or funding it. He had become wealthy, but had no one to share it with. He had a job for life, but could not tell anyone about it. He had no home, no family, and no identity. Adam thought it was fitting that as he left the Tide Catcher for Friday’s At Five, he saw a For Sale sign being put up in the front of “their” Mallard Cabin – Louise was selling “their” home. Nothing in his life was permanent.

But Adam was in love with Ruth and did not plan for what happened that night. He started by telling Ruth he did not want to move in with her. The look on Ruth’s face was clearly one of pain and hurt. The tears in her eyes were real and for the next few minutes she did not hear what Adam was saying. He kept talking about the love they shared in Birch Bay. He talked about the love they felt the first night they were on his boat in Blaine. He talked about the love he felt whenever they were together. But Ruth was not listening. She only heard Adam did not want to live together with her. She heard the “I love you but” talk. Ruth was about to leave when she heard him say he was buying the Tide Catcher and that he wanted to get married. It was then Ruth took his hand in hers, their eyes locked and she said yes.

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Suegali has started the final planning for his attack on a cruise ship so he can embarrass the Canadians. Where will he be when the attack occurs? The Pender Pirates have made their final smuggling run for the year, but are not aware that the end is near. Adam has proposed to Ruth, and he proposed before he knew what he was saying. Will he marry Ruth and live at the Tide Catcher? Be sure and read July’s edition of the Pirates of Poets Cove.

Photography and Image Credits

Image 07-01 From Google Images http://www.alaskacruises2009.com/userimages/PB170069.JPG
http://www.captainkent.com/Quickstart/ImageLib/GTV_Radiance_of_the_Seas.jpg
http://murrayandgwenstours.com/ESW/Images/Grissley_Bear_1.jpg
Image 07-02 Photo by John Gargett taken at Indian Village, Guemes Island, 2009
Image 07-03 Photo of Lawrence Kelly http://www.johnsabella.com/graphics/jpg/30102-22.jpg, Photo of Typical Smugglers Sloop http://www.cinarc.org/Typical_Smugglers_Sloop_web.jpg, Drawing of Chinese Being Smuggled, http://www.cinarc.org/Puget_smuggling.jpg
Image 07-04 Photos by John Gargett taken at various Friday’s at Five, 2005-2007
Image 07-05 Photos by John Gargett taken at Bellingham Yacht Club, 2009
Image 07-06 Photos by John Gargett taken in Tokyo, Japan 2008

~ by John Gargett on December 6, 2009.