Back in February of 2023, I sold the mooring I had built, and deployed for Trouper2. When Shuttlecock came into my possession the following June, I needed a mooring. Since the new owner wasn't using it, I reached out and asked if I could moor my new boat there until I found a permanent home. He graciously agreed and I've been using it ever since.

Fast forward to November. The day before I left for Florida, I get a message from (Let's call him, 'Bob') the mooring owner. He's bought another boat and wants to bring it to Cadboro  Bay. GULP! I explained to him the situation and that he could raft up to me, but I wouldn't be able to move Shuttlecock until I got back in a couple of weeks. With that, I put out a few fenders and left the country.

When I got back, Bob wasn't rafted up so I got a hold of him and it turns out, his new boat developed engine trouble so he's been unable to bring it South. While he works on that, I reached out to the Yacht Club member I bought Shuttlecock from and asked him if he would ask around if anyone had a mooring they weren't using and wanted to sell. It turns out another member, whom I used to work with at UVic wasn't using his mooring and agreed to sell it to me. The only problem was the fact that a notorious local pirate was 'squatting on it'. In other words, he was using the mooring without the permission of the owner.

BIG PROBLEM!

For the past couple of weeks, I've been watching the new mooring and wondering how in the hell I'm going to get the pirates off it. After all, possession is nine tenths of the law and their boat never left the mooring. The pirates were living on board, which further complicated the situation.

So imagine my surprise when I showed up for a sail on January 1, 2024 and...they were nowhere in site. Well, not exactly. In scanning the bay, I noticed a black-hulled sloop with sails very poorly trimmed and heading toward Discovery Island. In no  time, I was underway to get a handle on the situation. Were the pirates out for a day sail or were they leaving for parts unknown. I didn't want to swoop in on the mooring, even though they had no right to it. Not much point in discussing rights when your boat is on the beach after being cut free in the dead of night...

So I watched the black-hulled pirate ship sail past Banes Channel, and along the West side of Chatham Island. I grabbed a vacant mooring off Willows Beach and brewed a coffee, while taking in the polar bear swim. After a time, I returned to Cadboro Bay but chose to moor using my old mooring. I drove past Willows Beach and see where he was. Oh, before I go any further, I should mention the pirate ship doesn't have a working engine.

He was anchored off Mary Todd (Jimmy Chicken) Island. A bizarre place to drop the hook but the tide runs pretty good through there and he ran out of wind. So, I can see him dropping anchor to stay off the rocks. I decided that if he wasn't back in Cadboro Bay the next morning, I would assume ownership of the new mooring.

He wasn't there the next morning. But he was underway as I discovered in my drive-by, and I assumed he was returning to Cadboro Bay. I decided to take the new mooring and wait for him to show up. When he hadn't showed up after several hours, I left Shuttlecock on the new mooring and drove around to Oak Bay to see where he was.  It seems he hadn't gotten very far before anchoring just off Willows Beach. As the wind slowly dropped off for the evening, I returned to Cadboro Bay and re-labelled my new mooring.

The next morning, this would be January 4th, as I cruised Willows Beach, I was greeted by the site of the ship wreck. This pirate ship isn't returning to Cadboro Bay.