SSDD SUPPRESSION OF PIRACIES IN THE WEST INDIES. COMMUNICATED TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, MAY 19, 1824.
My favorite comment on piracy is from naval historian Howard I. Chappelle, who cited "the age-old rule that a pirate rarely gave trouble after stretching hemp."
They never left. When I was down in the Carib in the eighties it was Colombians taking boats, sometimes murdering those on board to get them. We (the Coast Guard) kept a list called Omega that tracked all suspicious vessels that might be smuggling drugs, so there was always demand for 'clean' vessels to get through the cordon without attracting too much attention. One time we picked up a beautiful little sloop sailing erratically south of the Mona Pass and found blood on the decks, the Dutch couple that it was registered to missing, and a drunk Colombian onboard. That vessel would have met another vessel, been loaded and sailed through the Mona with little attention from us if the pilot wasn't an idiot. No bodies, no idea where the piracy happened, international waters, so the guy was charged with piracy and related crimes. That happened frequently, though this was the only one I was directly involved with. Now, the drugs mostly come through Mexico by land so that reason for piracy has been removed, but the sea is lawless and leaves few traces so piracy will always be with us in one form or another. .
Seems as if, especially for those unfortunates who have the bad luck in running into such shady maritime opportunists.
I first thought of the movie when you mentioned it. Kept trying to decipher a hidden meaning there. Kinda slow so far today, mentally thinking that is.
Yeah thanks, I read up on it. Many similar situations like that. Great books never turned into movies. Such a shame with all the less than epic sequels and re-makes going on these days.
