Rumour has it that many years ago Captain No Beard and the Pi-rats owned a tug among their fleet of pirating vessels. You see, the Captain has a dark history that he rather not be known by, and that history includes his connection to the underground. Many moons ago while exploring ventures south of the 49th parallel the Pi-rats were approached by a one-legged gentleman with a rubber duck on his shoulder. This man wanted to know if the Pi-rats were willing to run cheap, low alcohol percentage cases of beer across the boarder. Of course the Pi-rats, unable to be persuaded to mutiny against their Captain refused. The man, desperate to smuggle beer into Canadian waters then approached the Captain, knowing fair well that his import "fee" would be twice that he had offered to the Pi-rats. The whole time, both the Pi-rats and the Captain knew that the gentleman would play them off each other, but finally they knew that he would cave into the Captain's price.
The Captain obtained an old tug through fellow blokes to start this weekly shipment of American beer across the border. Deep in the hold the beer would be hidden and on the tug's aft deck the captain would often place lamas or sheep to foil Canadian customs as to his actual cargo. The tug often pulled into Salt Spring Island to unload said cargo and frequently high-grade Cuban cigars and other products local to this island were loaded for the return journey south of the border.
The run held up for many weeks, until Canadian authorities became aware of it through a source. That source was the one-legged gentleman with the rubber duck on his shoulder who had clued-in that he was being stiffed by the Captain and the Pi-rats for one too many pieces of gold plus the Pi-rats had been cashing in the beer cans for a nickel apiece. At first the authorities demanded a percentage of the beer on board, but they quickly tired of the low-quality beer and decided to end the Captain's weekly runs. The battle was fierce, but finally the Captain's tug began to take on water. The captain and one of the Pi-rats managed to don their survival suits and abandon ship, but the other Pi-rat decided to hang low in the sea chest, fearing discovery by the authorities.
The ship was towed into Patricia Bay and grounded. The Canadian authorities were proud of their battle with the Captain and the Pi-rats and wanted to show off their acquisition of the tug and send a clear message to other border-runners in the area. Meanwhile the second Pi-rat managed to elude authorities and escaped from her hiding spot undetected and left a cache nearby. The Captain and the Pi-rats believe that both the one-legged gentleman and the Canadian authorities were attempting to catch them in a sting operation, which failed.
This story is a rumour, so believe it or not. To this date, the Captain and his crew swear a curse to anyone that ventures near the tug that is still grounded in Patricia Bay -- if you believe this story. Do you dare to find the cache left by one of the Pi-rats? Be very cautious as the curse still is present and even the Captain or one of the Pi-rats might catch unsuspecting geocachers by surprise.
If you are looking for the tug, it caught fire a few years after this cache was originally hidden (2002)!
We are now on version 8 of this cache (Oct 2017), primarily due to the constant problem of dampness and high tides. The newest hiding spot will require adult participation. PLEASE ENSURE TO RE-SEAL THE CACHE WHEN DONE TO AVOID WATER DAMAGE!