Isolation Bay

A pirate's safe harbour

Isolation Bay is a bay in one of the smaller isles of the Westminster Isles. An uninhabited set of islands and islets, mostly islets, or just rocks. There were some signs of early colonial settlement but now it was only home to the local wildlife.

The otherwise unnamed island that is home to Isolation bay is crescent shaped and has a steep rise on the outside but with fine white sandy beaches on the inner side of the crescent. Most of the land area is covered in trees and shrubbery, usually called ‘jungle’.

The waters around Westminster Isles are charted, but the last update is from 1832. It appears no-one has been there since, well on official business that is. It was Peter James Jacobson with the Narwhal who came to this bay first while he was trying to find a spot to hide, after he just started his pirating career. But after he became, a business partner with Armani, the Narwhal more often stayed in Playa. And she was small and unsuspicious enough to hide in marinas all over the Caribbean.

The Sunset Dawn however was too big to pose as a cruiser yacht, it was a super yacht by design after all and pulled to much attention when going into small ports. It often enough visited Plage de Sable, but it needed a more secluded home. At first the Pirate crew used Isolation Bay as a place to hide and store the Antelope, as she was originally called. Wondering what to do with the ship, inquiring secretly if there was a market for it.

But after their Captain, Peter, died. The crew split up and a group took up pirating with the Red Sunrise. They kept Isolation Bay as their ‘home port’. Where they often dropped anchor to lay low for a while or to enjoy the fruits of their labour.

They often visited Plage as well of course, to land their cargo, and for the crew to spend their time and money.

But the bay was a good home, it was deep enough for the ship to anchor. Protected on most sides that passing storms didn’t whip up the seas inside the bay. Out of the way of the trade routes, and the travel routes of most yachts, sometimes a single one looking for adventure passed by, but they never got close after spotting the Dawn, assuming that it is a super yacht looking for some privacy.

Rarely planes fly over from one of the populated islands with sightseeing tours, but mostly they stick closer to their airfields, as the places to view there are just as pretty and more easily reached.

The beaches of the east side of Isolation bay are also shallow enough of an angle that the Sunset Dawn can ‘dry out’ on them, for Careening, cleaning the hull.

It was here that Rose suddenly got a phone call from Richard Janssen. And a plane appeared in the skies soon after. Not a touristy plane, but a military bird painted grey. It flew straight over and dropped a single bomb in the middle of the deck of the Sunset Dawn. An explosion followed, and a second when the magazine of the dawn blew. The ship rolled over to port and disappeared to the bottom of the bay within a minute, sunk at anchor.

The pirates had mostly been ashore, enjoying a barbeque. Some of them dived on the wreck, as it didn’t lay deep. To get stuff out of the ship. And then they quickly left the Bay, with the boats they used to sail from the dawn to the beach. The weather was nice that night, that was in their favour. But they couldn’t stay for the attack might draw attention, and they didn’t want to be found there.

It was two years later before the pirates visited Isolation Bay again, nothing was visible on the surface of their previous ship, neither were there any traces on the beach. They didn’t feel safe in their bay anymore, but it was the right thing to do, visit it with the Red Sunrise Sunrise. To show their old ship it had a worthy successor. To say their goodbyes to those who were lost there. And close that awful chapter of their adventure. By sunset the Red Sunrise sailed off, Isolation bay left for good.

Type

Bay

---