When the Malahat left Vancouver, 60,000 cases of whisky in her hold and stacked well above the gunwales, there was no doubt of her intentions. The five-masted, 260-foot schooner, vastly underpowered when not under sail, made no attempt at discretion or preparations for pursuit. Merciless Prohibition enforcement just minutes away in the United States concerned neither captain nor crew.
As long as she stayed in Canadian waters, her cargo was nobody else’s business. After clearing Burrard Inlet, the ‘mother ship’ would head southwest toward Galiano Island. Tides allowing, she’d cut through Active Pass before weaving her way south through various Canadian Gulf Islands, then due west through the Strait of Juan de Fuca to open ocean.
Then, sitting anchored for months in
