The Panther Bay
Pirate Blog

The other night, I caught the 48 Hours mystery on CBS. The episode was on the so-called Barefoot Bandit, Colton Harris-Moore. Moore was 19 when he was finally caught in the Bahamas after two years of burglaries, robberies and threats to human life. He allegedly stole several planes (including the one he flew to the Bahamas) and tens of thousands of dollars during some 60 thefts. He destroyed or permanently scarred dozens, perhaps hundreds, of lives in the process.

Harris-Moore was more Jesse James than pirate, but he had one thing in common with most historical pirates: His career didn't last long. In fact, his career as a fugutive lasted about two years. That "career" is about as long as many of the most notorious pirates during the Golden Age of piracy in the Caribbean.

While Harris-Moore may have enjoyed the chase and the challenge of eluding authorities, like most criminals, he'll spend most of his time on this planet in jail (or prison).