Canada. Marine royale - Hostile seas: a mission in pirate waters

Numerous people were instrumental in the development of this book. I must thank the captain and crew of HMCS Ville de Qubec for their obvious part in creating such memorable experiences and a supportive environment. In addition to their friendship, Jeff, Michle, Billy, TiFou, Kevin, and other close friends and colleagues who will remain unnamed were instrumental in helping to re-create on-board events and providing context. My husband Scott assisted immeasurably in structuring and clarifying the manuscripts narrative from the early days. My friend Roy van den Berg, drawing on his experience as a Canadian soldier on the ground in Somali in 1993, provided invaluable input into the fictional story of Abdi. Thank you to Edil Absiye for reviewing the Abdi storyline through the lens of Somali culture.

A debt of gratitude goes to my writing mentor, Stan Dragland, who was instrumental in dragging the show rather than the tell out of me and provided extensive writing and editing support during the course of writing programs in Chile and Banff. I must also thank Beth Follett for her mentorship during the Los Parronales writing program, as well as the generous support of our hosts, Susan and Gordon Siddeley. My appreciation goes as well to the talented participants in Banffs Wired Writing Studio for their encouragement, as well as to the gifted poets and writers at Los Parronales. Karen Connelly and the Humber School of Writing deserve my gratitude for helping to elevate the first drafts of the manuscript. Thank you to my longtime friend Pam Osti for advice on the publishing industry, and to Dundurn for seeing the possibilities. My gratitude is owed to Lynn Thornton, the most dedicated, tireless and visionary champion for social justice I know, for her mentorship and example.

My first readers provided the invaluable feedback that gave me the courage to publish this book. Thank you to my father, Ian Savidge, for his skilled editorial support and constructive feedback now and over the past thirty-five years; to my mother, Lyn Savidge, for her honest and light-hearted practicality; to Jeff Murray, for his unfailingly humorous commentary; to Roy van den Berg, for his generous editorial support; to Sarah McNeill, for her skilled eye and aesthetic sense; and to Scott, for his unflinching but gentle feedback and unique ability to clarify the opaque.

Finally, my gratitude goes to my caring family, most notably Scott, my mom and dad, Chris, and Julia, as well as my dear friends you know who you are for putting up with five years of pirate talk and writing angst, and the tedium and distractions that go along with that.

Map 1: HMCS Ville de Qubecs approximate route. Screenshot used by permission. Copyright 2013 Esri. All rights reserved.