Busted, then grounded: Alaska skipper has 'year from hell' so far

First Fred Rodolf lost his handguns. Now he may have lost his tour boat and his livelihood. The longtime Valdez tour captain and his wife headed north from their winter home in Washington this month and almost immediately got into trouble: Rodolf, 72, was busted by Canadian authorities for having handguns aboard his boat, the Lu-Lu Belle. After Rodolf posted $2,000 bail, they continued their journey north, reports The Peninsula Daily News of Port Angeles, Wash.

But things got worse: They ran the Lu-Lu Belle aground in Prince William Sound on Saturday and had to be rescued by the Coast Guard. They weren't hurt in the grounding, and no fuel was spilled. "We were tired, and we grounded the boat," Megan Rodolf said.

The Lu-Lu Belle is being towed to Valdez today, the Coast Guard says. Meanwhile, Fred Rodolf could be facing a year in jail or more on the Canadian gun charges, which include making a false statement to customs officers. It's well known among Alaska travelers that Canadians don't like handguns crossing their borders, but the Rodolfs say they were simply in a hurry to get to Valdez and forgot they had the loaded guns aboard.

From The Peninsula Daily News:

Rodolf called Customs Canada upon his arrival in the Gulf Islands. A Canada Border Services officer asked if he had any weapons aboard. Rodolf said that he had a shotgun, [his Canadian lawyer Tom] Morino said.
Officers boarded the vessel and noticed a box of .38 caliber bullets beside a box of shotgun shells.
Rodolf first denied having any other weapons aboard, but within five minutes he admitted having three loaded handguns aboard and showed them to the officers, Morino said.
"He forgot about them, and then he remembered about them," Megan Rodolf said Sunday. "It was a bad mistake to make - forgetting that he had them."
... "He does not belong there [in jail]," Megan Rodolf said. "He does not have a criminal bone in his body."

A spokeswoman for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police told the Victoria Times Colonist that Americans regularly violate Canadian handgun laws. Some know the law and think they'll get away with it; others are clueless. "They carry handguns around in the pockets like Smarties. To them, owning guns is commonplace. It's a fundamental right and their beliefs are deep-rooted. But we're very different," she said.



Read more at The Peninsula Daily News and at the Victoria (B.C.) Times Colonist.