Captain Jim

Thank you, thank you, one and all.

He'll never catch up to me! Happy Birthday! Now where's my hat....

Aye, welcome aboard sir.

Ye Tall Ship Royaliste has a FacePlant....er....Book, FaceBook presence. Lots of new bits and pieces, afloat again and better than before getting squished by the stern-wheeler. And fear not for the Pub, I know the new Barkeep. And fret not for the portrayal of pyrates by us amateurs. There are actually more places to reenact than there was five or ten years ago. In a couple of years maybe even a permanent pyrate camp at the Alafia Rendezvous. I think we've talked ourselves out a bit here, covered all the bases we can think of, for now. But it's all still here. I sometimes come here late at night, after the kids are asleep, and re-read old threads. Sometimes I even rediscover things I didn't know I forgot. Its a bit slow about here, now and again, but every night can't be fleet night. Cheers, mate.

Salty bidet...with sharks!

There are some available at Track of The Wolf, but not a .735. Closest they have is a .710, looks like this: I think I have a link somewhere to another source, custom made but really expensive. I'll see if I can find it.

I don't think he could get any stranger...

Stynky! While I hate you, too, I cannot imagine anyone who could have done what you did with the place. We will all be forever in you debt. I also cannot think of anyone else that could be a better choice to keep the floor swept up and the rhum flowing in the old Pub than William. I am constantly in awe of you both.

I hope to be there. I have to pass this by SWIMBO (She Who Must Invariably Be Obeyed) and get her to get time off to cover the children and such. Someday the rest of the family will step up and help with the kids when we need time off. Long story, frustrating.

In the above case, in extremis, unship the barrel, remove the breech plug and drive it on back. Wet it all down first to deactivate the powder. Then clean it all up and reassemble. Now go get the next smaller size ball. This next is personal opinion. I see folks using great force to seat balls or bullets all the time. I think that this is a modern trend. I think that "snug" is good but "gotta use a hammer" is too tight. I think that barrel pressures are routinely too high. Fortunately modern steel used in traditional profiles result in barrels that are way overbuilt. Like I said, personal opinion. Edit: if you have this problem in a smooth-bore, you have really screwed up, as the ball in a smooth should basically roll out on its own. Also, never drive a ball down a smooth. Seat it, yes. Drive a wad on top, yes, but if you have to drive a ball down the barrel of a smooth-bore it is too big and you are asking for a barrel failure.

If, like last year, they put volunteer pirates on the charter boats then guards would not be needed while serving on the boats. That having been said, the wind kicks up a bit out there. I watched my sparks go flying sideways out of the pan quite often. I mounted the flash guard and it helped keep the wind out of the pan.

I may try to make this this year. Do you think the Oar House will pass muster for period-correct canvass?

Thou shalt remember to secure and caulk thy gun ports else thy ship shall not rise upon the tide.

Pity the poor gate watch for having to inspect these pogs where Lily plans to install them.

Not me. Ebay prices always too rich for my blood. Found mine at a different source. You can get the 1993 reprint for cheaper, though. Goodwill created an online presence and good deals can be had there although the professionals have begun to move in.

Not me. Ebay prices always too rich for my blood. Found mine at a different source. You can get the 1993 reprint for cheaper, though.

Welcome aboard, mate. Welcome aboard, mate.

"The cannon's trunk..." Obviously an elephant gun...

The more I re-read this the more I see conflicts in the story. Burns on the victims? Were they part of the cannon crew or were they other reenactors just that close to the cannon?

I'm speechless. So much wrong with that story. The rammer broke off (?!) and nobody noticed (?!). Then they fired it into reenactors IN FRONT OF THE CANNON!? Learn from the bad examples of others, fellow pirates, and pay attention at the safety meetings.

Congratulations on the job, Bo. No money and no time sucks.

I read about this several months ago. Since then, if I wake up in the middle of the night, I don't just lay there. I get up and do something. Read a bit, do some laundry. Then I go right back to sleep.

After waiting patiently for a reasonably priced first edition of Ashley's Book of Knots, I now find myself in possession of two. When it rains... At any rate I plan to pass on my good fortune to one of you. For a limited time I'm going to offer one of them here. It's not "book collector" perfect but is in excellent used condition, 95% or better. There are two flaws of note: one is the the front cover has a diagonal wrinkle across the bottom half. No damage to the interior of the cover or the binding. The other is that the slip cover has been covered in clear packing tape, so as to preserve it, I suppose, but dropping the collectible value by a bit. So there it is. $65 plus shipping and I can do PayPal. I won't post pictures unless requested as I think we all know what Ashley's looks like, except this one has tape and the tape doesn't show up well in pictures. After a week or so I'll post it on eBay. Or bring it to Key West for auction.

Congratulations! We pyrates could use a good attorney now and again. And again.

Hey, we're still pyrates and it's still in paradise, we just can't use them words without stickin' a bunch more in between. Copyright thing. Still and all it is sad to lose the in-town stuff even though there is more than enough to do in the Fort itself. Can't say I'm going to miss the carnival, though. Of course there is absolutely no reason not to pick up that stuff ourselves except that it's really hard work and our lovely and talented organizers are overworked and underpaid as it is.