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Northern Ohio Pirates, Ahoy and Avast!


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Ahoy and Avast There, Maytees!!....It be that time; in three short weeks we ship the Royaliste, truely one wicked Pyrate Ship, to Cleveland, and rig her in ready for action!..I 'aven't a clue as to how many 'pirate ships' you usually have around,but....this one will sooon be cruising your waters, preying on shipping, and generally terrorizing the citizenry!!!...We'll be in the area for over a month 'afore the Tallships Challenge,so...for the month of June, whether it be for fun, a birthday, special occaision, or just general skullduggery, think about that black and gold gunboat sportin' six carronades, and lookin' for booking's..Aye!

:(

ROYALISTE Terrorizin' a Location Near You Soon!!

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  • 4 weeks later...

ARRRRRRGH!!!...We're here in Cleveland, maytees!!...It'll take us a tuff week to put 'er back together again, but She ain't Humpty-Dumpty, so...With a few repairs, and some fresh paint, the Pyrat Ship Royaliste will be prowlin' the water's of Lake Eerie until mid-July....Freshwater in the bilges; wot be this world 'a comin' to, anyhoo?? 65 M.P.H. to Windward....

:rolleyes:

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Those are pics are terrific. I would have loved to seen the faces of the people on the highway as they passed by it.

May I share your link with another board?(www.renaissancefestival.com)

~Black Hearted Pearl

The optimist expects the wind. The pessimist complains about the wind. The realist adjusts the sails.

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Aye, feel free, mate!, we'll be addin' more soon....'Tis a shocker to all here; the local newspaper 'stumbled' on her rolling down the highway, and wrote a fine piece that should be in the stands today!....Nice folks around here, we'll fix that :lol: ...rainin' cats 'n dogs 'ere, makin' bottom work tough for Monday's launch.....

:lol:

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Hmm, depends on wot they be 'a wantin' to see!!!..We are trying to launch the hull Monday, and then the spars, starting with the mizzen mast...Most likely, we're lookin' at a week and a half, mebbee two, 'til she's all together and cannons at the ready.....

<_<

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Replica pirate ship arrives early for July harbor festival

Saturday, May 13, 2006

Brian Albrecht

Plain Dealer Reporter

Can you give a hearty "Arrrrrr" with a suitable "shiver-me-timbers" pirate's growl?

If so, you're ready to properly welcome the Royaliste, a replica 18th-century privateer and pirate ship that rolled into the Whiskey Island Marina Wednesday.

The vessel arrived early for the upcoming 2006 Tall Ships Challenge in July, "sailing" on a tractor-trailer flatbed all the way from its home port in San Francisco.

"It's probably the fastest that ship ever went in its life," driver Jackie Neal said of the five-day cross-country journey.

In coming weeks the 71-foot-long, 45-ton Royaliste will be rigged and its main mast repaired to make it lake-worthy for the Challenge, which features more than 20 sailing vessels visiting Great Lakes ports from Cleveland to Chicago July 12 to Aug. 9.

The ship was built in 1971 in Nova Scotia as a privateer-style yacht, then converted in 1992 to a "living history/re-enactment" vessel, once representing the Canadian War Museum.

Today it's operated by Privateer Inc., a nonprofit firm that keeps the ship financially afloat through appearance fees and rental to movie and television productions. (It appears in a History Channel special, "True Caribbean Pirates," slated to air July 9, just after the July 7 release of "Pirates of the Caribbean II.")

The ship -- a gaff-rigged, square tops'l ketch -- is an interpretation of vessels used from the French and Indian War (1755) through the Revolutionary War and War of 1812, according to Gary Bergman, 56, the owner and designated "pirate captain."

Its planked mahogany over an oak frame supports six cannons and assorted swivel guns, re- flecting the role these ships once played as privateers in capturing enemy merchant ships, and serving as fleet gunboat/shore-bombardment/dispatch vessels, convoy escorts and coastal patrol craft.

Bergman said American privateers were a key factor during the American Revolution, before this nation had its own fleet, in harassing English merchant shipping.

These privateers originally sailed with a 40- to 70-man crew that periodically diminished as ships were captured and men transferred to sail their prizes.

Sometimes, though, "you'd get down to about 15 guys and then you'd start looking like a target yourself," Bergman said.

This summer's volunteer crew of 10 will be half female.

He expects that pirates will be hot this year, due to the new "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie, and said that the ship and crew will be ready to educate visitors, as a floating museum of weaponry and information from that era.

Bergman said that when new crew members ask which nautical books they should read to prepare for duty aboard the Royaliste, he suggests his all-time favorite, the pirate's tale of "Treasure Island."

As he said while hefting Lafitte and Rosie, a pair of appropriately pirate-themed sailing parrots, "If you can't understand pirates, you can't hang on this boat."

Arrrrrr.[lmi: see above explanation: ]-NT%>

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

balbrecht@plaind.com, 216-999-4853

© 2006 The Plain Dealer

© 2006 cleveland.com All Rights Reserved.

~Black Hearted Pearl

The optimist expects the wind. The pessimist complains about the wind. The realist adjusts the sails.

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