silas thatcher

i am a fan of the captain, but i am no fan of dragging out a movie until it becomes stupid !! i think it is really hard to come up with sequels that are actually worth a crap... far too many have done that and have cheapened the crap outta the original... if it is done well, that is another story, but few have achieved that !!

despite the oppressive heat that year, i think a fun time was had by all... i talked to bos'n carl last night and he indicated that he and master allen would be in attendance, but i will let him speak for himself...

me, lady c., and the crew :)

as most have said, the best wear is to use them.... my breeches got fairly stained by simply using them as a napkin... wiped my hands on them even if i only thought they might be dirty... started up the ol' brazier with lump charcoal ?? wipe yer hands on them... had a few buttons fall off ( very wrong choice of thread ) my shirt is now stained, has powder burns, a rip or two and a nice burned cuff that i didn't know that caught an ember and slowly smoldered 'till someone noticed... tricorn is slightly outta shape, and i may leave it like that... sailor's short jacket has a few stains on it also (napkin theory ) i love the outdoors, so in the summer, i am fairly tanned, even my feet... i usually go barefoot... i don't like to shave, so i have a permanent 2 to 3 days growth ( i will buzz it down if i think it is getting too long ) in short, my garb is getting well used and is starting to look like it is.... all will come in time !!!

got a book of pirate cartoons by dan piraro, a government manual for new pirates by brozik and weinstein ( a light hearted book of pirate do's and don'ts ) and a HUGE book by steve brennan " the gigantic book of pirate stories " .... a quick glance showed that many period exerps (sp?) are used, so hopefuly it won't be full of misleading crap :)

plan on coming from st. louis, mo ... drive, vintage, drive !! garb ?? i have to do some new shirts anyway, with one pair of breeches and some slops under my belt, earlier pants should be no problem... an earlier coat ?? gotta try first and work the bugs out...kinda like PiP, but alot closer for us !!

qmj, i did find azure moon on the net, and it seems that they may be the only place in the world that still carries the gas... it is the flame adjustment guidelines i desparately needed, and i thank you for finding the link for me... radio shack used to carry the cylinders but like everything else, something else newer, and easier has phased it out...

let us know what we can do !!

carl. i finished this one right before the fall fort... needed it there also !! feeling better ??

pic of the short jacket i made using a ladies wool sweater :)

anyone ever use a micro torch like the one in the pic ?? it takes a butane cylinder, and nox (nitrous oxide ??)... i inherited this gem and have had it for about 27 years... i played with it back then and never was able to get the flame worth a crap to do anything but run out of gas...lack of knowing what the heck iwas doing probably played a huge part in this... but now i have found approximately 1,498 uses for it and wanna use it... i know how to use an oxy-acetalene torch, but have no idea how to adjust the flame on this set up porperly... google search was in vain... any help is appreciated :)

wow !! you guys wanna do the fort again ?? this year was the most brutal in memory....that was my first june fort...i was at the november fort last year and the weather was incredible...this year in november, it was very cold and windy... never the less, what are the chances of two bad years in a row ?? count us in as well... rusty carl and aj should be there, as well as dead man jim and his lass...more canvas for shade is in order, as well as cooler temps !! connie really wants to do put in bay and searle's... santa maria is just too cool to miss

happy b-day william !! even if i'm running a bit late !!

found a source for 18 oz. canvas, 60" wide for $9.00/ yard... seems like a pretty good deal to me.... what i was thinking of making with it is a new and larger dining fly...since most of them are usually using 10 0r 12 oz. canvas, i am thinking that a fly with this weight material would be heavy and troublesome.... any one with some experience chime in here ??

what about andrea doria... an english admiral sent to fight the barbary corsairs, especially barbarossa...

want some earlier garb as well...

any chance of moving this closer to the midwest, usa ??? sounds neat !!

over the winter, this is what i hope to accomplish.... wanna do some earlier garb ( 1660's) , need to make a few chairs, an extra table, maybe a few stools, and something like a side table... need to get some tent canvas, make a sod cloth for the wedge tent ( sucks in a cold wind !! ) make a few bags for cooking stuff...make a few more sea bags to hide stuff in...make covers for stuff like the water container set up the diamond shelter we just got, make a pole or two, and learn how to set it up correctly....may try making my own tent stakes, bought 10 of them for $2 each...but i need alot more !! gotta redo my tent ropes, the toggles i made slip too much ( too big a hole ! ) make proper lanyards for my ditty bags... cover a few more bottles, do knot work on my tent stake puller and a few other items... maybe make a few collapsible chests to hide stuff in, maybe a table in a box... dip more beeswax candles, the first ones turned out pretty good... hunt down some more lanterns that take stick candles... find some proper shoes that won't break the bank !! get a bigger fly for the wall tent....or maybe make one from some proper tent canvas... yeah !! how much can i accomplish ???

mad anne bailey gracing williams creation at fort de chartres, fall fort..

i'll be there on thursday thru sunday.... you'll know the encampment when you see it :)

for a couple of weeks, it had done nothing but rain, so the ground was soaked... the water was actually bleeding through wherever any weight sat on it... after walking in a few times, i could see my footprints soaking through the plastic tarp and the canvas on top of it !!

wow !! nice job !! can't really tell too much from the pics, but are the front and back slanted ?? and where do you get your locks and hinges ??

until recently, i have been using plastic tarps from the hardware store ,and covering it with canvas drop cloths as a ground cloth... recent rains have shown that water still bleeds through the woven plastic tarps... i think it was patrick hand that mentioned cnavas treated for an effective ground cloth is heavier than you would believe, which makes it close to impractical ( for him on an airplane ) short of using plastic sheeting, what else is available as an effective h2o barrier ??

wow !! sorry for the big pic !! never mind... it got sized down...