MarkG

I was thinking more of when the last ones were used instead of when the first ones appeared but I also have a Mediterranean bias because of our Santa Maria. The cog was a Medieval workhorse of a boat and was big enough that it had to have a stern-post mounted tiller. Mark

Not in the slightest. Disorganized pirates sail off in all directions and the prey gets away. Mark

Cringe... Hawkyns, how about not so much an organization, but rather than an agreed upon set of conventions the we agree to use here to describe events, particular the more re-enactment oriented ones (and all the permutations of that phrase)? I'm all for standards in the hobby, as long as they are optional and a personal choice, not a governing body mandate (there's enough of that in "real life", escaping that is one of my main loves of this hobby). An agreed on set of terms and/or descriptives doesn't need management or leaders or any of those "ugly" terms some of the more anarchic of us shy away from or down right rail against. It just needs to be laid out, discussed, and agreed on by a fair majority of those of us who organize and run events, and then adhered to when posting about our events here (and trying to share and spread those terms and encouraging the usage of those definitions in other circles as well). We can all differentiate: a pub crawl, a public historic display encampment, and private immersion encampment, and many other variations without needing to call it an organization. And as long as a majority is willing to be flexible on terms, and not dig their heels in too deeply about this term or that term applying to their idea and no one else's idea, it should be a fairly easy process. In my estimation would only take a few weeks to discuss out on the forum, and ensure lots of feedback is gotten regarding it. It will likely get frustrating at times, but I think it could work well. Flexibility to re-address the topic and the topic being stickied could make such a discussion have many long years of enduring value. Or am I just splitting hairs on semantics here, and are we talking about the same thing in different terms? Without mentioning names or getting into politics, 17th century colonial and English Civil War reenacting never formed an umbrella organization but we have come to general agreements on how to conduct ourselves in a battle. Specifics like ramming or not or fencing rules are decided on by the host group for the event. It all works. I will say that one thing that attracted me to piracy was the lack of military structure. After decades of military reenactments it is nice to have an every-man-for-himself battle. At the same time I have been concerned watching how some pirates handle their weapons. I think that an event that concentrated on weapons training would be useful. Mark

Excellent! Delighted to hear that! Regarding "port" and "starboard," my understanding is that "port" was initially used just for helm orders, to avoid the possibility of confusion because "starboard" and "larboard" sound so similar. Only much later did "port" supplant "larboard" for other uses. And I read in Time-Life's The Vikings that "starboard" goes all the way back to the Vikings, whose steering oar on the right side of the vessel was called the stjornbord. The steering oar was still mounted on the right side of the ship into the 14th century. By the 15th century they were hanging the rudder from the stern and using a tiller. Obviously the term continued long after it stopped being descriptive. Mark

I think we're talking about two different things. The platform that pushes the shrouds and chains out further is called the channel. In Foxe's picture, they're getting ready to climb onto the channel. But in Foxe's picture you can also see a step on the side of the ship, just a couple of inches higher and inboard from the channel, that runs all along the side of the ship; you can see one crewman's leg standing on it. The same step can be seen in this picture: the lower fluke of the anchor points right to it. The step could be easily reached from a boat, although I sure as hell wouldn't want to try it in a heavy sea. I'm not sure if there is such a step in your picture of the Kalmar Nyckel, although maybe those long brown-painted strakes on the sides project out far enough to step on; it's hard to see from this angle. I can see the fixed ladder on the Kalmar Nyckel, just between the aftermost gunport and the main chains. I'm guessing that that "platform" is the main deck extending past the rail. It's in the right place and I can't think of any other reason for it. I can see it being done that way to strengthen the deck and the rail. I'm familiar with most of the 16th and 17th century ships in America and I've climbed over some of them. I've never seen this feature on any of the others. I don't know how common it would have been in period. Mark

The frozen tundra of the north isn't the same without you. Mark

The "step" is part of most large sailing ships. The mast is held in place on either side by shrouds (these are what sailors climb using horizontal ratlines). It order to get a better angle and reduce the strain on the shrouds, the are attached to the hull with a small platform to push them out further. On many ships this makes an easy way to climb on. On the Mayflower, that is how you get on and off of the longboat or the Shallop. You can see the same feature on the kalmar nyckel. It also has a built-in ladder. Mark

A) Yes. I've worked as a gunner on the Providence, the Quinnipiac, and the Half Moon. Hauled lines, stood watches in the freezing dawn, fired broadsides. As an Idler, I don't have to go aloft, but beyond that, yes. Food- lived on bully beef and biscuit when I've been in the woods for a week or so. The head? Talk to the Coast Guard. they have rules about that. Yes. Been teaching swordplay for 20 plus years. Cutlass, broadsword, and rapier. No masks, no fancy armor, just blunted steel and bruises. and it is NOT choreographed. Working from period 16th/17th c manuals. C) Yes. Handgonne, wheellock, matchlock, flintlock. Fired them all, cleaned them all, stripped and done maintainance on them. With the matchlock, smoothbore, unpatched, I can get 5 inch groups on our 50 yard range. Won the shooting competition at St. Mary's Cittie a bunch of times. Does that count? D) Yes. I own 4 cannon. I've built carriages, both land and sea, for all of them. I've commanded land batteries of nine guns, and gundecks of 4 guns. Worked the orlop deck on the Half Moon on my knees, with the end of the rammer going under water as the ship heeled. Been artillery safety officer more times than I can count. E) Yes. Our swordplay instruction includes hand to hand, grappling, whatever is needed. Next? Hawkyns Worked a ship? Check. It's been a while since I've been aloft but I can and have done it. I've also had my turn at the whipstaff and sailed my own small boat. Weapons - cannon crew? check. Long arms? check. Small arms? Check. Edged weapons (blunted)? Check. Hand to hand? Check. Mark

Heck - I draw the line at launching babies from trebuchets. They don't have enough mass to penetrate. Mark

Being mentioned in the same sentence as the Sea Rats - I guess that's a good thing. Actually, they do look like real pirates - a bunch of young guys who are so down on their luck they've taken to robbing other sailors. Mark

I spent a weekend at MTA telling people about how the Jamestown colonists burned the natives' houses and food. No pedestal here but I try to stop short of putting them in a hole. The last Paynetown event had several ragged citizens and one filthy indentured servant in an iron collar offering to do people's laundry. Plus Michael got roughed up. In fact, this was one of the better living history camps I have seen in 30+ years of reenacting. Mark

While these were not used in the battle, someone at Searle's (2009 edition) had one of these, I asked them about them and they went further to say they used tennis balls, and burnt the "fuzzy" stuff off with a home propane torch, and used the matte finish barbecue paint to get a real nice look, and filled them with some sand to give amore realistic weight to them as well. On the whole, I think these look great, but while it may be safe enough to do in a reasonably controlled environment, is one of those issues that would most likely raise the hackles of almost all safety police (if not the real police as well). Anyone mind if I move this thread over to "The Workshop" area? It is more about "how to make a repro" than it is about what actual grenadoes were about. I've been in battles where these were used. As Michael said - tennis balls painted black with an old-fashioned film canister in it. You use modern fuse and around 10 grains of powder which is enough to pop the cap off of the film can and release some smoke. Mark

They do set one up at Paynetown. Maybe Nate could help you find someone to set one up. One of the volunteers for the Santa Maria set on up a few times in 1992. He made his from some pieces of plywood with screw hooks. He couldn't get a very tight twist with it but it showed the principles. Google "rope making" for instructions. Here's one site. http://www.mkdrafting.com/Rope_maker.htm One of the longest rope walks in the country used to be in Plymouth, Mass. Part of it was converted into a mall. The rest was disassembled and moved to Mystic Seaport. Mark

This is decades later but the original Constellation was a frigate with an opening on the main deck down to the gun deck. When they tried to convert the current Constellation from a Sloop of War into a Frigate, they put this in. Later they realized that they were two separate ships - one decommissioned and a new one built in the same shipyard rather than the original being refit. Even later they realized that the sloop gained a lot of its strength from the main deck planks stretching the entire length of the ship. Between the big hole they cut in the middle and other places where they replaced rotted pieces of wood, the ship lost structural integrity and started to hog (the ends drooped down). They ended up preserving it by building a new hull around the original one to give it strength. That's what you see today. Mark

Linda says that an extra service call was $52 last year. Mark

A sorority will be coming through Friday evening. They are doing a Treasure Island theme and Linda would appreciate having a few pirates around for them to talk to. I will ask her about an extra portolet cleaning. Mark

Let's start a round of "What do you do with a drunken sailor?" Mark

There were also two boats in the camps. The Sea Rats brought one and an early 19th century group brought another. I wasn't with any of the GAoP groups but I got to crew the largest and loudest artillery piece. Jamestown's saker is a monster of a piece. Mark

The Register also covered this: The director of the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean outing has decreed that actresses with breast implants will not be welcome to swash their buckles alongside the 100 per cent natural and impressive pirate's chest of Penelope Cruz. Rob Marshall has instructed Los Angeles casting agents that he's after "beautiful female fit models" for scenes to be shot in Hawaii this summer. He adds: "Must be 5ft 7in-5ft 8in, size 4 or 6, no bigger or smaller. Age 18-25. Must have a lean dancer body. Must have real breasts. Do not submit if you have implants." According to the Daily Mail, anyone with Bulgarian airbags who reckons she can fool the Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides team should be aware Marshall is planning a "show and tell" day during which "applicants will be expected to pass a test specifically designed to detect false breasts".* Ms Cruz will not, of course, have to submit her assets for testing. She's replacing the less prominent Keira Knightley (see pic, with Orlando Bloom), who admitted that make-up artists "literally painted in my cleavage" for her role as Elizabeth Swann. ® Bootnote * Note to Rob Marshall: We at the El Reg Bootnotes department feel we're particularly well qualified to carry out this crucial testing. Give us a call... Mark

I think that it is the first - they were cheap, plentiful, and didn't last long. Lots of paintings of commoners and tradesmen show them with some form or another of straw hat from the middle ages through the 19th century. They still wear them in some areas. There is no reason that they couldn't be cocked into a tricorn but I'm now sure how often this was actually done. It doesn't help that some 17th century straw hats were colored. It is possible that some of the pirates wearing tricorns in woodcuts were wearing black straw hats. There is no way to tell. Here is a site that documents straw hats through the middle ages and early 17th century. http://www.larsdatter.com/strawhats.htm Mark

The spike through the tongue was a common punishment. This was done to colonists at Jamestown who missed church during the martial law period. Mark

This book and The Anubis Gate, also by Tim Powers, had characters who had absorbed magic which gave them extra abilities and weaknesses. They couldn't touch the earth and their powers were useless against someone who was grounded (wrap a chain around your bare ankle and let it drag). Magnetised blood was also effective. Ponce de Leon had bathed in a magic fountain - the basis of the Fountain of Youth - which should have made him ageless but he had aged over the centuries due to contact with the Earth. In the novel, Blackbeard followed secret waterways to bath in the Fountain. This let him survive his death at the hands of Lt. Maynard. Mark

I don't understand either of these two routes. I understand that you take the trade winds to the West Indies, but aren't the Azores way too far north for the trade winds? I thought the trade winds blew about between 10 and 30 degrees, with the horse latitudes about 30 to 35 degrees, and the prevailing westerlies between 35 degrees and the poles. The Azores are at about 38 degrees North. Shouldn't they be in the westerlies? The detour to Brazil when en route to the Cape of Good Hope also matches with my memory. But the southern trade winds blow from the east and southeast, don't they? Wouldn't they be dead foul for a ship trying to reach the Cape of Good Hope from Brazil? It looks to me like you'd have to keep going south almost to the Roaring Forties before you had a fair wind for the Cape of Good Hope. Darned if I can see what help the trade winds would be for that part of the trip. That doesn't sound right to me, either. The Columbus Route involved sailing to the Canaries, not the Azores. To return, you could catch the Gulf Stream off of Florida. I thought that if you went as far north as Newfoundland you hit Westerlies. Mark

When Jennie was pregnant, she discovered that 17th century styles are easily adjusted at least through the 6th month - not surprising when you remember that women in period couldn't run out and buy maternity clothes. She hiked things up and loosened her stays and the clothing accommodated. I don't think that we did anything the last trimester. We left our daughter with grandparents for the first couple of years. After that we would bring her and she would occupy herself. If one or more children around the same age were there then she had a ball. Children at reenactments don't need a lot of watching over - at least when the site controls visitors. A classic moment came when she was six. She had been playing with a bucket in a pond at Salem and she looked up and said, "I get it, we're playing that it's a long, long time ago." When our daughter got older she started watching the younger kids. Jennie's sister and her son have joined us at some events and the same was true for him. He always had fun and often spent the time playing with a couple of other boys. Mark