MarkG

Aw, I am sure that is the case.

This has just been one of those years that has kicked me arse every damn chance it's gotten. It's the first year since I started piratin' that I haven't been able to go to a single event - and I know I won't be able to until PiP. There's been too much loss, too much stress, and too much UGH and I am totally ready for some ARRRGGG! I've been watching all the FB stuff about Santa Maria and Payne's and been soooo jealous! I cannot wait until I get to play with you all again too!

There's another Santa Maria event in three and a half weeks. Still time to sign on.

Mark

Chances are very good they're already melted it. It destroys the evidence and it quickly becomes a bankable asset that is easy to sell on the open markets a piece at a time. Hell, you can sell it in a mall these days, no questions asked. Pirates would have done the same thing back in the day. Some things never change, especially where gold is concerned. Wished I would have thought of it.

- Hurricane

I hope not. A good bit of its value is the collectible value.

Mark

Aye, true enough.......... However if Pedersoli made the Queen Anne pistol as an actual turn-off piece, it would add quite a bit to the price. For our purposes, which is mostly firing blank loads, a turn-off barrel really serves no purpose. The Pedersoli piece is still considerably better than what comes out of India as to quality and reliability right out of the box. I have always thought of it as a great entry-level pistol.

>>>>> Cascabel

Most people who want to fire a ball are going to want a different pistol anyway - something longer and possibly rifled - so making it as a screw-on barrel would just add to the expense without adding anything. After all, you can't tell by looking at it that the barrel doesn't screw off. The few people who do want to fire one can carry a separate rammer.

I got one for my wife a couple of years ago. The kit makes a nice-looking pistol that goes together easily.

Mark

Ah, yes. Searle's was great fun last year. I was just telling someone that even though Searle's has serious rules about period clothing, in many ways I thought it was more laid back than PiP. Plus the food is amazing. (Not quite as good as Cafe Sole or the corn and conch chowder at the Rum Barrel, but not quite as expensive either.) If time and budget permit, I'll see you guys there.

You know, the Menendez landing is coming up in a few weeks... just sayin :)

For some reason I can't quite pinpoint, going to Florida in August to wear period clothes does not sound very appealing to me.

It can't be any hotter than Indiana in August.

Mark

So I thought I would share the photos from this past weekend at the Pirates in Paynetown event... And maybe a short bit of a AAR/recap.

Link to Kate Souris' photos

So it was a hot weekend, probably the second most uncomfortable of my re-enacting career (second to this past June's outing at Fort De Chartres), but outside of the temperatures, it was a blast. A lot of boating got done, but not as much sailing as I would have liked. It just seemed as if whenever the breeze picked up enough, there was too much going on landside to get out, or it was just not a good time... And when there were opportunities for sailing, the breeze just wasn't good for it. So, most of the boating (for me) was rowing.

The Saturday battle more or less got rained out, as after the first few exchanges of canons, swivel guns, and musket firings, the sky opened up, and for the safety of those out in the boats, we all raced ashore and finished the battle up as quickly as possible. Sunday's battle was one of the more enjoyable battles I have been in this season though.

There were a lot of great folks out, some new friends, and many I had met before. Attendance was comparable to last year, but perhaps a few less (hard times and all). Saturday night got strange, but in a fun way, when most of the encampment went out swimming on the nearby beach. Many changed into modern swimming gear for this, but a goodly amount of us, just went out in our period clothing. It was a really fun and interesting experience seeing a bunch of re-enactors in such a state. It's hard to fully explain the experience, but it is a memory that will stick with me for a very long time, as it was so unique.

Anyways, that is the short version. A great time was had, and I for one certainly can not wait for next year!

Attendance was down a bit. Nate said that one an entire British unit got the flu. Too bad, I usually spend an evening or two playing music with them. It was still a well-attended event.

Common Stock was fun to watch. They were the entertainers.

It was really hot all day Friday and Sunday afternoon but Saturday was manageable.

It seemed like there were fewer pirate trappings around camp than in previous years but more boats.

I really enjoyed the Sunday battle. I think it worked better than any of the others. Having boat to boat fighting works better than shooting at cannons with small arms.

If we are lucky the current El Nino event that caused record summer heat will have ended by next year and temperatures will be back to normal.

Mark

This is just plain scary.

Yea we are pirates we might be having fun but thinking you hump or do other things like that is just plain scary.

" Fuck YOU SKY BITCHES "

I love that quote.

Wired linked to this video months ago. It is a spoof.

Mark

That's true. However, I've always sort of thought of Peter Pan as a kid's story, not a pirate story. (I know, I know. I'm splitting hairs.)

Funny thing about Peter Pan - that's where the idea that pirates made people walk the plank came from. Yes, I know that there are a few historic instances but it didn't hit the public consciousness until Peter Pan. Just like buried treasure came from Treasure Island.

Mark

Here's the official synopsis:

Mark

OTOH, it would be interesting to see what Speilburg might do with a pirate story. (I doubt he'd follow this book overmuch, because the story is so pedestrian.) He's usually a smart director. Recent history suggests that it is really tough to make a pirate movie in the mold of the classics - which was the way it seemed to me that this story is written. It was tried over and over again in the 20 years preceding POTC and failed at the Box Office.) In fact, I'd guess that if they had made POTC the way it was originally written (without Depp's bizarre take on Captain Jack), it wouldn't have been quite the success that it was.

Well, that's my 2 pennies worth, anyhow.

Speilburg had pirates in Hook. They were boring. In fact the whole movie was boring.

I remember looking at the pirates and the lost boys and realizing which group I would be with (not the annoying kids).

The ship was ok.

If you think about it, you can picture a tall, hansom actor as Jack Sparrow in the first movie. If you've seen Kevin Klein in Pirates of Penzance, the part was probably written for that type of character - heroic but every now and then he would trip and fall.

Mark

I have two books coming in the mail via amazon I am curious to know some opinions of. The two books are "Silver" by Edward Chupack, and "The Pirate Primer" by George Choundas. Has anyone read them? Any thoughts? I am also curious about "Flint and Silver", but have neither read, nor ordered it as of yet.

I haven't read "Silver" but I can recomend "Flint and Silver" and "Pieces of Eight". Both are installments of a Treasure Island prequel series by John Drake. They are being published in England and are difficult to come by in the US but Amazon carries them.

There is also "Pirate Freedom" by Gene Wolfe which is also pretty good.

The Pirate's Primer is ok for what it is but it didn't impress me.

Mark

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/07/29/black_tot_rum/

Those of you with a taste for rum and 600 quid to spare might like to uncork a bottle of Black Tot "Last Consignment" British Royal Naval Rum, lovingly decanted from the official stocks held by the Senior Service since sailors' final rum ration in 1970.

On July 31 of that year, at precisely six bells in the forenoon watch, Jack tars were issued their ultimate hit of rum on what became known as "Black Tot Day". The remaining rum - likely imported from the West Indies in oak barrels by official supplier ED & F Man & Co - was poured into stone flagons and transferred to HM bonded warehouses, where it lay undisturbed, apart from tapping for the odd state occasion.

Six thousand bottles of Black Tot rum have now been released to landlubbers to mark the 40th anniversary of Black Tot Day. For your £599 you get a 70cl bottle* of 54.3 per cent strength rum in a custom wooden box, complete with 80-page history of naval rum by spirits author Dave Broom, a certificate of authenticity and, crucially, a half gill copper cup to dispense the correct ration.

See here for the complete article

Canadian archeologists have found a ship abandoned more than 150 years ago in the quest for the fabled Northwest Passage and which was lost in the search for the doomed expedition of Sir John Franklin, the head of the team said Wednesday.Marc-Andre Bernier, Parks Canada's head of underwater archaeology, said the HMS Investigator, abandoned in the ice in 1853, was found in shallow water in Mercy Bay along the northern coast of Banks Island in Canada's western Arctic.

"The ship is standing upright in very good condition. It's standing in about 11 meters (36 feet) of water," he said. "This is definitely of the utmost importance. This is the ship that sailed the last leg of the Northwest Passage."

Related article here

Canadian archaeologists have located a British ship abandoned in the Arctic while on a 19th Century rescue mission.

Parks Canada researchers found HMS Investigator in Mercy Bay this week.

Canada's government says the discovery bolsters its claim to sovereignty over the Northwest Passage, which is feared threatened by increased shipping.

The Investigator was abandoned while searching for the Franklin expedition, itself lost with all its crew during a mission to discover the passage.

What do you think about recruiting people to do displays? After seeing everyone pitch in at Put-in-Bay, I was thinking about all those splendidly dressed folks hanging out on the tiered lawn and all their latent potential. (Not make it a required thing, you understand, just to give them an option - a suggestion, a hint. Everyone did such a fine job at P-i-B....)

I'm on it! I am going to ensure the gambling/gaming demo gets done again, as it is a lot of fun, and potentially very interactive (see last paragraph of this blog). If real life and time permit, I hope to even have reproduction period coins for that demo. Jay, Sam and I really had a good time of that on Sunday at P-I-B, and I feel foolish for not thinking of getting that going on Saturday. The gaming demo is a great one, because anyone can come in and exit out of the demo at leisure. Kate (the wife) has some good ideas she has been kicking around for quite a while as well.

I'm also contemplating a more fun (but a bit off the wall) addition for Friday night, but I want to run it past Mark G and some of the others before I getting a feel for it here (it is fun but would require a majority participate).

Some other activities will be going on across the river. The arts festival will be going on again. Riverfire will be held both nights. That's fire juggling and music. I know the Irish band performing Saturday night.

BTW, I have a "shut the box" game which is easier to document than that thing with the dreidel. I think that there was one on the Whydah (at least that's what the accompanying gift shop claimed).

Mark

3. Pewter spoons and plates, some marked with Masonic symbols. The exhibit says that Jacobites used Masconic symbols, so there's another point for the pirates-were-Jacobites crowd.

The whole Masons/Jacobites thing is debateable (and has been debated... extensively... with no firm conclusions). I'm interested though that there were more than one item with Masonic symbols - I was only aware of the one plate. Of course, it's quite possible that it was a former owner that was a Mason rather than a pirate. FWIW, the only image I've seen of "Masonic" symbolism (on the aforementioned plate) hasn't entirely convinced me - it's a bit crudely done for a group who apparently took their symbolism very seriously. I'd like to see the other pieces.

Bear in mind too that not all Jacobites were Masons, or vice versa, so the presence of a small amount of Masonic symbolism is not really evidence of piratical Jacobitism.

Looks like my long-held view that pirates were basically non-political may be plain wrong.

Is anyone entirely non-political?

11. Overall the quality of the reconstruction was pretty good. I disagreed with some of the captions. One said that pirates baording a prize would have carried boarding pikes; with your hands occupied I doubt a boarding pike would have been practical. The section on the slave trade was msotly accurate, but inaccurately said that Africans attacked slave forts to free their brethren. Yes, Africans attacked slave forts, but it was for the same reason Europeans attacked each others' slave forts: to take the slaves and other wealth and use them for their own ends. It also suggested that pirates didn't use slaves, but they ignored Henry Morgan's articles specifying buccaneers' compensation in terms of slaves. Aside from that, though, they did a pretty good job.

Bear in mind that the director of the Whydah exhibit is one of the foremost advocates of the "black men were free on pirate ships" argument...

In the 18th century, a high percentage of gentlemen were Masons so Masonic designs were likely to show up regardless of sympathies.

I don't know about attacking with boarding pikes but that would be the best weapon to keep boarders from coming over the rail.

Mark

just picked up a brass bucket that has some splits in it...about 4 inches is the longest one...

i know there is a way to fix it, but how ?? brazing (sp?) comes to mind, but wanna hear from someone who knows for sure...

I'd go with lead-free plumbing soldier. Unless you are really good at brazing you are likely to burn through the thin brass. Also, I'd apply it from the inside. As long as you have something liquid in it, it shouldn't get hot enough on the inside to melt the soldier.

Mark

What do you think about recruiting people to do displays? After seeing everyone pitch in at Put-in-Bay, I was thinking about all those splendidly dressed folks hanging out on the tiered lawn and all their latent potential. (Not make it a required thing, you understand, just to give them an option - a suggestion, a hint. Everyone did such a fine job at P-i-B....)

I'm on it! I am going to ensure the gambling/gaming demo gets done again, as it is a lot of fun, and potentially very interactive (see last paragraph of this blog). If real life and time permit, I hope to even have reproduction period coins for that demo. Jay, Sam and I really had a good time of that on Sunday at P-I-B, and I feel foolish for not thinking of getting that going on Saturday. The gaming demo is a great one, because anyone can come in and exit out of the demo at leisure. Kate (the wife) has some good ideas she has been kicking around for quite a while as well.

I'm also contemplating a more fun (but a bit off the wall) addition for Friday night, but I want to run it past Mark G and some of the others before I getting a feel for it here (it is fun but would require a majority participate).

I have a stash of repro Spanish coins for gambling and such.

Some good news from the ship - so far the ship has had its best attendance in years. More people (20,000+) have been through the ship so far this year than usually go through in an entire year.

Mark

Unfortunately, several times on Mythbusters on Discovery Channel they have showed the construction of several home made cannon. Undoubtedly, someone in their home will say "oh hey, I can do that" or "that'd be cool to have." Then they run down to their local hardware store and get what they need to make a ticking pipe bomb cannon on wheels. I can almost guarantee there are probably websites on the internet that show how to make your own cannons as well.

The cannon that the Mythbusters welded together worries me. I think that they realize that it is questionable. They always run behind a lexan screen when firing it.

Years ago a friend made a 16th century "organ gun" out of iron pipes and wondered why I didn't want to be anywhere near it.

The article said that the barrel was 2 inches in diameter. That sounds a lot like steel tubing.

Mark

After Hurricane "Wilma" tore through Fort Lauderdale some of the saddest wreckage I saw in her wake was the uprooting of these ancient Live Oaks that stood around the Memorial Park Cemetary. The huge Banyans remained due to their roots dropping from the branches as they spread wide from their trunks. weeks later I saw these huge sections being loaded on flatbeds and in curiosity inquired as to their destination. I was told they were headed for Connecticut, "Mystic?" I asked and the answer was yes! This is but one photo of the oak sawn for Futtocks, to make up Double Sawn Frames. I have posted a few others in my Gallery.

The Schooner in the background is the "Amistad".

Mystic has done that before. Normally the only live oaks left are in people's yards and they get angry when a boat-wright knocks at their door asking if he can cut down their shade tree. After Hurricane Hugo they sent a crew down to clean up fallen live oaks, free of charge. They have their own sawmill so, after some seasoning, they made live oak available to other historic ships (for a price). I know that the Constitution and the Mayflower II have oak from Mystic.

Mark

I happened to be in Mystic Seaport the day after the Morgan was hauled out so I got a few pictures. I just posted some.

Mark

After Hurricane "Wilma" tore through Fort Lauderdale some of the saddest wreckage I saw in her wake was the uprooting of these ancient Live Oaks that stood around the Memorial Park Cemetary. The huge Banyans remained due to their roots dropping from the branches as they spread wide from their trunks. weeks later I saw these huge sections being loaded on flatbeds and in curiosity inquired as to their destination. I was told they were headed for Connecticut, "Mystic?" I asked and the answer was yes! This is but one photo of the oak sawn for Futtocks, to make up Double Sawn Frames. I have posted a few others in my Gallery.

The Schooner in the background is the "Amistad".

Mystic has done that before. Normally the only live oaks left are in people's yards and they get angry when a boat-wright knocks at their door asking if he can cut down their shade tree. After Hurricane Hugo they sent a crew down to clean up fallen live oaks, free of charge. They have their own sawmill so, after some seasoning, they made live oak available to other historic ships (for a price). I know that the Constitution and the Mayflower II have oak from Mystic.

Mark

The "shorts" that the slaves are wearing (with the shackle around their ankle when not working) in Flanders were worn throughout the Spanish empire at that time....they were called Zaraguelles, and were made from anjeo which was a course linen imported from Anjou France most commonly, though occasionally you see them as being made from wool and rarely out of a heavy silk taffeta.

Sea chest contents of Antonio Gonzalez, age 26 from Triana on a voyage to New Spain in 1571:

"-Three old zaraguelles, one of linen, another of coarser linen, and another of black woolen cloth...."

Courtesy of Pablo E. Perez-Mallaina

Cheers,

Adam C.

I was wondering about the ankle thing. Some men have them. Most who have one only have one but one guy has two. Were they iron bands lined with rags to keep them from chafing?

Jamestown Settlements lost some of their reference works and put out a call for documentation showing sailors wearing slops to justify how the sailors are dressed on their 1607 ships. I found some nice examples from the British Museum that I thought were worth sharing.

First there is this guy from 1600. Notice the thrum cap and cassock (the pull-over). It is hard to tell how full his slops are but there is no question that they are straight-legged instead of gathered below the knee.

Next are some etchings from Flanders, 1647. These are from a set of views from a waterfront.

One final etching. Notice the sailor sitting on the right. Very full slops and another thrum cap.

A couple of observations about these:

1) I have seen assertions that slops were worn over regular breeches. None of these show any sign of having another layer underneath. Breeches during this period were very full and would show if the slops were being worn over them.

2) The slops were not limited to just sailors.

Mark

We are having a pirate weekend on the Santa Maria (just an hour north of the Ohio Ren Fair) on that weekend.

Mark

I missed out on some good stuff on Friday and Saturday night.

You sure did....

If I could get a reasonably priced place to stay next year, I'd probably make a weekend of it.

I've done a quick search (like very quick), and I have not been able to locate a rental source for the small cabins I noticed on the shuttle from last year. I'm not sure they would be cheap, but when I saw them last year they left me with the impression they would be one of the more cost effective accommodations on the island (given one pooled in with two or three people, as they looked like small two or three bedroom cottages). The hotel we had access to for showers and breakfasts also looked like it might have been reasonable (but loud as it was on the "main strip").

We found the Park Hotel's web site. They go up from $112/night for a doublesize bed. Three twin beds are $145/night. And that's with a shared bath.

I don't think that any accommodations in PIB are cheap.

Mark

Good photos Mission... did Maddogge actually do Living History demos???

He did indeed. Everyone was always doing something that was interesting to the people coming by. It was really awesome. :)

The organizers, including the Mayor, were really happy with the displays. Several people mentioned us to them. They want us back next year... in greater numbers.

Mark

The point that large ships required much more maintenance and more specialized personnel is valid. But note that some pirates, like Bartholomew Roberts, dealt with this problem by simply switching to newly captured large ships, so they didn't have to deal with the headache of maintaining their old one.

Captain Kidd switched ships for the same reason. He started with the Adventure Galley but eventually abandoned it because it was worm-eaten.

Mark