darkthing

I hooked up with Raul today and got three coils of line, and Raul's diagram of the pier. Right now I have confirmed that Jennifer, Cameron, and I will be on the pier to toss lines, but we may need another person or three to help out. Claire, if you have an idea of other crewmembers who will be arriving by land who would be able to help with docking, it would be a good idea for us to set up a rendezvous for the 17th.

I don't know what other reenacting you do, but the Royaliste is a mid-18th century ship and this pistol would fit right in. The Tales of the Seven Seas folks are about the most easy-going reenactors I've ever met when it comes to authenticity, so they don't fuss about me bringing me caplocks aboard. From a distance there's no one going to notice the date on yer piece, just the smoke and thunder of a fyne black powder gun. I've been eyein' the blunderbuss from the same company (Middlesex Village Trading). Since they're in the states, do you know if they ship their arms with the touchhole drilled? The Canadians are restricted by their export laws. I'd actually prefer a percussion capped blunderbuss, but I've never seen a firin' reproduction o' one. Seem to be plenty o' antiques out there, but I'd rather not shoot an ancient piece o' history.

Akasha and I will be "landlubbers" that day, and will be meeting the Royaliste at the Lighthouse. If'n ye bring a cellphone aboard we can coordinate the timin' to be there when ye pull in.

Aaaarrrh! I still be shiverin' in me boots thinkin' o' the terrors o' that gang o' wee scalliwags! I'll take a hot an' hairy gunbattle o'er that torment anyday!

I first heard about pirate reenacting from a guy I knew from the goth scene. Akasha and I frequent the local goth clubs, but I don't think we qualify as the kind of "scary vampire goths" that everyone seems to want to write about. I dress in black, and that's about it.

I love the look o' those "pocket yachts"! Could outfit one like a mini pirate ship real easy, with an aft castle and a few small guns. Unfortunately, I don't think their flat bottoms would sit very kindly on our choppy SF Bay.

The smell of fear from me victims! Nothin' sweeter! Though if gold had a smell, I'd go with that.

Akasha and I could make a Friday night gig in Redwood City. I assume yer talkin' the 26th?

I've only sailed on me dad's small boats and the Royaliste. I've been scannin' the "for sale" listin's to buy me own boat, but I'm not sure I can handle the responsibility, after hearin' what Gary has to go through to keep the Royaliste afloat!

Aye, that movie's got the DREAD PIRATE ROBERTS! Too bad they only have a little seagoin' adventure in it.

One o' the things I liked about the POTC score is the way they choreographed the sword fights to the beat of the music, so that the swords clanged in time to the score. I don't remember noticin' that in any other pirate movie. It would be fun to duplicate that with swordplay in front of an orchestra.

Rope is a pirate's duct tape. A good skill with knots and lashings can hold most anything down. Or anyone.

I must thank the Royaliste, for hostin' us all on a grand adventure! I had a fantastic time, despite the turn in the weather towards the end. Sorry I had to wear me overcoat all day (lookin' like Napolean more than a pirate), instead of showin' off the beautiful frock coat Jennifer made for me. I guess that'll wait for warmer days.

A lot of us rogues got stuff to do on this long weekend...Valentine's and President's day. I know fer a fact that a bunch o' heavy posters were out on the Royaliste today, since I was blessed enough to be one of them. No DSL link when the ship's at sea!

Just don't go sprinklin' any o' that powder on yer eggs, cap'n! The saltpetre has a deflating effect on the libido. Doesn't say much fer Blackbeard and his rum-and-black-powder libations.

Someday! It seems like they're starting now, with our house (I be privileged to live w' Ferdinand and AkashaZuul). Ferdinand has just learned how to unscrew the bolts on the little steel carabiner things we use to put stuff up in his cage, so I don't think it'll be long before he figures out the latch on the cage door. Then he may start a'postin' here himself!

Black Tom Rackham, meself. Seems awfully similar to Kuthroat Kim's name.

I could go toss POTC in the DVD player and find out, but I'm not that motivated. Instead I'll guess: Is it an 80 foot tall statue of Mickey Mouse?

Indeed, ye always have a fresh opinion on things, and a good eye fer seein' what the rest of us take fer granted. Me hat's off to ye! :)

Perhaps yer thinkin' o' "Mr. Prostitute" from "Yellowbeard"?

I be thinkin' ye mis-spelled that link. I had better luck w' this: A Pirate's Life for Me... A fine site, that. Puts me t' shame I don't have one o' me own.

Thar's a good list o' fine old pirate movies at: Swashbuckler's Cove I've no idea who runs this site and have never ordered from there, but the list o' classic movies looks pretty complete. You can also catch a lot of the old pirate flicks on cable TV.

EBay is a HUGE community, and there are all sorts of sellers on there. I find it is important to differentiate between the professionals, who just use eBay as a storefront, and the amateurs, who use it as a "garage sale". You're never going to get a bargain from a professional, who knows what things are worth. It's in the "garage sales" that I've found the good stuff cheap. How do you tell them apart? For one thing, professionals tend to have "Buy it now" prices, amateurs (who don't know the value of what they're selling) tend not to. Professionals have flashy HTML descriptions and studio-quality pictures, while amateurs are text-only and poorer pics. My favorite technique is to look for alternate keywords and mis-spellings in the titles. For example, I was in the market for a US Navy "Bridge Coat" (like a pea coat but longer) as an overcoat for sailin' in the wintertime. These items normally resell for $100+ for a used coat in a regular men's size (I wear a 42, the smaller sizes are much cheaper). I got one recently for $30 from a seller who didn't know what it was, and listed it as a "Navy Trenchcoat" instead of using the words "Bridge Coat" in the title. The seller was happy to get rid of this musty vintage coat, and I got the coat I wanted for a quarter the price! It's like legal piracy!

You can never have too many pairs o' boots. :)

I have one of their 14th century hand-and-a-half swords (a bit early for pirates, I know). I'm no blade expert, but it seems as well made as any I've seen. Their web site says there's a 9 month wait for delivery these days, unfortunately.