Elena

It helps a lot, thank you very much! I guess this is how it is usually done aboard a (pirate) ship (since they are not quite welcome in any port) and if they have more to do, they can get a purpose-built fireplace on an island out of the regular ships' way... exactly how they are doing when careening a ship.

I mean, how does the forge look like, the little one you set up at a faire and dismantle rather quickly afterwards? I am not speaking about an allegedly established workshop, but rather of a temporary one they might have on a ship (to be put into operation only when needed) or they can set it up quickly on a desert island, to be taken back aboard the ship one week later...

Anyone describing it, please? And anyone having a photo? Giving credits in the upcoming monthly Chronicle!

I thank my secret Santa Gunpowder Gertie. My husband has claimed some of the sweets (I would have shared anyway). I also received a bosun's whistle portkey and a naplin holder/ book holder with a pair of brass galleons, some chocolate dollars and a wonderful personalized card with the coin from PoTC movies.

I hope I haven;t forgotten to mention anything. Bad headache here, threatening to become a migraie at the most innopportune moment. (Having lots of preparation for tomorrow's memorial at the cemetery).

Thank you very much! I love you all! <3

(And, to answer about easy access - the ship will be beached for repairs)

Me, but in my case it is expected. Customs are crowded after holidays. It can last even to the end of January. I hadn't heard if my envelope arrived, but I hope it did.

Perfect. Chainplates... what else one might need?

Thank you very much!

Yes, it's me and my lack of English technical vocabulary, so I'd google... if I knew what. Therefore, I am asking you instead, please tell me some metal pieces (or fittings, or how they are called) which a tall ship might need after being damaged by a storm...

I don;t want elaborate, complicated metal things they would need a chandler's shop for... but rather small, albeit necessary ones which a blacksmith can make.

Thank you in advance!

Well, many tavern wenches (or the lowly prostitutes walking along the docks and having sailor customers) might have gathered intelligence for the pirates too. Listening to what drunken sailors say, or asking them casually just a couple of questions, not to raise their attention, among caresses in bed... then giving the information to their pirate lovers... for cash or not even

Thank to my British Secret Santa! <3 I received a pirate logbook which will be used as a cherished family scrapbook...

I love it!

Thank you, it helps too! <3

I saw the movie and I liked it a lot! Thank you very much, Captain Bo!

Thank you very much.

I know fighting top is more accurate, this was why I put that term too. But if you say Top Castle... I hadn;t heard about this until now. Time to learn something new! <3

And I was looking for LOOKOUT - glad that somebody told me.

Thank you very much So, lookout is the word... (Sometimes it is frustrating to write in a foreign language!)

What's the guy called that sits in the crow's nest/ fighting top and looks out, shouting they are seeing the land/ another ship?

Thank you all, and, Captain Bo, I love Anthony QUinn!Maybe I'll find this movie too...

Thank you very much, you all have helped me a lot! <3 (And yes, I am interested in what happens at sea, but, as you said, there are more stories about it than about how the land-based ones fared).

And the civilians from the towns? This was my question, where did the town residents seek shelter, if in the church or in another place.

I mean, for the ships caught at sea, they sought refuge in hidden bays, where winds had less power.

But what about the hurricanes hitting the islands? There weren't refuges like now... and the houses, except few of them, were built from non-resistant material. Where did they seek shelter from the weather, especially if their poor homes got damaged?

I think in churches, these were usually big and made of strong stone. Other ideas, have you read about a hurricane in those times?

You know I am in!

I'd recommend another pirate novel I loved - The Pirate by Sir Walter Scott.

And there is also Frederick Marryat with his books...

If you want Navy instead, then it's Hornblower series and Aubrey-Mathurin series... And Richard Dana's interesting "Two years before the Mast", and Bougainville's travels of "La Boudeuse" (including how the botanist's servant was a woman in disguise)