William Brand

Here is a copy of the lines as taken from John Leather's "Spritsails & Lugsails" So far, the earliest known written reference to the "flatner" is from c. 1719 it was considered an "established" design by then, so there is a good possibility that the design was known during the GAoP. With the Mercury Crew playing 1720, 1719 is early enough for our concerns at PIP. I would love to build one.

Congratulations!

Congratulations. As a Captain, I can perform marriages. Just sayin'.

I just got a letter of marque ( Hall pass From wife ) to go to PiP this year...Huzza! Nice. May I officially add you to the Roll Call?

Just beyond the path along the fort moat there is a lone tree off the parking lot nearest the beach encampments. We could put up a canvas awning for shade near the tree and build the boats within sight of the fort walls and the encampments. Just one of many ways to draw the fort crowd out to the beach.

August 6, 1704 - Cul du Sac Royal The world revolved a little, indifferent to their fatigue. A few short hours slipped by and they were bearing into the shallowing confines of the Cul du Sac Royal. They found many frigates and merchants asleep there, but for their watchmen. It was a quiet night, or more to the point, morning, and the watch officers of the Lucy exchanged only the simplest of acknowledgments with the Watch Dog as she slipped up alongside to gam with the cutter. The ships joined at the hip with little fanfare. The initial bump and the activity that followed raised Captain Lasseter, who stole from the room without waking William sleeping near by. Dorian arrived on deck to find lines being fixed between the two ships. He bathed his face three times at the dipper on the Mainmast, shaking water and sleep from his face and hands. "Cap'n Lasseter." said a gruff voice at his elbow. Badger offered him a heavy cup of Lazarus' 'nightwatch coffee', black stuff sweetened only with rum. A gang plank was laid across and down to the Lucy from the Watch Dog and they exchanged news with Nigel Brisbane and a small gathering of the Lucy's Larboard Watch. The eyes of the Navarra were upon them. Between six and seven bells of the Mid Watch Larboard Watches on Duty

Gladly. Let's talk.

Don't get me wrong, Bo, if I lived anywhere in between you and the festival I would love cedar poles. I'm 1,300 miles in the other direction. Somebody speak up about the poles. We can always use more materials and options.

Very nice. That would make a very nice period painting, and the rest of the pictures are grand.

I can safely say that I would love some bamboo for my tent. I'll get you the dimensions. Also, if you have the room, the Bone Island Buccaneers might want as much as you can carry for various enclosures and structures for this year and in the future.

Raise a glass! Samantha just had kittens.

Sorry to hear about your mom last year. Consider yourself signed up for this year. I'll add you to the list on the first page and we look forward to having your camp and kit alongside the rest of us at PIP.

The one with her name on it is already down to a slice. Besides, Tracy transcends mere names or titles.

Today's special is guava cake in honor of my delicious bride.

We'll be serving guava cake all day on the Kate! Slices all around!

A very happy birthday to my one and only love, my best friend and my constant companion, Tracy. May your day be a happy one. You've certainly given me my fair share of happy days. Raise a glass!

The pomp and circumstance of the Spaniards, especially Damien Thomas as Don Alfonso de la Torré, really drives this one home for me.

And just to be perfectly clear on the Three Year Rule in the Mercury camp... ...there is no such rule. I'll explain. We wanted to set a goal for ourselves as a pirate group. We chose the three year goal in order to set a milestone for ourselves that we might have improved kit for future events. We set this goal to encourage ourselves and others to strive for better kit over time instead of all at once, both to educate our group and others and also to save money in the hobby. The goal starts when a pirate first joins the crew. Any pirate joining us this year at PIP will be encouraged to improve their kit over the next few years from that time forward, not from three years ago until now. It is only a recommendation for people who want to shoot for the best possible kit over a comfortable period of time. Learn and grow. Adding as you go. Any and all pirates are welcome in our camp anytime, assuming we're still awake. The more the merrier.

Soooo...anyone on watch with me gets twice as much beer and I have to carry them back to camp.

No toast was given as Tudor came and went more than once with a fresh bowl and pitcher. Instead, they drank and talked about the prevailing wind and the best course from Martinique. Dorian sat at the table with one leg on a chair, allowing his tired back some respite. William had propped himself into a corner of the stern bench and seemed content to watch a shrinking St. Pierre. Durand stood opposite Dorian at the table and bathed his face and hands. With his sleeves rolled back he revealed many altercations from his past. He was riddled with numerous scars of brawls, battles and not a few relationships more intimate. He was also possessed of arms bigger than any man aboard. As the frigate began her slow turn Southward, William raised his glass. "A toast, Gentlemen." Durand stopped toweling off his face and plucked up his glass. Dorian raised his own. "To any place but here...no offense given to all France elsewhere." Durand smiled ruefully. "Damn Martinique and damn the rum trade." "Here, here." Dorian agreed, then muttered something about 'bloody barons' into his glass. Tudor, the ever present steward, well practiced in the art of absence while in the room, made no reply. She simply refreshed the water, restored the emptied glasses and William dismissed her to a well deserved rest. He smiled at her warmly as she went. With Tudor gone, Durand plucked out his eye and rinsed it in the basin. It was hard for any man not to stare at such a casual, gruesome, but somehow fascinating act, but Durand did not seem to mind the quiet that noticeably visited the room, and now that his eye was removed they had their first real look at it. Without being asked, Durand passed it to Dorian who received it at once. "Well, well..." He murmured, peering at it admirably. He put it near the lantern to see it better. "May I?" William asked from the window and Durand nodded, already distracted by the wear and condition of own his shirt. Dorian stepped over to the window, but not before one pronounced groan as he went from sitting to standing. Dorian said something in Gaelic that William took for 'sodding horse' or something equally terse. Dorian passed the unusual eye to William before taking up the other end of the bench with a raised glass in the direction of the port falling away off their larboard. "It's...a cabochon." William said, surprised. He rotated the strange brown-black sapphire appreciatively. "A man might lose his whole head for such a stone." It was an observation and a question all at once, for while the stone now explained one of the many reasons that Durand's gaze could be unsettling, it still begged the question 'Why this before glass?'. Durand shrugged. "The Almighty affixed me with two...très...precious orbs, Capitaine. As I ze fool lost ze first, I sought another." The French in Durand was showing more as he drank. "And should you die...?" William asked, trying to keep a smile from his face. "I shall swallow it first." Durand returned without pause. Dorian raised his glass. "More work for the mortician." They all took this for a toast and drank their glasses dry.

Please tell me that you're taking a good camera.

Cool. Discretely ask about madak without getting arrested.

I'll take a cup and a boat ride.

Their homecoming was busy and brief. All were brought aboard as quickly and carefully as possible, with a good number of volunteers to bear the men to the surgery. Joshua and Ajayi were welcomed in turn with the expected looks of relief and sympathy they had earned in their absence. William dismissed all the others to sleep if they desired it, but Tudor would not take rest before offering to fetch soap, water and a clean shirt for every man present. William did not refuse her generosity, nor did he ignore the sideward glance she gave to Durand as he stood with his blind side to her. "Mister Warren..." William began, turning to Jim. "...Monsieur Donatien Durand." Jim nodded, and with his uncanny ability to be cordial with even the most unpleasant of persons, greeted the man as if for the first time. "Please see what accommodations can be found for our guest." William added. Jim did not pause as he said 'Aye, sah' but he did wonder for a fraction of a moment if William had intended 'guest' to sound less hospitable, suggesting that Durand was their prisoner. Durand put out his hand and this thought passed at once. Jim passed on William's orders as William began orders anew that would see the Watch Dog borne into an encroaching tomorrow.

Aye. Running around with two patches might lead to...well...two eye patches.