Red-Handed Jill

Good work - particularly since you improvised with what you had!

Patt - can't see 'em, even after refreshing twice. UPDATE - now I can after posting this. Odd that they didn't show up until I posted. Your camp looks great!

Aye - it was great to have you join us! Anytime you need a berth...

This is one I built for my kitchen stuff - it's about 22" x 18" x 12" or so, with a section for cups and cutlery. It's sturdy enough that you can pile things on it as well and it can be used as a seat as well. It's a fairly simple construction. I did add the one modern convenience, but when the chest is closed, you can't see it. It's not as shiny as the photo suggests and there are four feet on the bottom.

GAH - we'll miss you!

As a rule, pirate reenactors aren't exactly your executive types, even in California. There are a number of pirate groups in California, but most of the members don't exactly have a lot of spare cash. However, the Rum Runners is full of Hollywood money - you might want to give them a try.

Patt - take pictures!

Kenneth..make a point to find me out..it be about tyme we meet. You haven't met Kenneth yet?? THIS oughta be good...

Carmina Burana - the music of choice for cannoneers: World's smallest cannon - part 2

I agree with Silkie on the textures - good choices! Have you thought of blending your text and outlines into your graphics so that they appear to be part of the fabric rather than resting on top of it?

Here's hoping you sneak in at least to see our good wishes for your birthday - hope it's been a good one!

AND tater tots! Happy birthday - hope it's glorious!

That was a GREAT video - well done!!

Not surprising. The expansion into two weekends was an experiment, based on the overwhelming number of people who were attending. But it was probably a case of diminishing returns, not getting as much traffic for the amount of money they had to lay out for two weekends (and probably the week in-between...)

Heh - the wanking kraken. THAT jumpy was good for a lot of jokes that weekend...

I keep hearing about this "baptism" - what happened??

Ransom showed it off to me at NorCal - it looks even better in "person". Great work, Patt!

I'm still recovering from the NorCal Festival. Gertie - I spent Sunday late morning/early afternoon on land but am sorry to say I missed you! We sailed up on Saturday and made it up to the channel in time for the first ship-to-shore battle. I had arranged for Ransom and Chainshot to be ferried over to the Aldebaran via motorboat, and in due time our friend Russ sped over to us with them. They were joined by a man who was creating a documentary about pirate festival who wanted to film us during the battle. We slowed down as much as possible, but since we were under sail, we could only slow down so much, so Russ matched out speed and threw out some lines. Once his boat was next to ours, Ransom and Chainshot jumped aboard. It was a very "James Bond" moment. Then we got everyone squared away on the guns. I handled the small arms, Ransom assisted with one of the large cannons and Chainshot assisted with the rail guns (this year we had five, with three people scrambling around to load and fire them.) The gun battle commenced. We made a few passes, firing between two and three rounds per pass, swiveling the cannons and scrambling around. This was made more complicated by the gent who was filming us, since we had to keep telling him not to walk in front of loaded cannons or not to stand where he might get hit by a boom, etc. At times, I would be loading my pistols only to find a camera less than a foot away from me; after enough warnings, he comported himself more safely. After about half an hour, we wrapped up the gun battle and Russ came by to pick up the camera guy so he could film the Guinness Book of World Records event taking place on shore. We had been asked to be in the area at 4:15 so we could be in the picture, so we sailed around for awhile, all of our black powder implementia save the cannon we were going to fire for the Guinness picture. At 4:15, we sailed by - hopefully they got the picture when we fired our cannon, but I guess we'll see when the picture is made public. They are doing a final count, but so far it looks like the festival did break the previous record. Since the tides were so low, we had to sail around for a bit more before we were able to get into the marina, so we kicked back and relaxed for awhile. Then we dropped the sails and motored into the marina. Getting into our spot was, as usual, a challenge, since we had to go straight toward the dock, have a couple of folks jump off and then maneuver the ship so that it is headed outwards, which involves other people leaping toward the dock (in this case, me) and working with the lines to pull the stern toward the dock. Essentially, doing a 180 in place with no side thrusters. Not an easy job with an almost 40-ton ship. Once we got the ship secured, we kicked back for a bit and Ransom and Chainshot went to collect Quartermaster James so he could say hello. The three of them came back and we were able to relax and chat for awhile. And Ransom and I were able to do our annual birthday toast and exchange presents. Then it was time for dinner; Ransom, Chainshot and Quartermaster James had plans at Pizza Pirate in Benicia with a bunch of other pirates and the Aldebaran crew had plans for a short meal at a local eatery before collapsing in our collective bunks. The next morning, we made our way to the festival after breakfast. We spent our time hanging out in the Tales camp and wandering around and visiting friends. Oderless Eye was in his Fop garb, carrying a wig and delighting the kids by allowing them to be an admiral for a minute. He also had four crabs that he very cleverly attached to a mechanism that allowed him to "walk" them about the festival. Ransom showed off her new ray gun, courtesy of Patrick Hand; I can tell you that it is, as they say, WAY cool. Patt also handed my my sketchbook, so I handed it around the camp and folks were able to see the work that everyone had done. Patt was resplendent in his airship pirate garb. On Sunday's gun battle, we were also going to be joined by Oderless Eye, as well as Ransom and Chainshot and another member of Tales, Rob Anybody. I told them when they needed to be on board and what they'd be expected to do. Then the crew went back to get the ship ready. Just after 2:00, we shoved off and left the marina. Then we got the sails up and prepped for the battle. The shore crew was ready faster than anticipated, so they started the battle early. So we fired back. Ransom and Rob helped with the larger cannons in front and Chainshot and Oderless Eye helped with the swivel guns. At one point, I saw Oderless Eye scrambling across the deck with his linstock to light port-side guns. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon! And this time, we didn't miss the shore crews mooning us... Then it was time for us to sail back home, so Russ maneuvered alongside Aldebaran so that folks could step into his boat to be ferried back to the festival. We weren't going as fast, but any time you have to jump from one boat to another when both are moving it's pretty darn exciting. We waved goodbye and made our merry and exhausted way back home.

Check out NPR.org - on Science Friday today they discussed airships, their current and past military uses and how that will affect their more widespread use. I'm sure they'll have a podcast of today's program.

Well, you will be for a time on Sunday... I still have to pack - haven't decided what to wear; something to scramble around on deck in, for sure.

Nice pic, Eye - that taken on the Rose?