kass

Hi William, This is a product we intend to stock as long as our factory keeps producing it. It's just too perfect!

I know what you're thinking. You're saying, "Gee... I wish I could get some real period-appropriate canvas and make myself some sailor's slops/trousers/a watch coat/a tent. But no one sells real hemp canvas. Whatever shall I do?" Never fear! Reconstructing History is here! We are now stocking real hemp canvas. It's 59" wide, 17.7 oz to the yard, 100% hemp canvas in a plain weave, perfect for your slops/trousers/tent/watch coat. Lookie here: And for the stitch-counters among you: it has a twinned warp just like the sail from the HMS Victory. And at a thread count of 10 warp pairs and 8 weft thread per square centimeter, it's almost exactly the weave of the Victory sail too (at 10.8 x 8.3 warp pairs and wefts per cm). In stock and ready to ship. Only $19 per yard. I take Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, and checks and money orders in US currency. We ship UPS in the US and US post anywhere in the world. PM me!

Four'll do it, Rats. :)

Grey is the only colour specified in the Admiralty Slop Contracts. But there's no reason why sailors couldn't have had other colours made by other suppliers. Remember that the Admiralty Slop Contacts were just specifications for makers of slop clothing. Slop clothing wasn't issued to common sailors in the Royal Navy -- they had to buy it. And they could easily choose to wear their own gear on ship.

Oh no, Pat! I didn't mean Slop Contract Jackets weren't line. As you say -- the contacts specify linings. I meant the extant common men's jackets (not Slop Contract) aren't lined. Different thing, but something to compare.

Ohm... Ohm...

Shameless... Hey! We can get a convoy going from the Mid-Atlantic!

Pat, carefully cut the lining around each buttonhole and remove the lining without affecting the buttonholes. Frock coats were made without the lining being stitched into the buttonhole so the lining could be removed and replaced (it get dirty a lot faster than the rest of the coat). I don't remember about the common jackets that are extant. But I don't think any of them were lined...

It's a cheap time of year to fly, Greg...

I haven't quite announced it widely yet, Chole, because there are a couple of last minute bugs. Thanks for your enthusiasm though. It gives me the strength to go on... When the "Grand Opening" happens (hopefully early next week), I'll post in PLUNDER and CAPTAIN TWILL.

Damn good thing I'm an early riser, eh Diosa? I'm really getting psyched up about this now. Wow! Authentic GAoP history AND caffeine... PERFECT!

Pat (and those who camp with him), have no fear!

Early enough for Pat, I'm sure. I'm from an earlier time zone.

Oh! Real walls? Even better! Thanks, William! Mr. Harry? How does this sound to you?

I'd like to float an idea to see what you lot think of it. I've been known to set up my tent as a coffeehouse in 1690s Covent Garden (London Theatre District). I wouldn't do this in the careening camp because, although the year could be changed easily, the fact that there weren't coffeehouses on the beaches where ships were careened is a little hard to get around. Coffeehouses were more than just places serving the latest fashionable cocktail. The first stock exchange was a coffeehouse. The famous insurer Lloyd's of London was originally a coffeehouse. Would-be writers from Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley to buccaneer and explorer William Dampier met their publishers in coffeehouses. Especially pertinent to the Golden Age of Piracy, salvedge from wrecked ships was auctioned off in coffeehouses. It's suspected that many pirates traded their goods in coffeehouses as well. At other places I've set up the coffeehouse, it's served as a kind of meeting place -- like a pub. At timeline events, we've had Roman soldiers and WWII guys having a dish of coffee with Pirates and Redcoats. At PiP, I see this as a place where the public and not-authentically-minded could come and hang out with the authentic set and we could get to know each other. Maybe even have a fake brawl or two. What do you all think?

I assume you were having trouble with the old website? I'm glad you can see this one. The "Click to Enlarge" feature is in the works. We just have to work out a few bugs first. There's lots of new stuff that will show up in the next two months. Keep watching.

I FINALLY launched our new website! Come see!

Thank you, Silkie. I cannot tell you how excited I am about PIP 2007 now!

Hey Silkie, that works for me! I'll have linen when you want to buy it. And I'll show you a trick with those neck gussets if you like. I admit that I'd love to see everyone in correct kit. But I haven't forgotten that I went to my first event in a cotton "blouse" (it wasn't remotely a shift) and bodice. Everyone has to start somewhere. And I hope my new website will help people who want to do the authentic thing to do it easily and with lots of help and encouragment. :)

Okay, I think we're veering from the intent of the festival here... I want an authentic Golden Age of Piracy event just as much (possibly more) than anyone else. But the main thrust of this event is to promote the fort, correct? Turning this event 100% authentic isn't going to do that. It's going to exclude people. And while I have no problem excluding people who don't obey the standards from reenactments, this is NOT a reenactment. I liked the idea of the "Three Year Plan". Why not have an authentic camp in the fort next year and allow no modern tents inside. But don't jury the participants. As for sutlers, if Harry is getting so many applications that he can pick and choose, he can choose the more authentic sutlers and encourage those less so to be in "period dress not Hollywood costumes". I think this is a good first step. As the event gets more and more well-known, standards can be tightened for sutlers and other participants. But if the main goal of the event is to make money for the fort, restricting participants isn't the way to do this.

I'll price 'em the best I can, Jim! Of course the more you buy, the better I can do on price. But back to talking about PIP! What I mean to say is that if I bring my shop, I'll have hemp canvas and ropes on-site so people can buy what they need. And I promise not to price gouge just because I have a captive audience. The prices will be the same as on my website.

Thanks, Captain Jim. Your check is in the mail! Seriously, we do have a plan to make basic sailors' kit available at a discounted price -- slops or trousers, choice of shirt, jacket or waistcoat, cap. So that's already in the works. As for camp, the groups I'm in usually have a rule that everything in camp must be period-appropriate during public hours. After that, you can pitch a nylon tent in the middle of the encampment if you like (although some people would prefer you put it over to the side...). As long as everything modern is policed up before the public comes in, there's no issue. In other news, we're soon going to have real hemp canvas and rope available too! :)

How I've always dealt with new people who don't have the right kit is loaner gear. I almost always carry extras with me. And oftentimes a person's current gear can be rearranged to look more authentic without actually changing anything. I'd be happy to help people in this way. Please know that I'm not suggesting that the entire fort be juried. And perhaps jurying is too stringent. I don't think I've ever actually been to a juried event before... :) I just know that I will sell more at an event interested in historical stuff than interested in, as Captain Jim put it, "Hollywood and Vine".

Don't know if this matters to anyone, but as a sutler, jurying the sutlers would encourage us to bring our shop. As early as last summer, I was talking to my assistant about bringing the shop to PIP. But we sell reenactment gear, not touristy stuff, and I didn't know if it was a place we'd make money. Driving down from the Northeast with a trailer full of goods has to be worth our while for us to afford to take the risk. I'd come as a participant whether it were juried or not. But to bring the shop, I have to expect to have customers, you know?

The best and closest thing to a pirate encyclopedia is actually from the period, Scallywag. It's called Captain Johnson's A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pirates . (It says it was written by Daniel Defoe, but we'll just ignore that, shall we?) Johnson is really the be-all and end-all of pirate histories. It's based on information from the trials of said pirates and remains the best source even today. The writing style might be a little weird at first, but it's a great book to get you into reading period English if you like that kinda thing. I do... Have fun!