Capt. Blue Eyes

Sorry, don't know what happened. The link didn't look right, so I'm reposting it. http://www.treasureislandtheuntoldstory.com/ I'll let ya' know how the book turns out.

Wow! I gotta' get a copy of that film! Did you guys know that Stevenson's story may have been based on a true Piratical incident? I found (and ordered -- it should arrive in a couple of days) a book by John Amrhine where he tracks down the source of the story. I can't wait to read it. He had an earlier book (which I read over and over to get "hints" to other wrecks off the island) called "The Hidden Galleon" which may be the source of the horses on Assateague Island. He makes a compelling case for the U.S. Parks Service to allow the site to be excavated for a museum. Anyway, here's some more info on the Treasure Island story http://www.treasureislandtheuntoldstory.com/

Ahh... 1 F. I know of several large bore BP flint shooters that use that in their shoulder arms in competition shoots. They say they like the slower burn and less pressure. I'd like to get some and try it in my guns. They're 1-inch bore as well. With about 2 oz. of 2 F they're pretty loud! ...especially on the water. Even from a mile or more offshore, there's a good echo rebound. good to know you like the Hern guns. At some point, I'm looking at putting something onboard that would simulate (to scale) a Long Nine. I'll give good consideration to Hern on that. When dealing with them, were they pretty quick to fill your order?

Not to be nosey -- and, definitely NOT to start anything, but is this a cast iron gun? I looked at Hern's stuff (and a bunch of others) before opting to make my own. I can't remember if Hern offered a "lined" barrel or not. Is yours cast iron and lined with a steel insert? I'm sort of curious how they accomplish that. (Mostly, I'm wondering if the end of the steel insert is capped and, if so, if they do it with a threaded plug or by some other method.) Damn, I love cannon!!! Powder isn't too hard to come by here in Pa. But the coarsest I can easily get is 2 F. (I use 4 F for priming). The black powder guy where I get it has to buy 1 F (or C) in 25 lb. lots and only has room in his magazine for about 25 lbs. So I'm usually stuck adjusting shots with 2 F. What powder do you guys use?

Curly Maple? I doubt that it would look silly. But, I'll bet it looks doggone expensive!!! Go for the white oak. Hit it wish some tung oil and let it darken with age. I've seen someone selling them (navel carriages) made from "soft maple," but don't know how PC that would be. I've also seen teak, but for GAOP, I think it'd probably be English White Oak. Of course, if it was a pirate crew needing to do a quick repair, I'm sure their carpenter would use whatever wood was available. Found a site that might be of interest and maybe help you find your wheels. http://cannonsuperstore.com/carriages.htm I think iron-tired (and iron lined axel hole) would be about right. You'd just "shrink" the "tire" onto the solid wooden wheel. If you want to try it, I could tell you how we did it for wooden wagon wheels, which are actually heavy and of a pretty large diameter. I'd think the smaller cannon carriage wheels would be much easier to do -- probably with the heat from a gas stove. An even easier way is to see if there are any Amish living near you. Their wheelwrights would be able to make the whole wheel, or shrink a tire on wheels you made and I doubt that they'd overcharge you for their services. They might also be able to help you with "ironing" your carriage. Good luck.

Thanks!

like garlic? The Pirates of the Spaghetti Coast!! (or... la Coasta Nostra) Hey, it's early... Brain isn't workin' yet.

I love a game of chance...and snuff! Kindly drop my name into the hat.

Hello, triple-P A lot of stuff was made out of Rock Elm, probably for its hardness and duribility. I've seen it (rock elm) referred to for dead-eyes and blocks. I'm not sure where you'd find that stuff these days. (Dutch Elm Disease and all.) I'd think just about any hardwood would be good. If I were lucky enough to have that 3/4 scale carronade of yours, I'd probably look around for White Oak or something like that. I mean, I've fixed (restored) up wooden wagon gears during my "farming with draft horses" days, and most of the heavy structure stuff was made from a pretty close grained white oak. That stuff wasn't too hard to work and was pretty strong. It also (according to claims) had better rot resistance than red oak. I used to get my white oak (and other hardwoods) from a small, family-owned sawmill. Generally, the stuff I bought wasn't seasoned (but they had some stuff available that was seasoned, but more expensive) so I'd stack it in a corn-crib where it was out of the rain and direct sun, but could still get air. It was also "unplaned," that is, fresh out of the saw, so the dimensions were larger than today's standard, to allow for planing. Good luck with your carriage! Please post a pic when it's done.

Foxe, Really great point! I started thinking about the years/dates when I was reading your paper. As soon as I can get some time, I'm going to go back into that (ancestry) and try to nail down the dates so I have them correct. I was going from memory and (at my age) memory can get hazy as if there was rum involved! Fer instance... I think the witch thing was 1692, not 1691. (geeze... I hate it when things get fuzzy!) At least I got the town right! And, for the record... Cotton Mather is still a turd -- even after all of these years!

Hey, Foxe, I just found your Jacobitism and the "Golden Age" paper. Can't wait to read it!!! Also, can't wait to read the two books I see you've written. I just gotta' order 'em. They're in English, right? (only kiddin'!!!) Hopefully, they're available here (since I don't know how to convert to pounds.) The Amazon site I went to only listed them with the "L" thingie. I found some of my ancestors came to Virginia in chains. Transported as "white slaves" or "white jacobite slaves," something in the early to mid 1600's. I don't know enough about that period My guess was they must've pissed someone off over there, but not enough to just hang them. They were eventually emancipated, I think. I'm hoping I'll find more info on this stuff. Other ancestors got thrown out of England, too, and arrived here with that Mayflower riff-raff. Eventually, the mayflower *ss holes threw them out of Andover, Mass, too. Accused 'em of witchcraft, first, though, in 1691. 'twas a shame though, given that the records of that time show my ancestor was a boozin' blacksmith that liked defying the church elders. (oh....must be genetic memory goin' on here....) Anyway, can't wait to read your stuff!

I'm interested. Tell me more.

Oh, double-oops!!! mea culpa, mea culpa.... Foxe, I meant the town of Lewes, Delaware. (I forgot about the other Lewes, "accros the pond.") Sorry

Ahhhh!!!! 'tis always wonderful to inspire ideas... an' "slopped some on themselves or each other" does have a sort of poetic naughtiness to it. So, says I, Ye should run with this idea of yours, Red Dawn! I'll lift me cup an' drink to yer health and laugh me fool arse off, I'm sure. ...once I'm full enough of rum, of course. Hey, Foxe ... I'll have to dig it up, but I did run into some correspondence and material (from the time period) from the Pennsylvania Assembly regarding the raid. Memory says it was before Kidd anchored there in 1699, and I'm thinking the 1691 date may be correct on the sacking. But... the ship came inside the Cape, dropped the hook off what is now Lewes Beach and something like 100 pirates came ashore and took some of the town Notables as hostage. Then they started going house to house stealing everything in sight, smashing open anything they thought had something valuable inside and then took off with everyone's clothes. I don't remember running into anything where anyone was killed for defending the place and I don't remember anything being written about any "ravaging," either. Seems they just came ashore, scared the hell out of everyone and then departed with anything that struck their fancy. At the time they came ashore, someone got away and made their way up to Phila. for help. Some of the contemporary views of the Assemblymen was that if Lewes wouldn't cavort with pirates so much this sort of thing wouldn't happen. But, the assembly did send some relief in the form of clothing and food and such. I'm thinking this was not the only sacking of Lewes, as I did come across another reference to pirates sacking the place in the early 1700s, but haven't had the time to follow up on it. Of course, during the war of 1812, Cockburn shelled the place but decided not to land troops and raid, sack and burn.

yeah, I got to agree with you guys, Not a lot of stuff to go on, but there've been some good finds just going on legend, rumor and stories told and retold (Whydah for instance) and someone having the determination to keep looking 'til they find something. Bonnet's ship, might even be somewhere to be found if one took the time to research what happened to it after he was captured. Was it sold? Did it get scrapped/abanoned somewhere near Charleston, etc.? Might be some remains somewhere. Maybe someone made something from a mast or a beam. I was born in Lewes, and there was always the story about the small cannon (in the little park by the drawbridge) having come from a "pirate ship" that was abandoned near the mouth of Lewes Creek. Maybe, who knows. One thing's sure, they did find an old shipwreck site there when they were dredging for beach replentishment several years ago. Ceramics were being found by beach-goers. What that the pirate ship? Was that ship even identified yet? Who knows? and, where did the "rumor" come from that it was a pirate ship? Of course, what if it was??? BTW... I'm trying to find some info on a French pirate named "Canoot" who sacked Lewes in 1691 or so. Anybody have any clue who he was? I'm pretty sure there things to be found here and there if one runs down the leads. Provenance, of course would be "difficult."