Captain Jim

! Thank YOU Captain Jim. I'll take that as a HUGE compliment.Uhm…Captain Sterling? Now which number FB am I? I think we left off on 5 or was that 6? 'Tis the highest compliment I know. I think all FBs should be made to wear badges or something so that we can see them approaching from afar...Cheeky Actress, FB License Number Six...not that we can't already tell them apart from the rest of us; the unwashed, the unworthy, the unseemly jealous... And I will shoot the first one of you that brings a Jamaican sloop to Key West, I swear...

In the beginning we all concentrated on getting our garb passable. Then folks started raising the bar, getting our garb merely historically accurate. Then you go and put the bar in another galaxy in a time far, far away, historically accurate and impossibly fashionable. You are hereby officially designated an FB, you and all of your accomplices.

Happy birthday, Mae!

Happy birthday, lass. Don't know how I missed this yesterday! Now I know your sis has an announcement somewhere, so I'd better go find it and wish her a happy b'day as well...

Aye, happy natal to ye. And may ye have many more circumnavigations of the Sun.

Let me go check them lottery tickets....Nope.

Happy anniversary, to you and the Lady, and may ye have many more.

And at $12,338 you can just keep on dreaming, Pyrate! Pricey, says I. At that price you could order about 30 Loyalist or Middlesex guns or about 12-15 fully custom pieces. Equip the whole crew! Which reminds me, I need a blunderbuss...

Bath??? Midnight???? Ocean????? Hot de 'ell is dat????? Animal Also known as "feeding the sharks."

There you go...just the ticket. And I use Goex as well.

And I'll get back to ducking responsibility and letting things ride as they are. Our fearless QM is much more able than I to navigate the myriad socio-political shoals that would trap our ship. It was decided at the creation of the Mercury to leave the captaincy vacant so as to avoid anyone seeming to be "the boss." We are a democratic society of disparate, far-flung pyrates, coming together at times to engage in plundering, pillaging and ofttimes drunken revelry with no one to tell us what to do. We like it that way. And the "Captain" in my name is due to a song that fit a certain time and place, James Taylor's "Captain Jim's Drunken Dream." Can't seem to shake it, don't know that I want to...

The stats on the gun we are speaking of are as below, I believe: Scale -- 2/3 ; Bore -- 2 1/4 ; Length -- 43 1/2 ; Weight -- 250 ; Trunnion Diameter -- 2 3/4 With a 2 1/4 inch bore this well qualifies for the use of nothing finer than cannon grade, ever. Cannon Mania, http://www.cannon-mania.com/black_powder.htm , is a specialty seller of cannons of all size, and gives a general guide on their web site at the address given. And the rules/techniques for cannon firing from the American Artillery Association: http://www.cwartillery.com/marty/marty.html They recommend no more than 2 oz. of cannon grade goex (real black powder) per inch of bore diameter, so a 2 1/4 inch bore would be 4 1/2 oz. of powder. Cannon Mania states 3 oz. for a 2 1/4 inch bore on their web site. I would start small and work up, remembering that excessive loads do not always mean more boom. Also, less per load means more shots per pound of black powder. At 4 oz. that's only four shots per pound. At $13.30 per pound (Powder inc. price/25 pound order min.) that's $3.33 per round! At 3oz you get five rounds and $2.66 per round. That cannon will eat you out of house and home if you're not careful. Also, most of us that have used substitutes (pyrodex, triple 7) always come back to black powder. Also, I don't think that triple 7 comes in a coarse enough grade to qualify for your cannon. Black powder is still the best and can be cleaned up with water without solvents or with a bit of dish soap added. Always oil yer piece after cleaning. The best thing to do is find someone near you with BP cannon experience and learn from them. Anything I missed, anyone?

So, are you going to share or keep us in suspense?

The hot shot that Cascabel speaks of are regular cannon balls heated red hot in a furnace. These were most often used against ships from shore batteries as it requires some time and quite a furnace to heat a solid cast iron ball to red hot. Still, if you could load those into a cannon I don't see why coal could not be used like flaming grapeshot at extremely close ranges. This of course would not be charcoal, which would turn to powder on discharge, but bituminous quarried variety coal, basically flaming rocks. I found it interesting that the moviemakers actually had a special tool to load the cannon. Now to find a reference...

Man I so have to start working on a new kit. You all look fabulous.

*Sniffle, le sigh...*

Happy celebration of your trip about the sun to ye. May it be picture perfect (with credit to the editor, of course.)

Here is the first Sinclair from the link Hawkyns posted: And the description: Named for a Scots officer who led a failed expedition on the continent this short infantry cutting sword has a hilt of very complex form with twisted bars and a large plate guard with flutes. Wire wrap and collars on the hilt are replacements but otherwise original. While these swords tended to be somewhat crude as they were produced in large quantities for the average soldier this example is fairly finished and elaborate. Late 16th or 17th century. Here is the second picture from the link that Hawkyns posted: From the description: This sword is of the simple crude form of these infantry cutting swords. A simple two plate guard and rough forged slightly S form quillions make up the hilt. All the weight is in the front of the blade. Extensive parrying cuts throughout this piece. Late 16th or 17th century. Photo credits to: The Mercenary's Tailor Armoury

I'd serve under that flag. I'm not changing my avatar though. I mean a guy has to have his own signature and all...

I've always believed that simpler is better in flags, as are large, singular blocks in the design. I like this design much better than the others for those reasons. I printed the flag, taped it to a wall and paced off 40 feet and looked at it from there. The flag appeared 1/16 inch tall as measured using a ruler held at arms length. From there the skull and wings were discernible but the bones started to get lost a little. Possible suggestions: larger bones or incorporate into the skull as in Emmanuel Wynne's flag (the design of which I used for mine.) Still, I like it as it is if those changes don't seem to work out. Excellent, as always William. Edit: Naturally, William posted as I was fooling about with the flags and tape and such. I repeated the above procedure and found that the small separation of elements helped but the cheekbones aren't visible at that distance. The cheekbones do make it look better up close though.

Agreed. OK, all of you who are attending, we, the left-behind, need pictures and updates as this meeting progresses or I'll kick the lot of you in your left behinds! And I'll find Robbie and give him a bus ticket home! Savvy?

Then welcome aboard the Mercury, Lad. The Mercury, the ship of Unclaimed Pyrates. You will find that not all pyrates have a crew nearby. So it is with William and myself. Those that are willing are welcome to sign aboard the Mercury and join our camp.

Alright then. Another historian to badger to death...I mean what a welcome resource! Welcome aboard, mate. And you're right: this is one of the most fair-minded groups I have ever met. Especially for a bunch of Pyrates. Enjoy our fair anchorage.

Welcome aboard, mate.

Another "Oar House!" May they spread throughout the known Pyrate world.