the Royaliste

Aye!...It were an adventure of a lifetime, indeed!...Sailin backwards down the East river isn't done often in a square-riggier, methinks....Parts should be here by the end of the week, with a wee bit o'luck, it'll be off again, Northward...The sail from Norfolk was grrreat, sailin' under a moonlit followin' sea....NYC on the horizon...Aye!

Aye, Coastie, it'd be quite a ride!....We're back in Norfolk, waiting on delivery of our new liferaft, then it's off again northward.....

Aye, that's right, me bucko's, three coasts in three summers doing the American Sailtraining Association's 'Tallship Challenges'.....To the best of our knowledge, We're the first and only,so...Tuesday morn, June 19th, ROYALISTE will loose the docklines in Beaufort, NC headin' for Halifax, Nova Scotia..Two weeks behind the rest of the fleet, but....Keep a weather eye,mates..the 'ole ship likes a following sea and a challenge!.. after a brief stop in Norfolk towards the end of the week, we'll head outside for a long run to New York City, then thru Long Island Sound and off to the Gulf of Maine.......We'll see who gets to the finish line first, 'cuz it says 'Halifax' on our transom, so that'll be the only thing the competition see's as we sail on by in the night!...Pirates rule the waves,eh? ROYALISTE Headin' Northward With the Guns Run Out.............

Aye, it's good to be headin' to the Canadian ports, especially since Halifax be the land 'o ROYALISTE' creation some 36 years ago....We're back in Beaufort reprovisioning after a fine time in the commonwealth of Virginia...It was excellent runnin' into Jamaica Rose and Capt. Michael after such a long absence...Now, Northward on a fast clip!..(we also have an empty rack, so anyone wantin' to crew, jump on quick!) ROYALISTE Down, but not out, eh?

Aye, mate!...We had a bloody good time in Virginia; shot the hell outta Norfolk, and we're headed back to Beaufort on the morning tide...But then, after droppin' off the side arms and loadin' up provisions, we're off for Halifax, and we're back on for the Tallships Challenge, so be warned, you five or six ports in Canada, there'll be pirates in them waters!!

I continually see references to 'tax write-off'..you need to make a whoppin' sh*tload of cash to even begin to worry about 'writing-off' any amount. That includes 'for profit' businesses and 'not for profit' businesses. Flippant use of the tax codes winds up with someone in the pokey, speaking from past experiences..........

Well, me heartie's, if ye be havin' any allergies to smoke,fire, or really loud noises, STAY AWAY!....We've blown the cobwebs outta the carronades, and they are up to thunder, by bloody heck!......We'll only be goin' to sea on Sunday, so there'll be a fair amount of time for visitin' and samplin' the wares, eh?

Well, my first thought was that it was a wee bit disconnected and far fetched. Then I remembered it was Disney, and no factual reference intended,so...I loved it...Last year, as the Tallships traveled the Great Lakes, we never saw Dead Man's Chest in the theater due to the schedules..This year, the fine folks here in Portsmouth comped the ship's and crews, so we finally got to see it BEFORE the DVD release... I was always a Barbossa fan, just for the fact that he be an 'honest' pirate (keepin' to his word and all)..Now, for sure, Geoffry Rush did a bang up job, getting a ROYALISTE Thumbs Up!....

Aye, Stynky.. We'll be there, dressed in our finery( not too nice, since it's all been in Davy Jones' Locker).......It'll be grand to see ya, after all this time,eh?...........Cap'n Kat, and me own self'll be there, along with various and sundry scoundrels, so hide yer wallet.........

Aye......I'll be missin' this one tooo, as we're ported for a while in Beaufort, NC, home 'o Blackbeard, and I started the post!...After a hard sail to Charleston for the convention, a rough trip north and running aground( which cost us and many donatin' pirates muchos doubloons), and no stipend to appear, I backed her back down...I can't subsidize too many cities, anyhoo!....But don't fear, me bucko's, as the Pyrat Ship ROYALISTE will be in Norfolk, guns blazin', before we disappear from the map for a while!...Also in Portsmouth for the Jamestown event, and Hampton, for the Pirate Fest, Wot else, eh? ROYALISTE Still strugglin' to be Yer Friendly Neighborhood Pyrat Ship.......

After several weeks underway, I'm sure we'll be there with six or seven scallywags aboard..It'll be a blast (pardon the pun, eh?) ROYALISTE Pyratin' RRR Way Northward Thru the Carolina Swamps.....

Ahhh,...but Spidey's people have already said they are doing three more,so.....are Ted and Terry busy scribblin' 4,5 and 6??.....inquirin' pyrat minds wanna know,eh? ROYALISTE Raidin' Thru Blackbeard's Backwoods.......

Nice photo's there, Jim! ......Didn't even see ya takin' 'em!.....

Good to hear from ya, matey!..We'll either tighten up them thar sailin' skills, or confuse ye totally!..We'll have along 'Desert Pirate', who's been around the ship for years, and he'll keep ya tuned up as far as the riggin'..Aloft it'll be, one time or another..As far as 'gunnin' goes, well.....RRRRRR gun s have spoken loudly on three coasts now, and once aqainted, methinks you'll become fond 'o the carronades....Aye!

Hmm, I sort of figured this fella was lookin' for larger, boat/ship drawings. Neither did I read any reference to building a trailer sailer...There are actually zillions of stitch and glue sites...But then, since he hasn't responded, methinks mungo likes sheriff, not ships.. ......(exerpted, of course, from 'Blazin' Saddles')

That'd be right proper,mate...We have a few blanks to fill in; not sure yet where we'll be betwixt Portsmouth and Hampton, altho' we will be in Hampton by Thursday....After all the hubbub in Norfolk, we're still in irons as for additions to the adventure, and we're not 100% on returning straight to Beaufort......

If you are serious about 'building one, you might start at Mystic Seaport Museum; those of us who sail and build them do, as they are the caretakers of zillions of small (and large) vessel plans. They are not necessarily cheap, but you'll ne'er build a solid small craft without the lofting spec's, line drawings, table of particulars, and .....usually a class or ten in traditional boat construction. Building ships and boats from pictures is about as accurate as trying to build a bridge from one, although, after building many of each, bridges are easier, as they are square and plumb (less the appropriate camber), and ships are curved and canted.

Since we are only appearing in Hampton and Norfolk, are you sure he's still interested?? ( Kathy had asked him to start an email dialog a while back, and she never heard from him again)..I have to send off a crew list to Norfolk tonight for homeland security,( I should have had it in by last week, but I've been overrun with the school tours singlehanded) so we'll add him to cover our arses anyhoo.....

Things are looking better for us, especially sincw we are at the Olde Beaufort Seaport in Beaufort, NC already!.............

WOOOOO-HOOOOO!!!!............ROYALISTE relaunch!..We're back in the water again!...After a long month on the hard repairing the bottom and all else critical, and a hard recovery and even harder work since January, ROYALISTE is afloat and feeling frisky, and docked at the Old Beaufort Seaport. Don't get me wrong, there's still a ton of work above the waterline and on deck getting things workwise for the season. We're here livin' up to our accord with the North Carolina Maritime Museum, open to the public four days a week from 10 to 5..A pile of school groups bent on learnin' more about piracy this week, and the Wooden Boat Show next week. As far as the Tallship events, we've decided to cancel everything north of the Chesapeake..Canada is devastated,( they were really looking forward to 'pirates') but we figure it best to do Hampton, and Norfolk, then head back south to make changes and more repairs instead of beating the ship for a hard season after the grounding. We're really sorry to have to make this decision, but sometimes you have to regroup, and then expand once again... Personally, I'm really bummed( a nautical term) but it's a huge thing, trying to run this show on my meager disability retirement..... ROYALISTE Back from Davy Jones' Locker..........

Ahoy! Ya might jest have him give us a call soon, as we're getting some input from this and other forums......

Ya-ya, and if we had ham, we'd have ham 'n eggs...if we had eggs......This was a some whate serious post for crew, but....it'd take a really BIG ship, as we've generally out-gunned every ship we've come accross, be it West Coast or East Coast.....( we really like big ships..We can come in really close, and they can't train their guns low enough while we blast 'eck outta 'em..)

Details?...Well, We don't have much yet on Portsmouth, but it looks like around the 26th. We need to sail from Beaufort 3 or four days earlier. Here's the rest: ROYALISTE Calendar and ASTA page

Ahoy! Our college aged crew-types can't free up soon enough, and we be needin' a few pirate/crew types for Portsmouth and the Hampton Blackbeard Festival.....Late May for a couple 'o weeks....Her's your chance for a few good pirate events aboard ROYALISTE.....

This hurts my heart to post, as these are some of my small group of close friends, but read on...........LORD JIM Sunk; All are Safe