Story

Queen Annes or those Scottish pistols, something smaller than a horse pistol.

http://www.livescience.com/history/051107_...oak_island.html For Sale: Island with Mysterious Money Pit By Heather Whipps Special to LiveScience posted: 07 November 2005 09:39 am ET It may look like a fixer-upper at first glance, but what is buried beneath scrubby little Oak Island might just make its estimated $7 million price tag worth the investment. Oak Island, in Nova Scotia, is famous for its Money Pit, a mystery that has endured two centuries, claimed six lives and swallowed up millions in life savings. The Pit was discovered in 1795 by a local boy named Daniel McGinnis who, spotting an unusual clearing in the earth under one of the island's oak trees, was prompted to start digging. The discovery of layered planks, mysterious stone slabs, and mats made of coconut fibers descending deep into the ground turned his casual afternoon dig into an all-out excavation. Investors and thrill-seekers would eventually jump in and continue the work, kicking off one of the world's longest running treasure hunts. Complex trap What appears to be a complex flooding trap has thwarted efforts to reach the bottom of the Money Pit ever since. Some think the pit was purposely flooded with seawater, via a series of artificial swamps and tunnels, to hide its contents. Through the murk, drill borings and shafts dug by the island's series of owners have detected what seem to be cement vaulting, wooden chests, and scraps of parchment paper. Radiocarbon dating of these artifacts is consistent: whoever constructed the shaft likely did so sometime in the 16th Century. Speculation about the contents of Oak Island's Money Pit range from the treasure of the Knight's Templar to Shakespeare's original manuscripts. Oak Island's current owners, Dan Blankenship and David Tobias, have worked on the island since the 1960s, sinking millions of dollars into the project and revealing some intriguing clues of their own. For many who follow Oak Island developments, their abandonment of the treasure comes as a surprise. As recently as December of 2003, Blankenship told the Halifax Herald that he would announce some new, exciting findings in the following months. The revelation never came. What's it worth? The treasure's fate -- assuming there is treasure -- now rests on the outcome of the sale. Court-appointed liquidators in Nova Scotia are currently wrapping up the evaluation of Oak Island's market worth, with an announcement expected before the end of the year. A growing movement led by the Oak Island Tourism Society calls for the governments of Canada or Nova Scotia to purchase Oak Island and exploit its potential as a major attraction. It seems for now the governments have little interest in throwing their hats into the ring of potential bidders, and that has many who've follow the island's saga breathing sighs of relief. "The ideal candidate would be an individual or group with a genuine interest in and means to carry out professional archaeological work", Mark Finnan, author of "Oak Island Secrets" (Formac, 1997) told LiveScience in an e-mail interview. Finnan believes Oak Island has not seen the last of the aging treasure-seeker Dan Blankenship, either. "He has a strong hunch about the nature of the treasure and may yet pass on his findings to the new owners of the land or even participate in a new exploration effort," Finnan said.

Brevard County teacher could make history with discovery of shipwreck By Tony Judnich staff writer November 2, 2005 BREVARD COUNTY — A flintlock pistol, a sword and a cannon possibly used by ancient mariners are making history teacher Tom Funk and his fellow ocean explorers eager for next year's diving season to arrive. They found the weapons in late August from a shipwreck about a half-mile off Melbourne Beach, north of the Sebastian Inlet, and plan to search the wreck more when diving conditions are at their best, usually about late May to October. Funk and his partners hope the wreck is from the famed 1715 Spanish Silver Plate Fleet. The fleet of 11 galleons set sail from Havana in 1715 laden with jewels, gold and silver, but ran into a hurricane along Florida's east coast. "Ten of the 11 ships were destroyed," said Funk, an archaeologist who teaches history at Satellite High School, in Satellite Beach. "Seven have more or less been found." The shipwreck sites include spots near Fort Pierce and Sebastian, and the ships' high-value cargo gave the Treasure Coast its name. For the past decade, Funk and his partners have been surveying, exploring and researching what might be another of the treasure ships, in 43 feet of water off Melbourne Beach. While exploring the wreck in late August, they found several artifacts that boosted their hopes. "Our artifact collection is pretty interesting," Funk said. "We have enough artifacts, I think, to show what period they belong to." There's the intact, silver-handled pistol and what appears to be a boarding sword, which has a curved blade and was known to be used by fighting mariners. The collection also includes some cannon balls, pewter plates and a stack of silver platters, which Funk said are beautifully embossed. "They look like a big turkey platter," he said. "We're sending (the collection) to a conservation lab for more study." In the meantime, Funk and his partners will work on renewing the salvaging permits they need from various state agencies, such as the state Division of Historical Resources. Permitted salvagers can end up owning items they find, but 20 percent of the value of found treasure goes to the state. The dive site worked by Funk's team stretches diagonally for perhaps a mile. The team includes members of Heartland Treasure Quest, from Georgia and Florida; Amelia Research Co., of Amelia Island; and Florida Research and Recovery, a group of investors primarily from Georgia. A principle of Heartland Treasure Quest is Sebastian resident Rex Stocker, who was a member of the Real Eight Co. The Real Eight Co. worked with the famed Mel Fisher's Treasure Salvors Inc. in the 1960s to recover millions of dollars worth of treasure from the 1715 Fleet shipwrecks. Taffi Fisher Abt, Fisher's daughter and the director of Mel Fisher's Treasure Museum in Sebastian, said she's interested to hear more about the items found by Funk and his partners. "It's quite possible this wreck is one of the 1715 Fleet," she said. "I have not seen any of these artifacts, and I haven't seen their log sheets, so I don't know for sure." - tony.judnich@scripps.com

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0375920/ http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hv&cf=info&...8702664&intl=us http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/f...ilm/4375188.stm

Check out PA 05, Guard Grenadier with Hand Mortar. He'd be an easy conversion to a Pirate with the same weapon. http://modelspot.com/paradepeter.htm

Found this passage while surfing, anyone have more information? Raphael Adolini was an Italian born Moroccan raised Barbary pirate. One of the most feared of his day but because of the mysterious disappearance him and his whole crew in the height of his career, others like Blackbeard have been remembered with more notoriety. His ship, the “Muerte Negra,” was feared especially because unlike many ships which flew the Jolly Roger, Adolini’s ship flew a red flag, the “jolie rouge,” which signaled to its captives death to all. The phrase “dead men tell no tales,” has been ascribed to Adolini. It was carved above his cabin door, when his ship was found floating vacant east of the Bermuda Triangle in 1718, The flintlock pistol rumored to have been one of Adolini’s favorite prizes was taken from Ivar the Boneless after Adolini attacked and plundered the ship of the Viking pirate in April of 1715.

Wagner renounces claim to buried treasure WAGNER RENOUNCES CLAIMS TO CHILE’S BURIED TREASURE Government Expected Contentious Debate Over Rights To Loot (Oct. 5, 2005) A new twist in the story of buried treasure on Robinson Crusoe Island, which has kept Chile and the world in suspense for the last three weeks, surfaced Monday after Wagner Technologies renounced all claims to the treasure supposedly worth US$10 billion. Wagner Technologies, the company that claims it discovered the treasure, met late Monday with government officials in Valparaíso in what was expected to be a contentious debate over the rights to the treasure. But according to Fernando Uribe-Etxeverría, lawyer for Wagner Technologies, the company does not believe it is capable of excavating the treasure; all it wanted was the free press. This abrupt turn of events surprised government officials, who were prepared to discuss excavation permits and decide how to divide the treasure with the company. Wagner instead agreed to turn over the coordinates to the government on the condition that if the treasure is excavated, a portion would be given to a number of Chilean charities, as well as the island’s residents. Uribe-Etxeverría’s announcement also surprised journalists because of the commotion the company generated with threats to withhold the location of the treasure unless the government agreed to give them a cut of the loot (ST, Oct. 3). Wagner still maintains that “Arturito,” a mobile robot designed by one of their engineers, detected the presence of 800 metric tons of gold and jewels on the west side of Robinson Crusoe Island in southern Chile. However, the company claims that the treasure is located in a very difficult-to-reach spot that requires divers to enter through sub-marine caves on the island’s coast. Wagner representatives said the company is withdrawing from the controversy that surrounded their claims because of the difficulty involved in removing the treasure. “There is no company in the country capable of excavating this treasure,” said Uribe-Etxeverría. “For this, you will need something bigger: the state.” He also added that for Wagner, the treasure did not represent a business opportunity. Instead, the company’s exploration was meant to publicize the extraordinary capabilities of their robot. The robot in question, Arturito, operates like a robotic bloodhound. He can be programmed to search for a particular substance, such as water, gold, or even DNA. Using a variety of tools from geo-radar to a “gamma-camera,” capable of differentiating between atomic molecules, he searches a specified area for the presence the programmed substance. According to Manuel Salinas, designer of the robot, with the right sample, Arturito could help police find missing persons, wanted criminals, and water in the desert. Debates have also surfaced in Chile over the history of the newly discovered treasure: what treasure is actually buried on the island and how it got there. Robinson Crusoe Island is located along the Spanish colonial navigation route that connected Spain’s Latin American colonies with Europe. At the time, Spain was mining vast amounts of silver and gold from Peru and Bolivia for transport to Europe. These ships were a favorite of pirates operating in the South Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Some treasure-seekers believe a popular legend which holds that the Spanish navigator Juan Esteban Ubilla y Echeverría, in charge of transporting the treasure back to Spain, landed on the island in 1715 and interred it instead. Sometime later, an English pirate named Cornelius Webb unearthed the treasure and reburied it elsewhere. Others believe another legend claiming that the treasure was stolen from the Aztec Empire in Mexico by Spanish conquistadors. A third theory holds that it was the bounty taken off the Spanish galleon “Nuestra Señora del Monte Carmelo” in 1741 by the English lord George Anson. The island first became famous for hosting the real-life character of Daniel Defoe’s “Robinson Crusoe,” Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish sailing master marooned on the island between 1704 and 1709. Selkirk was pirating the Spanish off the coast of South America in the early 1700s when his ship was badly damaged by a series of fights with the Spanish armada. Fearing that the ship would soon sink, he asked the captain to set him ashore at the next port and ended up stranded off the coast of Chile on an uninhabited island in the Juan Fernandez archipelago. Selkirk was later picked up by English privateers and continued pirating Spanish fleets until 1712, when he finally made his triumphant return to Scotland as a very rich man. SOURCE: PUBLIMETRO, LA NACIÓN By Nathan Gill (editor@santiagotimes.cl)

Thanks for the info! I appreciate Mad Mike's cannon links as well. Now if I can convince my husband that pouring gas down a hornet's hole and shooting it with bottle rockets isn't such a great idea I think maybe we'll be safe for awhile ! I feel for him though..I mean who doesn't like to blow things up? Maggie, If you're named as his sole beneficiary, what's the worry?

Using a hole-in-the-ground and an explosive is actually a primative "fougasse". Generally, the way these worked was to dig a pit in front of your walls facing the expected direction of enemy advance. Place a charge of powder in it, with a fuze of some sorts running back to within your walls. Place a layer of gravel over the powder charge. Wait for undesirables to get within range, taking into account the burn rate for the length of fuze. Giggle at aftereffects.

http://www.loyalistarms.freeservers.com/mainpage.html

Not a song, but Vangelis' musical score for THE BOUNTY. See http://www.lareau.org/btymusic.html

Advertisement - AP CustomWIRE News Man dons hat, coat for turn as Jean Lafitte By Rick Cousins Correspondent Published October 2, 2005 LEAGUE CITY — Garbed in Hollywood-quality tri-corner hat and greatcoat and outfitted with an antique blunderbuss and flintlock pistol, novelist Tom Townsend looks a lot like Galveston’s most famous pirate. The 61-year-old resident of Rusk will assume the role of Jean Lafitte on Thursday during the League City Historical Society’s annual fund-raiser. “I hadn’t done the Jean Lafitte program for about seven years,” said Townsend. “I hadn’t expected to do it again, but I did find that I still fit in the costume.” Since 1985, Townsend has performed this role for more than a million school children. According to history Web sites, Lafitte helped himself to foreign treasure acquired on the high seas and later resold it, at discount prices, in his kingdom of Campeche, now known as the Island of Galveston. “Galveston was Lafitte’s last resort,” Townsend said. “He considered it to be defendable for his operations against the Spanish and English.” Based on his book, “Where the Pirates Are,” Townsend’s presentation starts with a 20-minute monologue followed by questions from the audience. The book was one of 20 titles nominated for the 1986 Texas Bluebonnet Award. Townsend has authored 26 additional books, including seven historical novels. To develop Lafitte’s character, Townsend invested hours in perusing historical documents, including the “Lafitte Journal.” The journal is a handwritten document that many believe was penned by the famous buccaneer. Townsend did not set out to be a pirate, though. “My publisher said that I needed to go to schools (to make presentations) because it would help him sell a lot of books,” he recalled. “But I felt that writers were the most boring persons in the world.” Hence, Townsend decided that instead of talking about pirates he would talk as a pirate. He credits a performance of Hal Holbrook’s “Mark Twain Tonight” as the catalyst that enabled him to trade his pen for a sword — plus an assortment of other weapons. Townsend has discontinued the program in schools since policy shifts in most school districts made it impossible for him to display his authentic weapons. “I refused to do it without the weapons,” Townsend said, explaining that historical accuracy demands their inclusion in his presentation. A former island resident, Towsend once managed the golf course at Pirates’ Beach. On Thursday, he will bring back something of the dash and color of Lafitte, often described as a charmer who won many hearts. But, Townsend said, there’s a difference between him and his character. “I’m not a sex symbol,” he said jokingly. http://galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?...3c10e316c641e7c

Along those lines, this auction is worth a laugh. This pistol was the personal property of my Great-Great Grandad & came out of a Tavern in the Caribbean about 100 years ago & had been on the Tavern's wall for about 100 years before that, (so that accounts for the last 200 years of it's history). http://www.auctionarms.com/search/displayi...itemnum=6987617 And yet it looks exactly like the Mid-East/Balkan style trade pistols that have glutted the market in the last few years.

Interesting. Also interesting are the two links of lists of references, down the page some. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/listm...5706926-6624056

How can they have a pirateporn movie without training a parrot to perform unnatural acts? And see photo #31 for the dangers of fingernails.

Nothin' there.... bad search.

Therein is the suspension of belief necessary for most fiction. Next time you're stuck in a supermarket checkout line, check out how short Rosie O'Donnell's nails are.

I hope they trim their nails, before searching for buried treasure.

The FRIENDSHIP? http://www.salemweb.com/frndship/ http://www.curriculumunits.com/crucible/pr...a_tall_ship.htm and then there's the Dutch BATAVIA http://www.bataviaphotos.com/

http://www.gotheborg.se/engelska/inenglish...db97fff408.html Too cool, but no published plans to visit the US (yet).

There ya go, Peanut Gallery - exactly why Baskin Robbins offers 32 variations of Calamari. PS: Deep fat frying removes the taint of Evil. So I've heard.

Real life Kraken tales. Miskatonic University guidance: Bring lots of lemons, tartar sauce and beer. http://www.pibburns.com/cryptost/kraken.htm

Since we're talking R'lyeh, this 'bloop' supposedly originates at nearly the same coordinates... The Bloop http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations...edia/bloop.html http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/vents/acoustics/s...unds/bloop.html das Bloop, as written about by CNN http://archives.cnn.com/2002/TECH/science/06/13/bloop/ The Slow Down http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/vents/acoustics/s...noise97139.html NB: the source of these sounds has never been identified.

How accurate was Émilie Dequenne (Marianne de Morangias)'s post-Seven Year's War hunting outfit in BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0237534/