TalesOfTheSevenSeas

In addition to adding to my own gear, I'm always collecting bits and pieces of thrift store finds to make loaner gear for our pirates, especially those with limited budgets and those just starting out. Having a stock of loaner gear has helped tremendously in building our guild in it's first year because it makes things very easy for people. The other nice thing is that as our pirates gradually upgrade their costuming, they donate things to the loaner gear. One of my best donations was from a renaissance reenactor. He gave us three 60-year-old reproduction flintlocks which were purchased in Afghanistan by Iowa Senator Roman Huruska. They are big heavy pieces that look 100% real.

Thanks much for all the info on the Queen Anne. I may not wait until my B-day if there is a price hike on the horizon! Here's another question.... fired or admired? One of these days I'd like to shell out some bucks and invest in an antique flintlock. I'm kinda partial to the screw-off cannon barrel ones and some of the "pocket pistols" I've been looking at. Does anyone recommend sources or have advice\experience on buying antique pieces? I'll probably spend the next year or two "window shopping" and doing my homework before actually making a purchase like that. If any of you have functional antique flintlocks, how do you feel about them being fired after having them inspected for stability by a gunsmith? I get the feeling that there are some pretty strong opinions about this- some people do it after a thorough inspection, others feel they should not be fired, just admired.

A hearty "AYE!!!" to that! I've found "treasure chests", wooden barrel kegs and other props too, like goblest, tankards, wooden flintlocks and all kinds of things at thrift stores, garage sales and flea markets.

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!! Ye be a fine lookin' lad!! Ye' get a big GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRROWL!!! from me too!

One other additional note to all the other great info above on Defoe vs. Johnson- I recall that they have been unable to locate any record of there having been a "Captain Charles Johnson" that could possibly be attributed with the authorship of the General History of the Pirates. Another cool controversy is over the History's accounts themselves- Are they fact or fiction or some of both? Many of the pirates are known to have existed and no one disputes that- but there are some pirates in the book (such as Mission and Cornelius) that some critics claim are complete fabrications. We just don't know for sure. Whoever "Johnson" was, he seems to have had at least some level of contact with either crewmen who sailed with the pirates or pirates themselves. Interviewing pirates doesn't seem to have been a popular passtime and the General History is the best we've got in contemporary accounts. Personally, I love it. But I read it with a cautious grain of salt and hope that as more research is done and more old papers come out of storage, that some of the mysteries surrounding this book will be solved! Regardless of whether it is fact or fiction, I do respect it as an amazing historic document in itself, and a tribute to a dark, shady part of history that no one else had the cajones to touch in the time when it took place. A hearty toast to Captain Charles Johnson, whomever he may be, for having bullocks of iron!!

I never thought I'd see the day when I'd find a lad in dreadlocks and eye makeup sportin' gold teeth attractive but...GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRROWL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The wench outfits I have are the best deal going. Custom-tailored, top quality historically accurate materials, your choice of colors- Bodice/skirt combo with a chemise for $75. These are made by Becky Cristler and I'm always happy to refer wenches to her. My captains coat is not historically accurate, but it positively screams piracy. They are currently $215 and are made by Kristi Smart. Another person I'm glad to send people to. The leather belt with the O-ring was a rare thrift store find at $1.50 Pouch $45 Leather lace-up arm gauntlets made at no charge by one of our pirates, but I think they are generally about $30-$40 The had is a stiff felt one from an ebay seller whom you can locate on Ebay by searching for "cavalier hat" It came with a renaissance style horseshoe pin and black ostrich plumes for $29. I continually reshape it from tricorn to admiralty and back again. Love it. Additional ostrich plumes run about $5 to $12 and you can beef them up by adding a bit of feather boa at the base of them next to your hat band. My frilled captain shirt was a $6 thriftstore find that I added additional frilled trim at the wrists and cuffs. My tankard is 18th century and was $350 but you can find modern tankards at flea markets from $1 to $5. Cutlass $79 (they've dropped to about $59) Leather sword hanger $15 Powderflask "ivory" repro $29 I'm replacing my repro triple barrel non-firing flintlock $29 with a working blackpowder Pedersoli Queen Anne $210 When wearing the wench outfit I wear a silver spanish reale that was recovered from one of the wrecks of the 1715 Spanish plate fleet. A treasured gift from my husband (what a good pirate, eh?) $400 Bosun's pipe $29 Historically accurate wrist shackles $39 Cat o' nines $10 (planning to replace this with a better one) Tiny 3" wooden barrel that hangs from my belt and opens to reveal miniature bottles of booze and drinking vessels, the equivalent of a piratical faberge egg, $1.00 flea market find Pirate boots are leather and a good deal at $79, but they do have a hidden, not historically accurate zipper. Drawstring breeches in black $30 With the wench outfit I wear black leather granny boots for footwear $39 and either over the knee striped stocks $7 or if I'm going to be sword fighting, flung over someones shoulder, fending off the sea wall with my feet on the Royaliste or any other thing that requires hiking my skirts up, I wear striped tights $10 *whew!* Below are the wench outfit and the captain's

I've sailed on the Royaliste, and we worked with the Juan Sebastian de Elcano of Spain while she was in port in San Francisco last January. We are scheduled to work with the Californian while she is in port in Oakland in September. What I mean by "work with", is that the ship is docked and our pirates are down on the pier working as volunteers, raising havoc and bringing guests in off the streets to visit the ship. (I'm not going to count my husbands sail boat as it isn't a tall ship!) The Royaliste, without a doubt, has been the best. She's truly the pirate of the bay. What can I say... Nothing beats hiding in a cove, sneaking up on a ship and engaging her in a sea battle or firing the ship's guns at a camera clicking crowd of tourists! (who love it!) ...And the captain is good company, he hasn't keelhauled us or even flogged us yet!!

Here are a couple of excellent pages on nautical terminology from the age of sailing ships. This one is my personal fav... It is surprising how much of our everyday modern language has nautical roots- For example, being "three sheets to the wind", "to the bitter end" and "letting the cat out of the bag" come from old sailing terms! Check it out, it's very interesting stuff! Nautical Expressions in the Vernacular On this page you can learn to "bleed the monkey" or "suck the monkey" in addition to discovering what "spooning" is, among other interesting things... Peter Green's Nautical Terminology On this page, which is "pirate speak" you can learn what it means when you "have a nipperkin" then go out and "crack Jenny's teacup" Pirate Speak And this page is excellent and another favorite of mine for helping our pirates to develop a not only a piratical accent, but it explains pirate dialect- for example, instead of saying. "I'll send you to the bottom of the ocean!" You would say "Arrrrrrrrr!!! I'll send ye to the bottom o' the ocean I will!!" This page even has audio files to help you bring out your inner pirate: Pirate Dialect

I liked Sasha's digital camera with the AVI feature so much, that when our old digital camera started to go south, I got one too. So I hope to get some decent video of the Royaliste firing at....?!!! Hmmmm.... maybe we can instigate a fight!! Battle on the Bay 2003!!! ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!

I'll bet the poor blokes who plunked down $75 a couple of weeks back are none to happy to see them going at $25! But that be the breaks o' free enterprise!!

Good points Captain Flint! I guess it all depends on what a person wants to get out of sword fighting, as to what kind of hands-on experience to go after. I'm just glad to be born in a generation where I have options as to how I would like to learn to use swords, rather than actually having to defend life and limb with one! I'd likely be cut to ribbons if I really had to defend myself!

Here are some photos from that same day sailing: Photos - Sailing on The Royaliste

I'm sitting on the left, holding my hat on in the wind. My husband, Bob, was the one who caught the back blast. Royaliste, our captain, is in the blue shirt and the black hat. The red-haired wench who you see up close is Sasha, who comes up from southern CA to join us and the guy behind her with the blonde hair is Neko. Up in the bow, were two pirates that didn't get on the video, Patt and Ron.

Nah, I'm waaaaaaaay too much of a rookie to want to deal with a kit or with drilling my own touch hole. The Cherry's price seems very good, I've seen the Queen Anne selling for considerably more on other sites. Interesting info on the shipping from Canada, I didn't realize the pistol was not drilled through.

After doing my homework, I've formally filed my birthday request with my husband- for a Pedersoli Queen Anne. (He got the Harper's Ferry for Father's Day!) I'm currently researching who has the best price. So far it looks like Cherrys does at $210 I saw that Loyaliste Arms has them at $198, but then cost of shipping from Canada to the US is $23. Anyone know of a Queen Anne within the USA for under $210?

*Quoting the Dentyne gum commercials of the 1960's pirate style!* "Who want guns?!!" "I DO !!! I DO !!!" Here are photos of the existing guns: The bigger gun... Lighting the swivel gun... Those two are what she has on board now, not counting what the crew comes armed with. Here is a link to a video of my husband catching a back blast from the swivel gun's touch hole in the face!! Click here to view the AVI file And here is a photo of my husband, bleeding, but grinnin' from ear to ear! He still gives me grief because I yelled "Don't wipe the blood off until I get a picture!!" (is that pirate love 'er what, eh?!!)

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!! The POTC soundtrack is sold out in the Bay Area!!! I hit Tower Records, Rasputin Records, Barnes & Noble, Circuit City and Fry's Electronics. Every blasted one is sold out! Rasputin has one copy left at their Berkeley location. I knew I should have ordered it on-line!! But thar be hope on the horizon... Tower has 20 more copies due to arrive!

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!! I've been waiting for it to come out and it just happens to be my lunch break! I'm there!!

As far as hands-on experience, there are a couple of ways to get it. The simpler way is to join an experienced reenactor's guild and learn choreographed swordplay. Lots of fun and flashy. Ya look cool and it's fun. The second is to take the longer, slower and more difficult route, but the payoff is greater. Sign up for fencing. You'll start with foil, move on to epee and eventually sabre (which uses cutlass technique). fencing is tough. Way, waaaaaaaay tough. Like no sport I've ever been in. The discipline required is enormous. You won't look cool, either. But you'll learn a great deal about yourself and the rush you get when you take on an opponent is awesome! Accidents happen in both types of hands-on swordplay. Although there are rare accidents in fencing, you are pretty well protected. You'll get bruised, banged up and sore, but it is very rare that a fencer actually gets skewered. That usually happens when a blade breaks on an enthusiastic thrust. I've broken blades myself, but never skewered an opponent. I do know reenactors who have been sliced. My fencing experience was minimal. I had to drop out after a few months of lessons, due to work committments. I'm hoping to start back up at a later time.

Here are a few photos of the Royaliste, proudly flying her colors. The jolly roger she is flying has flown over 3 different ships during a period of (correct me if I'm wrong on this Cap'n) more than 30 years. Here are several photos of the Royaliste flying her colors ...And a couple of the locals out getting a tan, who don't seem to be the least bit disturbed about having a pirate ship in the neighborhood!!

This weekend my husband, son and I went out to the Royaliste to lend a hand sanding the ship's wheel and the spindles on the taffrail (rail at the back of the ship) I took the opportunity of having the Royaliste docked for the day to photograph a few of her details. The Royaliste is a beautiful ship and the closer you look at her, the more care and detail you see that went into the making of her. The more I learn, the more appreciation I have for the art of ship building. Here is the Royaliste, in port getting her beauty treatment (Note she's flying her colors... the Jolly Roger!) Here is the Royaliste's lovely figurehead, which keeps with the old tradition that a woman's bared breasts can calm storms. I keep wondering if the female members of the crew are going to be asked to put that to the test one day!! The catheads of the Royaliste have these unique carvings... what else would you find on a cathead, but a cat's head, eh? Another example of the loving attention to detail on this ship! Here is one of the two cat heads, and the name plate on the port (left) side of the Royliste: Here is the cat's head up close: The R's (or are they ARRRRRRRRRR's?!!) On the window of the Captain's cabin. These R's are unique to the Royaliste and no other ship has them.

Tell us about any ships you've sailed on, worked with or admired.

Ahoy Bloody Kid John! The Pirate Faire be in southern CA, which be in the wee hamlet of Ojai, on the shores o' Lake Casitas. Aye, thar be wenches galore and this particular gatherin' be one that seems to have a mysterious phenomenon takin' place... an unwritten, unspoken revealing bodice competition... me husband and teenage son affectionately refer to this event as "The Breast Fest" if that be givin' ye any ideas! So ye' have pirate garb already and just need a crew t' join says ye? Yer search be over mate! We'd love fer ye' t join Tales of the Seven Seas! We be based in Northern CA, but we'll be headin' south fer this event and we are always very happy to welcome new pirates! We will have an encampment at Ojai. Th' more th' merrier says we!! If ye' be interested, drop me an email at talesofthesevenseas@hotmail.com and I'll give ye' all the details!!

Here be a few t' start ye' on yer way Jolie Rogue... Saviolo's Fencing Instruction Manual - 1594 PDF File of 18th c. Manual on Hungarian Highland Broadsword and Cutlass Techniques There are a variety of facinating historic documents on the use of the sword, from the 15th century through 1877 onDuello Documents The Armarium has historic fencing manuals and illustrations on-line from Viking and 12th century Danish through the 19th Century