TalesOfTheSevenSeas

LOL! OK I'll do it!!

I put a couple of stitches on each of the three sides. That's about all it needs!

That would be the Goldcoast Pirate Faire at Ojai! Aye!! Tales of the Seven Seas will be there with a substantial encampment last year we and a couple of the deck guns from the Royaliste to fire over the lake. We'd love to have you join us there if you're thinking of going.

Aye... t'will be a bit tricky on the docking, but what a fine place for a pirate party, eh?!! By the way, those coasty vessels with the orange floats anchored opposite be the same from the St. Pat's parade! Good natured lads they be! Even joined the pirate crew and we took turns boardin' one another's vessels!! Check out the photos below! Methinks I should print 'em out fer the coasty lads, eh?!!

(SEE PREVIOUS TWO POSTS FOR MORE PHOTOS) On approach... Royaliste's modeling debute- work it girl! work it!! The pirates sail away across the bay...

(SEE PREVIOUS POST FOR MORE PHOTOS) (MORE PHOTOS ON NEXT POST)

Royal beauty... A few o' the crew... (MORE PHOTOS ON NEXT POST)

Aye!!!!!!!!! I whole-heartedly agree Cap'n!! For it t'was the most terrifyin' experience!! All them wee folk amped up on sugar and armed to the teeth!! *shudder* T'is a wonder any one o' us made it back to the ship alive!!! Traumatized I be!! Scared fer life says I!! *faints dead away from fright, but manages to hold her shot glass upright so that it can be filled!*

Aye!! Traumatized for life we be!!! 'Tis' many a night I be a-wakin' in a cold sweat cryin' out "NO! NOT THE PLASTIC SWORDS! ANYTHING BUT THE PLASTIC SWORDS!!!"

Update: Our parade application along with links to photos of our float and costumed participants has been submitted and will be voted on by the committee. Again, they said how excited they are to have a pirate ship participating in this year's celebration! I'm still looking for someone who is not sailing the ship that could tow the Land Shark to the parade. It would be brought down already hooked to the fully insured tow vehicle and would not require any hook-up, assembly or mountain driving.

We'll need to coordinate picking you up if you fly. We'll be sailing the ship down July 3rd and back July 5th. So you would need to arrive on the second or in the early morning of the 3rd to either San Francisco or San Jose airports. I can also check which airport (SF, SJ or Oakland) to Redwood City if you wanted to fly in on the 4th of July and drive a rental directly to the event without sailing there. You'd still get to come aboard and see the Royaliste in the fireworks performance and if you arrived very early, you could still be in the parade. You could also arrive on the evening of the 3rd and meet us at Redwood City and sleep aboard. both nights. Let us know what works for you. You're always welcome to email me directly if you'd like at talesofthesevenseas@hotmail.com

Congrats to ye and to "Mrs. Scurvyscrew!"

(see more photos on previous post!) Never underestimate the power of children on sugar!! Desert Pyrate is taken captive!! We be out numbered!!! Mr Weapons meets his match!!! Say yer prayers pirates!!! Darkthing is a bit tied up at the moment... Mr Weapons enjoys his last meal... Darkthing doesn't stand a chance against these kids!!! Mr Weapons in peril!! The look on Darkthings face says it all!!! ARRRR!! What a day!!!

The birthday girl and "Mr Weapons" The kids anxiously watch as the pirate ship arrives!! Pirates come ashore... At first all goes as planned and the pirates take the kids hostage But things were about to change.... (see next post for more of the adventure)

Aye!! Just saw Quinn's today. A bit tricky docking, but do-able. We chatted about it with both the owners of Quinns and Skip, one of the live-aboards who was there and who knows of the Royaliste and plays sea shanty music under the name Billy Bones at Quinns on Thursday nights. The upper floor makes a great pirate hang out. The whole place is nautical, with ship models, port holes and all kinds of stuff, plus nice views looking out over the estuary and ships in the harbor. Knee-deep in peanuts, too! LOL

OK here's the definition of Matelots from the Wordsworth Dictionary of Pirates: "Matelots (buccaneer friends: Caribbean, Pacific, Atlantic, 17th century) Two men living together in a voluntary and permanent relationship. Matelot is an old French term for sailor, originally referring to men that ate together. The word can be translated as comrade, mate or buddy (as in , for example a scuba diver's 'buddy') The Relationship was known as matelotage(comradeship, buddyship) Most buccaneer hunters and pirates at Tortuga and Hispanola lived with matelots. Similar relationships were found at Port Royal. Jamaica and other English Islands. James Michener protrays matelotage in his novel 'Caribbean'. Matelots pooled their possessions, fought side by side in battle, and nursed each other when ill. Father Dutertre wrote that matelots formed a family, just like a man and wife. But matelots lived together without fussingor quarreling. Pierre Charlevoix, a lter missionary, also describes them as sharing their lives and all their goods. According to Exquemelin, (it then quotes the post listed above and adds the following) ...However older men also became matelots, when, for instance, their previous matelot died. A wirtten areement was not always possible or needed. Without a contract, French settlers and their lawas treated matelots as partners. As matelots prospered, they jointly owned land, indentured servants and slaves. Originally Du Tertre wrote they also shared women, , but this became less common in later years. When a man married, the two matelots divided their property evenly. The one moving out received half the value of their house and his buddy helped him build a new home and business"

Good idea on the hammocks! We've had several pirates opt for hotel accomodations, but it will still be pretty cozy aboard... ARRRRR!! What a grand evening we've got in store, eh?!! Methinks this might have to become an annual event!! I'm taking a drive out tomorrow to Quinn's lighthouse to get the lay o' the land... and sea. Captain, I spoke with the owner of Quinn's this afternoon and we have both water and electrical hookups. They say Royaliste can pull right up to the dock and I've given them her specs. I also spoke to a ship-owner lass with the Highlander Warriors, who said we'll have to pull straight in and back straight out of that slip and from her description, it sounds less tricky than our usual at Pelican Harbor. I'll take a good look at it tomorrow and report back. Everyone on the Tales of the Seven Seas email list should have updated info on this event that went out today. The biggest change is that I've decided to shuttle sailing pirates from the municipal parking rather than the library. Better to pay a few bucks to know the cars will be safe n' sound in the muni lot since this is an overnight event for the people aboard.

Captain M., we'd love to have you join us! Your drive north would be about 8 hours+ from southern CA. Which city would you be coming from? Southwest and United have pretty reasonable shuttle flight prices also.

OK lad, I added ye' to the list!!

Aye-aye Cap'n!! *snappy salute* With pleasure!! We are gearing up for a large-scale 4th of July event, the likely to become bay area legend!! On July 4th, the Battle Crew of the Royaliste, will sail the ship southward down the length of the bay, to the Port of Redwood City. Upon her arrival, the crew will prepare the ship for her grand performance the following evening and spend the night at dockside. The following morning, the Battle Crew will be joined by brethren pirates from both Tales of the Seven Seas and the Crew of the Dirty Rotten Oar. They will board the Land Shark and sail her through the streets in the largest 4th of July parade in northern CA! Following the parade there will be a festival! The Royaliste will be dockside, allowing visitors to get an up-close look at a real pirate ship and the captain will be on-hand to answer questions, while the pirates greet and entertain the dockside guests. (there is some speculation that the infamous "Drenched by a Wench" skit from Hampton VA may be performed again, by myself and Nyre!) Then as the sun sets over the horizon, the skys darken and the crowds begin to gaze skyward....KA-BOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!! An explosion will rip the night as the Royaliste kicks off the fireworks celebration with a full broadside from her deck guns!!! Music will fill the air as fireworks are launched from a pyrotechnics barge and synchronized to the music! The Royaliste's 18th century deck guns will be rigged with 21st century electronic pyrotechnic technology, allowing syncronized firing during the performance!! Finally as the music builds, and the grand finale lights the night sky, the Royaliste will fire another broadside, bringing to a close a spectacular display unlike any other!

Apparently it is "Sodomy and the Pirate Tradition: English Sea Rivers in the Seventeenth Century Caribbean" p. 120-130 that describes the term "matelots" as bond between sailors that was sexual. When I get home tonight, I'll check in my Wodsworth Dictionary of Pirates. I think that is where I saw matloteage described as a special bonding or friendship between two sailors that did not imply a physical relationship. Skimming around on the web, it seems to have no further meaning beyond a term for a sailor. I'll see what I can dig up tonight. I wonder if it is one of those words that began as just another word for sailor and had an additional meaning evolve later? Just making guesses on that. Additionally, I did find also that it's a French word and is pronounced "mat-low". I tell ya... somtimes those nautical terms are enough to drive you batty! Boatswain is pronounced "Bosun" and forecastle is pronounced "foc'sl"

Personally I think it's a bit scary lookin'....

Red Maria, I will have to dig through my books and find out where I read about matelots. I think it was in Cordingly's book but I can't say for sure. As I recall there was no indication that this was a homosexual relationship, but more along the line of the type of deep trust and reliance upon each other than develops between men on the battlefield. It was a tough life and you were better off if you had someone you knew you could trust with your life and who would look out for you.

I am NOT going to make any jokes about using a "sailor's palm" next time... I swear I won't!!!!!!!!

Yeah I noted that he only mentioned floggings etc as punishment for sodomy, but had completely missed one of the juciest bits of documentation, which is reprinted in the Cordingly book you mentioned, "Women Sailors and Sailor's Women" Cordingly includes a trial transcript in which a detailed account is given of two sailors who are accused of sodomy. The language is so graphic, I couldn't even quote it here (I didn't even know they had those slang words in the 18th century!) and both of them were hung from the ship's yardarm. There is a book Sodomy and the Pirate Tradition: English Sea Rovers in the Seventeenth-Century Caribbean which I can't say that I've read, but that is supposed to be a good source on this subject. I too got the distinct impression that this article was written by someone looking for a sensational article, rather than someone who had spent much time researching nautical subjects. But I thought it would be interesting to see what comments our pirates had on it. (LOL, still chuckling over the visual image inspired by Bess' comment!!)