Bilgemunky

No, I'm not selling it, just found it on ebay and thought I should share. Blackbeard's Booger!!! 'nuff said.

Flintlock pistol - $80 Ill-tempered parrot - $300 Compass that won't point north - $650 Watching a spanish galleon sink softly in the caribbean sunset as you sail off with their incan gold - Priceless Sorry, couldn't resist

So I met a new neighbor the other night while participating in a migrating porch party. Someone at the party needed a knife, and I offered up my pocketknife, which happened to be of the rigging variety. When my new neighbor noticed this he expressed an interest in buying a sailboat and learning to use it on Lake Michigan, and wondered if I might be interested in joining him. Well we all know the answer to that :) Later during the same party, we were discussing unusual last names, what with mine meaning "Unholy Pickle" and his meaning "Dragon." Yup, his last name is Drake. And upon further discussion, it came to light that he's a direct descendent of Sir Frances himself I admit a little jealousy, as I'm still holding out hope that I'm descended from piracy m'self (which isn't so far fetched, my family boasts generations of sailors, not all of them savory sorts, and what with guys like blackbeard having 14 wives, the odds have got to be in my favor, right?) But until I find evidence of my own piratical heritage, I think sailing with an actual Captain Drake would be pretty nifty. Maybe I can be quartermaster

Yup, we're back from our week-long excursion to the East Coast. Our original plan was to plow through the land-locked states from Milwaukee to the Hampton Roads area in Virginia, and then toodle southward to our final destination of St. Mary's Georgia. I started off the day of the trip making a last-minute run to the bookstore to get some reading material for m'self and the missis. Many thanks to all those who posted their recommendations - alas, none of the top-picks were to be found, so I was left with just my wits and luck to pick an appropriate book. I ended up getting her "The Sea Wife" by Holly Cook, which I'm told turned out to have a decent story, though just a hair on the tame side. For myself, I decided to finally read "Treasure Island," since it seems a crime I've never actually done so. Onto the trip itself (again, thanks for all the input.) We unfortunately missed Colonial Williamsburg - the weather just wasn't there for us. Actually, being as the weather report for the southeast coast was stormy all week, we were lucky that this was pretty much the only day that wasn't quite ideal. Instead, we hit the Maritime Museum in Newport News, explored a bit of Norfolk and Virginia Beach, and then set up camp in a national park smack dab on the coast. Nice place, but it was largely flooded out, making setting up our tent tricky. We walked to the beach from our campsite and found it to be completely devoid of people (always a pleasant surprise.) However, numerous dorsal fins just a few feet offshore told us we weren't alone. By the way they moved I was pretty certain they were dolphins, but I have this primal fear of sharks that wouldn't let me risk jumping in to say hi. Next day we heading down the outer banks, stopping at a few cheesy beach stores here and there, driving countless miles between sand-dunes, made a quick stop at Roanoke to see the lost settlement, and then eventually ferried to Ocracoke Island. Teach's Hole was, of course, a blast, and I could easily have overspent on every little pirate nick-nack known to man (pirate beach towel, pirate t-shirts, pirate rubber stamps, coffee mugs, rum mugs, action figures, books, cds....) The other shopping was fun, too, but the highlight of Ocracoke was the beach just off our campsite. I found the best way to enjoy the beach is to wait until the waves are particularly rough, sit down in the water, hold your nose and let them plow you back onto the shore. It's like getting beat up, but fun Of course, we gathered up a fair share of shells, since nothing cool lives in the Great Lakes back home. My best find was what looks to be the skinny half of a crabs claw, but it's a whopping 7 inches long. We ended up staying in Ocracoke an extra night, and then headed further south. This required a two hour ferry trip, which was much more interesting than the one we took to get ON the island, on account of all the jellyfish that were visible from the boat. We must have seen well over a hundred, along with numerous crabs (which I don't think I've ever seen swim before, they paddle those little legs like HELL.) We never made it as far south as South Carolina, as we decided to spend a bit more time on the beach and a bit less on the road. Our last couple of nights we ended up staying in trailor parks on the beach, which is a lot less fun than staying in an actual campsite, but such is life. We did make a quick stop in town to catch Pirates of the Caribbean, and the good news is that between the look of Cap'n Sparrow, and whatever (God only knows) was in that romance novel I got her, my wife has actually started to believe pirates can be sexy She even suggested that I shouldn't be too hasty in shaving off the facial hair I developed during the camping trip, which coming from her was quite the surprise :) Our last night on the coast was our worst, weather-wise, but fortunately I saw it coming and had added a few storm lines to the tent (I only mention that because I'm overly-proud of having tied the most beautiful taught-line hitches. They were really a sight to behold - I shouldn't have taken a picture ) OK, I'm clearly babbling now, which I was actually doing from the very beginning, but I think it's starting to show. So in summation: Seafood - eat north, cuz as you go south, they fry EVERYTHING. I prefer to see my seafood all shelled and scary lookin' Camping - the national park on Ocracoke was the best. A little crowded, but at least it was crowded with tents, not mobile homes. Teach's Hole - don't walk in there with credit cards or a checkbook, or else you'll spend far more than you'd intended. And NOW ---- I'm done.

Hey Royaliste - I had a similar concern - was the sail even OUT when the the boom slammed across? I seem to remember Orlando's character having a face to face conversation with Cap'n Sparrow while hanging onto the boom from the opposite side, WITHOUT any canvas in his face. But then, I've only seen it the once (thus far) so maybe I missed some details.

I'm sure most of you know which flag I'm talking about - the one with the Jolly Rogers surrounded by a gold circle saying "Pirate Republic" and "No Quarter Given" Anyways, can anyone tell me if this flage is legible from both sides, or is the text backwards from one direction?

A number of years ago (maybe 6) I bought a pirate cd at the Hampton Blackbeard Festival (this was when it was held in Tidewater Park.) The CD was sort of a metal rock band singing (actually, more like yelling) lyrics about pirates. It was just AWFUL. It had almost as much charm as the beastie boys pirate song. Anyways I lost the CD in a poker match shortly after, and have no more memory of who that CD was by. Anyone know who I'm talking about? The only other scant details I can provide are that the cover was black with a red printing of a jolly roger with an eyepatch, and that one of the songs had a line that went something like: "you know I'm not a liar so you'd better believe I'll open fire" or something like that

I think we need to distinguish between plot holes and physics holes. Plot holes are things like if Jack Sparrow could enjoy rum as a zombie (which I think we've established wasn't a hole, just a misunderstanding.) Plot holes are when the story sets up its rules and then breaks them (and those REALLY grate at my nerves.) By and large, I think this movie was pretty much free of major plot holes. Now physics holes - don't even get me started. Walking underwater with an inverted boat full of air??? Wouldn't that float? The Black Pearl with only shreds for sails? And how come Jack's pistol was able to fire in the end - it spent half it's time under water!!! Of course, there's also those weird little things that, while not necessarily holes, are just questionable. For example, if I'm going to chase after a hijacked ship, when I catch it, am I going to have every last member of my crew swing over, thus leaving my own ship completely unprotected to be hijacked instead??? But then, this IS a movie about zombie pirates and their quest for fresh fruit, so why nitpick? I LOVED THIS MOVIE!!!!!

Thanks for all the responses! We actually head out today - I'll let you all know how it went in a little over a week!

Ocracoke is definitely on our "must do" list. Any idea about the ferry to Cedar Island? My map says "reservations recommended" but this could be tricky, since our road trips rarely stick to a time schedule (and since we're working our way south, heading back north via the outer banks to get back to the mainland would be a HUGE backtrack.)

Redhand - The captain was named Mackenzie, and he penned a few books on naval history ("Popular Essays on Naval Subjects", "A Year in Spain".) If you've heard of him through these works, then you're more learned than I

Just finished reading "A Hanging Offense: The Strange Affair of the Warship Somers" by Buckner F. Melton, Jr. First impression - WOW. In short, it's the true story of a small American brig in the 1840s. It was on a cross-atlantic training cruise, manned almost entirely by boys ranging from 15 to 20ish. One of the boys, a midshipman (and son of the Secretary of War) allegedly plotted to take over the ship and go pirate - and was subsequently hanged (along with two of his conspirators) without trial. Apparently this was quite the national affair when it happened, but today I doubt the average person has ever heard of it. I highly recommend this book to anyone who hasn't read it. Not only is it a gripping story, but it offers a lot to digest. No conclusive evidence of mutiny was ever found, but the circumstantial evidence seemed overwhelming. The Captain had no legal authority to execute his prisoners, but at the same time, had no way to keep them secure - and this made for an increasingly dangerous situation. I imagine the morality/legality of his actions are debated amonst maritime historians to this day. If anyone's read it, I'd love to hear some opinions on this event.

OK, I think we've all forgotten the one fencing scene that truly leaves all others in it's dust - the climatic ski-pole duel at the end of "Better Off Dead" Ah - Roman Polanski's Pirates. I'm lucky enough to have my own copy. The fencing scenes aren't stellar in the movie sense - pretty hack'n'slash (and probably much more accurate because of this.) There are some fun bits, though, like when Frog thrusts his rapier through a fellow pirates earring. THAT'S point control

Every year my family takes a road/camp trip (not much actual camping, but the tent makes for a cheap hotel.) This year we're hitting the coast, starting around Virginia and working our way south to our final destination - Cumberland Island in Georgia. Anyone have any suggested locations we should hit along this route? I know there's some piratey things on Ocracoke Island, and we might try hitting that if we can figure out the ferry schedule. The Dismal Swamp sounds intriguing, though I don't know if it's much to see. What else should we seek out? We'll be travelling the week of July 14.

Dagnabbit! I been demoted back down to "plunderer" <grumble>

If'n I guess correctly, you're talking about Fern Canyon Press' Pirate Toilet Paper. They have lot's of great stuff, but according to the description, this paper is only piratey while in the wrapper - break the seal and you've got standard-fare white paper

Rubberbands? I'll go you one further and say let's give 'em a roll of bubble-wrap. Better yet, give the bubble-wrap to the Spanish Navy - they'll be so mesmerized popping the stuff that we could just waltz on aboard and help ourselves to the plunder

where in illinois do ya be?

I ran the search as instructed, and one item caught my eye in particular - a snazzy t-shirt with a skull and crossed cutlasses for a band named "Flogging Molly" Never heard of this band, so I ran a search. Seems they have two albums - "Swagger" and "Drunken Lullabies" (great names!) Listened to a few bits - very Irish jiggish. Don't know that I'd call them a pirate band, but they definitely seem pirate friendly. Just thought I'd share :)

I must say, it's looking SWEET!!!! er... I mean... AAARRRRGGG! I've yet to bump into another living soul when I check in, always just missed somebody - but whoever is doing the design is certainly doing their share of the effort (Angus?) Anyhow - m'hat's off to the designer, the work is appreciated. Now if I could just run into one of you scalliwags at some point, maybe I can make good use of the darn thing :)

According to the text at the bottom of my screen, it's Coastie's birthday. May yer cutlass be sharp, yer sails be full, and yer cup runneth over!

We docked in St. Maartin for a week back when I was in the navy, I'd say 1997 maybe? It was pretty rough at the time, since they were still recovering from a hurricane. One beachside hotel's entire beach was taken up by an old ship that had blown ashore (the hotel's owner had spray painted "F*** you Louise!" on the side." I still have a picture somewhere. St. Maartin has two sides - one french and the other dutch. We docked on the Dutch side, where we were greeted heartily by every merchant who dealt in alcohol, exotic dancing, or any other "product" that might be of interest to sailors. There were also so many Heineken signs that I wondered if they owned the island. Lots of fun little touristy shops, and a restraunt that sold about a billion flavors of Pina Colada - I think our entire crew spent the majority of their time in that one tiny place. Let's see, what else can I remember through my Pina Colada-hazed memory? Nude beaches. I didn't feel the need to bare all, but most of the other patrons had no such inhibitions. It's very odd to have a man and his wife, both naked as jaybirds, come up and have a conversation with you - I tried very hard to keep eye contact, then started wondering if I was too obvious in trying so hard to keep eye contact, so tried to let my gaze casually drift - but not there, OH GOD DON"T LOOK THERE!!! The dutch side was very run-down, but the moment we crossed into the french side it was like stormclouds lifted, the roads became pot-hole free, and there was a sudden lack of seedy-dives to patronize (so what's a sailor to do?) I seem to recall the french businesses seeming far more cafe-ish than tropical-touristy - and they had a rather nice fort worth exploring. I should go dig up my photos - maybe they can jog some more memories. Meantime, I hope what sketchy little I've provided is somewhat helpful.

Ah, that is a sordid tale, full of conspiracy and intrigue. It all began on an unusually stormy night when I discovered a cursed aztec coin amongst my loose change... Actually, it's part of a pretty neat program they have going on here in Milwaukee. Some folks around here decided a few years ago that the nautical heritage of the Great Lakes was getting lost (so much focus being on the seas&oceans.) They raised up some cash and hired various artisans and historians to build a re-creation of a Great Lakes schooner (which, while perfectly ocean-worthy, varies from your traditional gloucester schooner in several tiny ways.) Now that the ship's completed, they take tourists and school kids out for recreational and educational excursions. They have a professional crew of 6, supplimented by 2 volunteer crewmen (each with a week-long shift.) The schooner is owned by Pier Wisconsin, who are currently in the middle of some local controversy due to the design and location of a freshwater museum they're going to build - I was reading up on the story when I learned about the Denis Sullivan and signed up for the class. As to the name, Denis Sullivan was a Great Lakes captain in the late 1800s, and the schooner is largely disigned after his own ship, the Moonlight. It also didn't hurt that his grandson was on the team building the thing, either

I just wanted to say that I think the new logo looks pretty slick! And if it keeps our crewmates with slower computers happy, then even better

I don't know the answer for sure, but in my oh-so-expert opinion I'd offer that p'haps if there weren't a hole, some of the jibs (those sails on the bow) might rub up against the raffee (the big one with the hole) ? That's how it looks to me, anyways.