hurricane

So much for my dreams of bein' in a "Press Gang" rounding up "Recruits" in bad garb for a forced refit at Kass's That's a great idea - we could do an Extreme Makeover, pirate style. Take a trashy Hollywood wannabe and convert them into the perfect period rogue or lass. -- Hurricane

That's a good question. Harry, when are the dates for 2008 since the usual metrics would place the Thursday before at Thanksgiving in 2008. Would the event revert to Dec. 5 through 7th instead of continually moving earlier? Callenish and Patrick - I stumbled on some great resources for coffee during the time period so I think we may convert the Port Royal encampment from a tavern setting to a coffee house to reflect the period since Kass is headed to RF. Seems coffee was more popular than tea back then anyway. -- Hurricane

Patrick, I guess like many things, us die-hards will just tackle things like coffee duty on our own. It seems there are always those who dream and there are those who do and we'll just make do like always. There will be coffee by god!!!!!! Damn those with the tea. Sorry you can't make it Blackjohn. Perhaps someday we'll get to mee ya! -- Hurricane

That is about the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Obviously, you know nothing about PiP, the venue, the town or those who attend who are indeed fine re-enactors. I think the likes of Cascabel, Brace and Spyder, Yellowbeard -- as we well as many others -- would take umbrage to your characterization of the event or the types of re-enactors or members of the public who attend. I think it's unfair for you to try to damage PiP, which is in it's 15th year now, just because you want to make a case for an alternative. Particularly when RF welcomes all re-enactors from different periods, just not pirates. So why disparage PiP. Variety makes the world go round, doesn't it? By the way, while people in the north hibernate during the months of November through February that's high season in the south with more events than anyone can attend at a time. -- Hurricane A proud PiP re-eninteractor

The museum at Atlantis is s definite. I've been to Pirate Soul and the Pirate Museum in Nassau and the latter is far better. Mel Fisher's in KW is a must - amazing treasure from the Atocha - if you could only do one museum in KW that would be my recommendation. The Rum Barrel has good food but it feels more like a sports bar than a pirate pub. If only they had followed through with the design. The kiddies are allowed in the vast majority of bars there so you can take them to places like Captain Tony's Sloopy Joes and the Schooner Bar. If you're there on a Friday or Monday evening at 6 p.m. there are turtle raises at Turtle Kraals. Big money can be had just for betting. If you want an authentic KW experience, head to BO's Fish Wagon. It looks like a shack on the corner with an old pickup in the corner near the Seaport. BO brings the fish in fresh each morning and it's the best fish sandwich on the island. Good burgers too, but the fish is devine. The best beach is at Fort Taylor. If you're near the historic seaport, Jimmy Buffett's recording studio is on the corner near the Key Lime Pie shop - it's a boring white building and is marked on the map. He was recording Conky Tonk while we were there at PiP three years ago. Never know. Wyland painted the wall in the seaport, just up from where the tall ships dock. It's quite impressive. Look for the smallest striped fish near the bottom - Wyland let my wife paint it. Always a must see when we're down there. :) If you've never been there before, the Conch Train is a fun trip and you get to see a lot of the island. You can get off anywhere you want to and get back on the next train so it's a good way to see things, too. Have a great trip! -- Hurricane

It's definitely going to be a good one. For my presentation on the Wickedest City on Earth I'm heading down to Miami this weekend. A museum down there has 150 artifacts from the sunken city plus historical records and rare maps on display. Can't wait to play down there and get some more good shots for the presentation at PyrateCon. -- Hurricane

How cool is that! I was looking for something to take passengers to and from our adjoining properties. I was originally considering a monorail (http://www.monorails.org/tMspages/Niles.htm) but a moat with this in it would be a lot more fun! -- Hurricane

Well said sir. I'd take KW over anything in the NE anytime. -- Hurricane

It would be sad to see some go... but our crewe will pick up the slack for Harry and make his vision come true regardless. We don't do different periods and are having a blast forming our impression of 1680 Port Royal so Gettysburg holds no excitement to us. Sorry that many of you won't be able to enjoy a rousing discussion of period politics while slugging down some onion soup from the times. It will be interesting to see who bails though... Who here be jumping ship? -- Hurricane

I preface this by saying I haven't done much stufy on the subject. But given the inevitability of death back then, I can't say people mourned much, or they'd be mourning all the time. Witness Sir Thomas Modyford, former governor of Jamaica. One he died, the mortar had barely set when his son died six weeks later. Life was not long and death was an accepted thing, far more than it is today when we set up shrines by the roadside and paste our cars with In Memoriums because we can't deal with the fact that everyone dies eventually. After reading lots of piece of history, there were few big mourning periods that I could see. When Henry Morgan died, the fort fired its cannons and he was laid to rest. Then life returned to normal after the funeral. So even a state hero was just another death. But that's just my two cents. -- Hurricane

I must say that PiP is beginning to be a real place to be. Harry and his crewe have been doing an awesome job of brining a real focus and purpose to the event and some really great re-enactors and soon to be re-enactors are jumping on board to make it be so. I was impressed with the gang there last year and know that this year will be even better. I can't wait to jump into to the fracus and live life circa 1680. -- Hurricane

Sorry, that's some false information there.... Hurricane season officially ends on the first day of the festival. But the main hurricane season is long before that in August and September. Very few hurricanes have ever happened in November, let alone late November and those aren't in the keys. It's unfortunate they chose that date of all dates. I would have like to have gone to both. But I agree with several others - Florida in November/December much better than PA at the same time. Have fun up north... to quote Jimmy Buffett "I'd rather go where it's warm." - Hurricane

Harry Morgan's Way - Dudley Pope Port Royal Jamaica, Michael Pawson Port Royal - The Sunken City, Robert F. Marx There's a theme there, I know. But I'm finishing my presentation of PyrateCon. -- Hurricane

Let's see... I would set my own hours, wake when I wanted to, nap in the afternoon, work when I wanted to. Go pirating whenever I wanted. Vacation on other people's dime and go whenever and wherever I could. Have a drink any time I wanted to, even during "working hours." Oh, I already do that... guess I'm retired by definition. I'm fortunate enough to work at home with a view of the palm trees out my windows. Can't imagine things ever being better than this... :) - Hurricane

As in other posts, if your a period pirate in a period camp, it would be assumed you take pride in your possessions and they would look as new or as well cared for as possible. I've seen a lot of other posters here who want to make their stuff look 300 years old to look authentic but that wouldn't be correct at all. -- Hurricane

That's a very cool use of them, Captain Jim! Last year we had our large one flying above our booth but would likely make a smaller one for situations like this. Obviously, we'll be flying an appropriate British flag in Port Royal this year. But perhaps each crewe or gathering can have their flag flying along the walls, sort of like we tried to do. That would really dress up the area and recognize those in attendance! -- Hurricane

Take the information provided for what you want to do with it. I care not. It is based on my own 25 years of experience playing stringed instruments. Manipulating the structure of an instrument is a dicey business because you're trying to piecemeal a whole. Ask any luthier and they'll tell you the same thing. An instrument's tone and playability are directly related to all it's pieces. Taking pieces off or redoing them as an amateur is akin to whacking away on a Strat and saying it's still the same violin, that's all. If you can play a guitar, no one will care at PiP what it looks like. I for one would much more welcome a person who had a nice guitar and sounded good than someone who tried to do something that looked period but the chording and sound of it is soured and mangled by undesireable modifications. I would then just kick you out of our camp (we're doing the buccaneer encampment). To each his own... -- Hurricane

I checked out your sources as well as some others. Here's my initial take. The problem with modifying a newer guitar into an older one is that it will not only change its shape, but its playability. In other words, shortening a neck changes the pitch of the chords, they will tend to become much sharper than a true chord on the original neck. All the frets would have to be altered to correct this. Additionally, the tension on the neck would change substantially, because you'd have to screw around with shortening the tension rod that is in most modern guitars. This is what keeps them from bowing. Chances would be good that changing the neck will cause the neck to bow out, creating fret buzz. Also, changing the number of strings will require an entire new cording structure. The one example you show is a five string - it won't work to just drop a finger off a six string chord and using a structure such as banjo chords (five strings) won't work either because the top string is not used in all chords. So it's a bit problematic. I could go on about the technical challenges but a good luthier could shed more light on the changes it would take. But I doubt it would sound much like a guitar when you're through with it. -- Hurricane

A pub run was part of PiP up until two years ago, so getting it back would be good. -- Hurricane

I guess if they were to do a period guitar they would do a tree. The wood would have still be growing. I think that would be the best thing I'd ever see at a re-enactment. -- Hurricane

So I'm a bit confused. Are you careening or ashore trading? Most careening parties I've seen involve all work and very little play. The idea was to get the ship in top shape as soon as one could, since it was most venerable at the time it is on its side. So the barnacles and weeds need to be removed, leaks calked, rigging fixed, etc. Stuff would just be stacked up on shore, that which needed to be removed. If I recall the cannon and heavier things were left on board and used to shift the ballast of the ship so she could be more easily tipped then righted. I would imagine that most pirates careened in a remote place, so as not to be discovered by a passing Navy or merchant ship and be reported. But that's just what I know of careening. A lot of unpleasant hard work in as short of time as possible. Where's GAoF, Blackjohn and Foxe on this one? -- Hurricane

I thought I saw a woodblock of a pirate in bucket boots playing a period Gibson... :) Enigma has it all pointed out and well said. And why would anyone want to ruin a perfectly good guitar? And if it's not a good one, why would you want to play it? -- Hurricane

Obviously this is the same one Museum Replica has unless they're stealing one another's photos: http://www.museumreplicas.com/webstore/eCa...ch_cutlass.aspx Same price too. Strange. -- Hurricane

This is a great thread. I love the designs you've come up with. I only wonder if a pirate crew would brandish a flag on a beach where they are at their most venerable. Seems to me that they would be more likely to fly nothing or the colors of a country that was favorable to them at the time, deception being a great strategic and tactical advantage. But I do love your talent, lad, as one who pays a lot of doubloons to good designers in his more legitimate life. -- Hurricane

Tornados of any size, let alone that size, are very rare here. Usually they are F0 or F1 max. I'm mostly amazed that the death toll was so low, given the swath of destruction. As I said, I'll take a hurricane any time - at least I know my house and its capabilities. Not even a million dollar stick built can survive a direct hit from a twister. -- Hurricane