hurricane

Man, I forgot about Lafitte's. One of the great pirate bars on earth. It looks like it's half falling over and is candlelit. Great place...

Buccaneer's Roost is a pirate bar in Port Royal. It is closed now but a perfect place to reopen and run if you want to expat. The building's in great shape, really spacious and has an outdoor section adjacent. Right smack in the middle of PR. They used to fly pirate flags off the mast before it closed.

Hhm, perhaps the Pyrates of the Coast crewe should expat.

-- Hurricane

Bon vivant and professional misfit here.

Sit in my jammies and have people hire me to write for them and design pretty stuff for print and web.

-- Hurricane

Compared to Key West, the food and drink are a 1/3 to 1/2 less. A Red Stripe runs about $1.25 US. At Captain Tony's a 22 ounce beer is $6 so you can get two Red Stripe (24 ounce) for $2.50. Food is equally cheap. A great place of local chicken with bammies runs $4, if you like seafood fresh fish is between $5 and $6 US for a lot of food.

Port Royal isn't touristy so you won't pay Ocho Rios or Montego Bay prices here. So it all evens out. The airfare isn't much more than the Keys if you fly through Orlando or Ft. Lauderdale, the hotel is not too expensive (if we have enough folks we can get package rates) and very nice and new, and everything is in walking distance.

-- Hurricane

Gaspar's Grotto in Ybor City fills the bill nicely. A little more modern in tone but still very nautical feeling, right down to the cargo crates holding up the outdoors bar.

The old Admiral Benbow Inn bar in West Seattle was over the top piratical, complete with the Hispaniola Bar with a ship's window in the back and heavy timbers and cargo hatches in the ceiling. You swore you were on a pirate ship. No longer there, though.

By far the best is Taberna del Gallo in St. Augustine. The bar is just a board between two pillars, they only server period drinks (plus sodas for the wee ones), lighting is by candelight - no modern electricity for such contrivances, and a group sings sea chanties on weekends. All the furnishings are rustic wood.

-- Hurricane

Armpits, smelly.

Doritos and tuna (think, think)

-- Hurricane

Originally it was to meet women... :) Oh, so many years ago.

But a trip to Port Royal last week cinched the reason. A local woman stopped me in the street and said I "had the look of generations of Port Royal." I asked her what she meant and she replied, "Hasn't anyone told you that you've been here many times before?"

Wow! Still freaks me out.

Hurricane

To my crewe during the holidays!

I posted this on the Hideout but not everyone goes there - why?

The Week Before Christmas

‘Twas the week before Christmas for The Pyrates’ full crewe,

They had all worked so hard there was not much to do,

The ship was all shipshape, the voyages done,

Thanks to a Mix-Up, Olaf got too much sun.

The crewe was passed out in the hammocks below,

While Animal kept watch for a mid-winter blow.

The Captain and Conscience were snuggled in bed,

While visions of plunder danced ‘round in their heads.

When up on the deck we heard Animal stutter,

“Get up here now lads I’ve spotted a cutter.”

Away to the main deck the crewe flew up to fast,

And climbed to the rigging, the foc’sle and mast.

The moon hung low as we sailed past Lime Cay,

We could see a tall ship making course to the Bay.

She was pulled by eight seahorse as she sailed on the lee,

And our piratical hearts knew we could not let her go free.

With a whily old captain with a white beard aflow,

Hurricane knew in a flash that she was loaded with dough,

The cutter came quickly approaching quite near,

And the captain he shouted for all crewe to hear:

“Now Flint, Now Fhyre!

Now Olaf, and Studley!

On Sabre, ‘n’ Sheila!

On Touche and Paisley!

To your guns step lively!

To the swivels facing aft!

Put powder to them softly,

We must sink his nice craft!”

That whily old captain moved directly on course,

As he continued to put lash to every seahorse,

We waited with patience to come close abeam,

Then opened a broadside to blow open his seams.

An then, in a twinkling, we heard his reply,

He fired right back knocking over One Eye.

We hove to and crossed his bow once again,

He took a 12 pounder from Oryginal Cynn.

His ship drifted closer, we could see him on deck,

Dressed richly in crimson from his boots to his neck.

His clothes were all blackened from the guns firing hot,

But we could tell that the coat had been sewn by Black Skot.

His eyes – were ablaze! His forehead turned red,

At the site of his small crew, many now dead.

His once smiling face was drawn up now quite mad,

And we could see that he’d become a revenge-minded lad.

The stump of his clay pipe clenched tight in his teeth,

And the smoke from it encircled his head like a wreath,

He had a scarred face and a peg on one leg,

He swayed to and fro, holding onto a keg.

His crewe was quite small, they looked mighty queer,

Surrounded by eight really pissed off reindeer.

Shouting commands while he nodded his head,

We soon knew we had everything to dread.

He said nothing else, then fired one more round,

The shot downed our mainmast, then fell into the sound.

With that he hove to and sailed to the north,

As we fell in irons, we could no longer move forth.

So we stood on the deck, now knowing our plight,

We had taken on Santa and that just wasn’t right.

But we heard him exclaim as he sailed from our sight,

“To all of your crewe, Merry Christmas and good night!”

Your Captain

It is our understanding that these things won't pose any problems. The Wolf can ship in the powder... and we can bring weapons if we go through the channels. Our local contacts there - including the Heritage Foundation folks, said it should pose no problems if part of the festival, particularly one that is dedicated to enriching their history.

-- Hurricane

Thank you suh! I think it will separate the men from the boys, so to speak... :)

-- Hurricane

Here's a link to my missive on Port Royal, the fort, the hotel, Lime Cay and other places of interest...

http://piratesofthecoast.com/shipslog/pr-s...scrapbook1.html

-- Hurricane

We go everywhere in town in garb. The locals look forward to it.

We envision a pirate encampment with vendors and entertainment at the hotel proper, perhaps a candle lit dinner at the fort one evening, a historical tour of the town, a discussion by the heritage trust on the sunken city, a re-enactment of the tryal of Anne Bonny and Mary Read, since they were tried right here, a visit to the local school for tales of the high seas, various junkets into town for fun and frolic, and perhaps a ghost tour, since the city is rife with tales from the dark side. We will also take a day trip to Lime Cay, our own pirate island for a day - and perhaps a trip into Kingston for some shopping at the Straw Market. Oh, an we hope to have the Schooner Wolf dockside (the hotel can dock a tall ship right on it's dock with evening sails.

We hope to have the dates nailed down by April 06 for the 07 year.

All in all one heckuva festival in a real pirate town.

-- Hurricane

I'm with ya!!! Jamaica is where it's at... Perhaps we should become the Pyrates of the Port Royal Coast....

-- Hurricane

A note: Don't be put off by airfares. Airfares to Orlando are typically much cheaper from all major cities than flying to Kingston. And from Orlando you can connect to American, Spirit, Air Jamaica at much cheaper prices. So one RT to Orlando and one RT from there to Kingston can be much less. Right now, Spirit is $250 from Orlando to Kingston RT.

-- Hurricane

We are beginning planning for a pirate festival in Port Royal, Jamaica. We would be headquartered at Morgan's Resort, which is in Port Royal proper.

What we're looking for now is a general raise of hands of those interested. The event will probably be in April or May, 2007.

Activities would include vendor booths at the resort, a trip to Lime Cay, which is near Rackham's Cay (which is now submerged by the way), a presentation on the sunken city, a historic ghost tour of Port Royal, a visit to Fort Charles, which has artifacts from the sunken city, perhaps a candlelit dinner there as well, a trip to the Money Museum to see an amazing collection of money through history, including those of pirate times, and some other events to be determined. We'd also go to the Straw Market for some native shopping.

So, who would be interested. Outside of airfare it would probably be around $500 per person including the trips, tours, presentations and hotel for six days, five nights, double occupancy. Food and drinks are relatively cheap there - fresh fish dinner - $5, Red Stripe, $1.50. That's in Port Royal. The people there are great and love pirates.

I will have photos soon. And I have a limited number of brochures of the resort (we're in it) that I can send to folks.

Let's hear it! Who's up for a trip to the real center of piracy?

-- Hurricane

Ahoy Jib,

So sorry we missed you there! PiP is indeed a very fun festival - it's very welcoming of all walks of piratical life - re-enactors to casual pirates for a day. We've had a grand time there. Unfortunately, we were in Jamaica this year, delivering some new pirate and wench uniforms to the Morgan Harbor Resort in Port Royal. So we while we weren't there in person we were in another pirate realm, and there in spirit.

We missed all our friends and loved seeing the photos.

If you want some advice, PM me and I'll be happy to share all my crewe running experiences. Learned a lot over the last 20+ years of being in, creating and running crewes. Would love to be of service to you and your mates as well.

And if you want some information about Port Royal, I can provide that too. We're considering a festival there in 2007, similar to PiP.

-- Hurricane

I have the shirt - it looks great. But it is more of a captain look than an ordinary pirate look - it needs equally fancy pants and coat to accent it. It is not period correct in material, but a heavier weave would have made it less elegant in terms of how it looks.

-- Hurricane

From the Angler in Port Royal Jamaica:

Mix Up

1 bottle of Guinness

Equal part Ginger Wine

A couple shots of overproof rum

Cream

It looks a bit like Egg Nog when shaken up and it's delicious and deadly...

-- Hurricane

We learned sooooo much.

A little tidbit off the top... Port Royal and Jamaica in general used pieces of eight as currency until 1839. They rejected England's attempts to standardize the currency of the colonies and used pieces of eight until finally forced to change over gradually in the mid 1800's.

Lots more soon. Still going through photos and factoids. But I can say that this trip was amazing - we had a presentation by the Heritage Trust on the sunken city, trade, commerce, the influence of other cultures on the city (including an amazing amount of Chinese goods) as well a tours by locals and a visit to the Bank of Jamaica Money Museum.

Will post more in the next days. Just got back this evening.

-- Hurricane

We were there in June. It was terrific. Be sure to go over to the Atlantis Resort and go through the aquarium. It's worth the money.

-- Hurricane

Ahoy all!

Olaf the Wanderer, Master Studley, Black Skot, Diosa, Flint and I of the Pyrates of the Coast are here, ready to head out to Port Royal, Jamaica on the morn. We will post a missive of our trip upon our return so you can know everything you need to know to walk in the footsteps of the likes of Rackham, Bonney, Read, Morgan and other nefarious and legendary scoundrels.

-- Hurricane

With enough tequila I can still speak pretty fluent Spanish. Straight A's for three years, top of class. Plus my teacher would have slept with me if that was allowed back then as it is today... But that was not yet custom... :)

-- Hurricane

I find it funny that that flag was used in Cutthroat Island and PotC. Can't someone in Hollywood get a clue and be a little creative historically? Particularly since the Rackham flag is shrouded in such doubt? It's an attractive flag but soooo overused everywhere.

-- Hurricane

I have the good fortune to be the captain of The Pyrates of the Coast, a band or pirates and wenches anchored in Central Florida. Our crewe spans from the Gulf to the Atlantic Coast, with others sailing in from afar when called upon. We are a crewe of 20, the youngest being 7 and the oldest 81. We do a lot of community service, personal appearances and corporate events. Part of the crewe serves as the band, performing a wide range of music. All of us are experts at working a crowd, improvisation and serving as goodwill ambassadors. We also dabble in some re-enactment, though the limitations of that preclude a lot of improv, at least the way we do it. Think of it as Who's Line is it Anyway with pirates.

We used to be based out of Seattle but the captain couldn't stay away from the palm trees and places where real pirates once lived (not necessarily Portlando, Florida in general). Since then the entire crewe has changed in numbers and members.

No formal membership. If we like ya, you sail with us. The leadership is a benevolent dictatorship - the captain is in charge. No meetings, no allegiances with formal organizations such as SCA or faires. We sail under our own flag. We're really one large family actually.

We travel often - Port Royal is this week, we head to Puerto Rico in April for a corporate gig and then perhaps to the Bahamas in September. Ah, a pirate's life.

-- Captain of the Blackheart

Hurricane

Wow! Those are very pricey.

My mate Diosa just about fell over at the prices. She does almost the same coat as her Quartermain coat, but more historically correct. I think there are better deals out there.

-- Hurricane

Go to a fabric store, pick out a lightweight material that breathes and which can fold nicely. Cut it into a large square and tie it on your head. That's what sailors more than likely would have done anyway. Simple and effective. That's all our crewe has done for head scarfs...

-- Hurricane