CaptRehab

Aye but is she trunnel fastened mate?

As a Revolutionary War Re-enactor I have seen all the same arguments before. Some people wanted to show up for a battle in cutoff polyester pants and shoes with buckles tied into the laces. I was one of the first to revert to the old straight lasted shoes, which by the way are murder until you stand in the mud for a couple of hours then march several miles in the wet shoes. I think as Rev War re-enactors we have found a working truce between the "thread counters" and those who don't want to bother upgrading thier kit. We have adopted the 10 foot rule. If what you see from 10 feet away looks authentic, then it passes muster. A lot of people have done research to guide us in how we dress and behave, but they realize that there is a lot they don't know. You have to ask "What is the purpose of this re-enactment" If it is a bunch of people out to have fun, and not publicizing the event as a historical re-enactment, who cares how authentic it is? On the otherhand if you are organizing a re-enacment to educate the public and portray a bit of history, you should strive for authenticity to the best of your ability, and don't hesitate to inform the public about what you know is authentic, and what things are uncertain. The thread counters (those who inspect the cloth to determine if it was machine or hand woven, and the level of technology required to produce the cloth) have thier place in teaching us more about the history as well. As for me I will continue to carry my 1777 reproduction musket into the re-enactment of the battle of April 19, 1775 as long as the public can not tell the subtle differences between my musket and the 1763 model from 10 feet away.

I am 4 hours into a 6 hour project of wrapping the 26" wheel of my 29' sailboat with 1/8" dacron in a series of half hitches. When complete I will tie a turk's head knot to mark where the rudder is centered. Is that salty enough? I also spliced all new halyards, sheets, and painters for my little 13' peapod.

As a member of the Lexington Minute Men I have used a Pedersoli reproduction of a 1777 musket of the Charleville patern. I find it easier to break down and clean than the Brown Bess. After 11 years of use my musket is still bright and shiny. Yes it will start to rust by the afternoon if you are out in wet weather, and I am certain that salt spray would rapidly accelerate the corrosion process. As for protection I use beeswax and tallow (bore butter) when I disassemble and clean my musket, except for the lock which gets wiped down and coated with a light oil. The bore butter is great inside the barrel where the sulfurous residue of the powder accelerates the corrosion process. After you have fired enough times the heat acutally causes the bore butter to season the inside of the barrel much like you would do to a new cast iron skillet. By the way do not put anything on the face of the frizzen, it will get scoured by the flint anyway.

On Friday, June 30th, 1704 Capt Quelch and six others were executed and it it uncertain if they were then gibbeted on Nix's mate or Bird Island. Captain William Fly was supposed to have been gibbeted there after his execution on July 12th 1726, along with Samuel Cole, and Henry Greenvill. Edward Rowe Snow believed he found remains of the iron bands on Nix's mate some twoo hundres years later. That is all I was able to find in my nautical library.

Well Nix's Mate (we used to call it Agnew) Is not much more than a mark and a pile of rocks at low tide, but it does have a good pirate story associated with it. Georges Island has Ft Warren on it and is a lot of fun to play around. Lovells is fun, and Gallops is closed due to the amount of asbestos found from the ruins of the old military buildings. I really like Peddocks. It has all the potential of becoming a great place to go that Great Diamond island in Casco Bay (Portland Me.) has become. The buildings from the old fort are identical to those of Great Diamond and Cushing Islands of Maine. Spectacle used to be a dump and an old horse rendering plant. It smelled bad and had lots of rats. Today Spectacle is buried under tons of fill from the infamous Big Dig in Boston. The plan is to open the island again and I look forward to that day, hgowever it is not much more than a big grassy lump, and the anchorages are not nearly as good as Peddocks. Great Brewster can be accessed but not with a deep keel like my boat. Little Brester has Boston light which can be visited at certain times. The outer Islands like Green, Calf, and the Graves are not inviting, and may be off limits, but I wouldn't go there even if they were not. There is a bit of a landing place on Outer Brewster that I may visit next year. For more info check out http://www.fbhi.org/

Aye there is plenty of nasty ground just waiting to rise from the depths and snatch a passing ship. I remember in the late 60's I think it twas that the USS Kennedy ran aground out between the Graves, and Calf Island, on halftide rock I think. My Gradfather cursed the stupid rules that placed an inexperienced navy harbot pilot aboard rather than an experienced Boston Pilot. As for me I am sad to say that I have touched bottom a couple of times because I let myself be distracted. The problem is that the bottom I touched was granite, and not mud.

As the grandson of a Boston Harbor Pilot I can tell you a bit more about Pilots. Those of you who venture forth on the sea know that the greatest danger is usually not the sea, but the hard bits around the edge. Many ports require that a pilot be aboard before the ship enters the port. The pilots are captains with detailed knowledge of the navigational hazards of a particular port. Once when a pilot in training was taking the exam for pilotage of Boston Harbor the examiner asked him "Do you know where all the hazards in Boston Harbor are?" The trainee responded "No, Sir." The examiner then asked "Well how do you then expect to operate as a pilot in these waters?" to which the trainee responded "I know where they aint!" I understand he passed the exam. The pilots would stay on station aboard a pilot schooner awaiting the arrival of a ship. For Boston Harbor these schooners were frequently on station near the tip of Nahant outside Boston Harbor and in deep water. The pilots would be put aboard the incoming ship and would assume the responsibility for bringing the ship safely to the dock. During WWII the pilots were also sworn in to the Coast Guard (I believe with the rank of Lt. Cmdr or Cmdr.) so that they would be able to operate on Naval vessels.