Pirates for Sail

[Gute Morgan]

A number of Rumors have come to our Attention regarding Pirates for Sail and the crew of the Drunken Ferret. As a Ship's Officer and Senior Crewmember, I would like to Respond to them for the Captain, Officers, and Crew as a whole to hopefully put an End to these Falsehoods.

As we Understand it, the Several Tales spreading throughout the Pyrate, Reenactment, and Renfaire Communities are:

• Pirates for Sail are Stealing Members from other Ships.

• The Community of Pyrates are upset that Pirates for Sail obtained a Letter of Marque from the Maryland Renaissance Festival (MDRF) without being a SCA or Guilde ship.

• A Member of Pirates for Sail got into a Fight at the Maryland Renaissance Festival, and therefore Pirates for Sail are no longer welcome at MDRF.

The Vast Majority of our Members are not current Members of any Guilde, SCA, Reenactment, or other similar Group. Some are, but Most are not. With one Exception of which I am aware, those of us who are Members of Guilde or other Groups were never recruite'd by Pirates for Sail; rather, those Individuals Approach'd Pirates for Sail about joining. They Audition'd and were Accept'd as Performers. We never place'd any Stipulations on anyone that they had to Terminate their Membership with any other Crew or Group with which they were affiliate'd. Some have Maintain'd Memberships with other Groups; others have Chosen to Leave those Groups on their own. Without Fail, each One who left another Group when they join'd Pirates for Sail tell us they End'd their Memberships for Reasons other than joining Pirates for Sail.

Pirates for Sail LLC is not and has never claim'd to be a Member of any Guilde, despite Rumors that an ex-member of our crew has made Statements to the Contrary. We are a Performing Group. If someone seeks to join us, it's no different than if that Person had join'd the Pyrates Royale, or the Corsairs, or the Crimson Pirates, or any other Performing Group. If a Crew Member of a Guilde Ship were to join any of these Singing Groups, you wouldn't Accuse that Group of Stealing that Person.

A few years back, Pirates for Sail obtain'd a "Letter of Marque" from the City of Baltimore and then-Mayor His Honour Martin O'Malley (now the Governour of our Greate State). At one point, we rais'd the Question among Ourselves as to what would be involv'd in Obtaining a Letter of Marque from MDRF. One of our Performers had been in SCA on the West Coast and had Worked various Renfaires, and he not'd that he thought we would have to be a Sanction'd SCA organization, but he agree'd to Approach his Contacts at MDRF and Inquire as to the Process.

It was Confirm'd for us that, normally, the Organization receiving the Letter of Marque did indeed need to be SCA or Guilde related. We Dropped the Matter at that Point. Nonetheless, Pirates for Sail were Contact'd shortly thereafter by Friends within MDRF who suggest'd we Approach King Henry directly. We did so at Faire and, with no further Input from us, MDRF graciously chose to Award us said Letter of Marque. To this Day, we still are not entirely Certain what the Appropriate Process may be. There was no Intention on our part to short-circuit or sidestep accepted Protocols. We asked, we receiv'd Information, and we Acted on that Information, believing what we were doing was Appropriate. It seems to us that Individuals who are Concern'd about this really have a Beef with MDRF, not Pirates for Sail.

Finally, it recently came to our Attention that an Individual who, for one early Season had been a Member of our Crew, allegedly was involv'd in some sort of Altercation at MDRF in the 2007 season. At the time of this alleged Event, that Individual had not been a Member of our Group for more than a Year. Whatever happened--and we did not even Hear of the Incident until April of this year--it most certainly did not Involve a current Member of Pirates for Sail.

Pirates for Sail LLC is a Business Dedicat'd to bringing a bit of Pyracy to the Masses in a form that Entertains, and we have been unexpectedly Successful at it. We have Perform'd for Audiences ranging from 10 to 3,000+ Souls and have many more Events booked for this Year and next. We have provid'd paid Public Venues for other Pyrate Groups such as Letters of Marque, the Brigands, and the Pyrates Royale. We are more than willing to Accept any who wish to Perform with us and Share any Successes we have with the Pyrate Community whenever possible.

We Recognize we are relative Newcomers, and though we have made Mistakes, none have been made with Malice or Intrigue. We Work very hard to keep Politics and Drama out of our Group, and we take Greate Offense at any that is Generat'd in our Name by Others. If Anyone has Concerns regarding Pirates for Sail, have the Courage, Honour, and Grace to Bring them to us rather than Rely on Intrigue and Innuendo. Is that not one of the Injustices that Pyrates of Olde fought against?

With Great Respecte for all who Promote the History and Romanticism of Pyracy, We Remain Your Most Humble Servants,

Pirates for Sail

[Iron Bess]

First I've heard of it so (shrug)... You're all good as far as I'm concerened

[Iron Jon]

Forgive my ignorance but what exactly does a Letter of Marque allow you to do at a Renaissance Festival? And why would some other pirate group care how you came about getting it? You're all supposed to be pirates, or privateers in this case, after all !

[Gute Morgan]

That's pretty much how we looked at it. It's a neat thing to have, but at the end of the day, it is a piece of paper. We're not really certain why folks are upset about it, but we have heard from a great many sources that they are (not that anyone has said anything to our faces). If folks are upset, we think they ought to know the truth of the matter. I'd much rather have a beer with people than be sniping at each other.

[blackjohn]

Huh... We live in the same metro area and I haven't a clue. I guess we don't really travel in the same circles.

[Gute Morgan]

It's not for lack of desire, Black John. I'd love to do the straight up historically accurate reenactment. I'm always wowed by the Brethren and what you guys do. I also love the singing and performing we do, and portraying the romanticized side of pyracy. Just not enough hours in the day to do it all. Maybe when me powder monkeys be grown and off to sea themselves.