What lured you to pyracy?

[TalesOfTheSevenSeas]

What was it that lured you to piracy? I'm guessing that every pirate here has a tale to tell of how they joined "the sweet trade"

I started out writing in a cyber novel on Pan Historia. In order to write with some level of respectability, I started researching pirates and their history.

I was fascinated by the contradictions- The advanced level of democracy and disregard for race and social class standing among shipmates, coupled with absolute brutality and disregard for human life and suffering.

I started reading and reading and reading. Pretty soon I was hooked. Years before, I'd been involved in a wild west gunfighters reenactment group and wanted to do something like that again. But there were no guilds remaining in northern CA that I could find. They were all in southern CA or defunct. So I organized some friends at Pan Historia and arranged a pirate gathering for the Goldcoast Pirate Faire 2002 in Ojai.

All our pirates had a blast and on the second day I looked at Sasha and said, "Ya know, this is fun. We ought to start our own pirate guild!" Sasha agreed that it was a great idea. During the course of that afternoon, I got to talking with Dianne, one of the pirates at the Guild of St Gregory encampment. She encouraged us to go for it and offered to help us get started.

Dianne became my mentor. Via email, she coached me and offered advice and help to get us going in the early stages of developing Tales of the Seven Seas.

Then it grew... and grew! It soon had developed into far more than I ever dreamed it would. A year and change later, we've participated in more than 25 events, worked with and battled with some of the most amazing tall ships in the world, are learning to sail thanks to Gary and the Royaliste, taught a few people about pirate history, did some performing, some sword fights, I have a pirate ship in my driveway-

...and best of all, I have about 150+ new friends and we've put untold thousands of smiles on the faces of people of all ages.

At the 2003 Pirate Faire, I saw Dianne again and I thanked her and told her just how much all her help and support had meant to me. If not for her, it might never have made it past the dreamin' stages.

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!! T'is a damn good life says I !!!!

[Black Deacon]

I've been re-enacting history all my life. All time periods. That and the entertainment I've done. Somehow piratin' just fits me base nature.

[Lucky Penny Hawkings]

I got too nosy for me own good, that's what!

That, however, would be the short and sweet version. Th' rest is longer, an' can be blamed on this forum, Quill, me Cap'n Royaliste, an' Jack Sparrow.

[Paisley]

i'll keep this short n sweet....

everything i love to goes back to the first movie i can remember watching...peter pan. i was in the backseat of dad's 64 bel air, at a drive-in, with "footie"pj sleepers on.

(i even dated the actor who was the crock, an indian, and a lost-boy in the theater version touring the us in 92....god he was hot..anywho...)

potc just COMPLETELY threw me off the edge...and here i am!

...and you can't get rid of me!!!

*evil laugh muah-ha-ha!*

[Red Maria]

I have friends who have a pirate guild called the Ravenheart. For years they had asked me to join and I finally did. Since I'm the type if I am going to do something I'm going to do it right I started studying about pirates. I am fortunate enough to work in a research library with a good selection of books on pirates and piracy. It is also fortunate that the head of the Research Div. is an authority on the subject (specialzing in Capt Kidd) and loves to be asked questions. I found the subject fascinating and my thrist for knowledge on the subject unquenchable.

So I joined an academic e-list on piracy (that's where I know Foxe from) and lurked for a while till I was sure a I wouldn't make an absolute fool of myself and got involved with the discussions. I also met Jamaica Rose and another PRPs on the list and they invited me invited me to PRP events. Soon they were asking me when I was going to join PRP. That is how got involved with the Port Royal Privateers. :)

I am still involved with both groups but more active in PRP.

Oh yes! I was also one of the original St. Dymphna Sea Dogs at the Renissance Pleasure Faire.

Edited January 7, 2004 by Red Maria

[Hawkyns]

Been re-enacting for 25 years- viking to WWII, been in the SCA for 28years. Done blackpowder, modern weapons, cannon, and was one of the first fencers in the East Kingdom. Wrote the first set of rules, played the scadian fencing game for years. then it started evolving...... too many rules, too much BS. During this time I was commanding an English Civil War company of Royalists. That folded last year, when getting everyone together became about like herding cats.

I wanted to stay with the re-enactment world, but wasn't real thrilled with any of the organisations out there. By chance, I came across the Free Men of the Sea, who I still turn out with, on occasion. The pirate life called- I could stiil be involved with my 16th-18th century life, turn out to musters and timelines, and not have to worry about a whole lot of officer's meetings and rules.

Now, in a strange twist, I have about a half dozen people who are trying to persuade me to form a more formal pirate group. Probably our first meeting on this Saturday.......

What a long strange trip it's been.......

Hawkyns

[Capt. Morgan]

I read a National Geographic article about Port Royal in its heyday, when I was a kid... had lots of illustrations, a famous "Nat'l Geo" map, and tons of good info... I've been hooked since... I also grew up with my grandfather's (a Scotsman) tales of Scottish and Viking sailors, as well as his own tales of flying in the US Navy (he was an aviator from 1943 to 1965)... the sea's in my blood, so to speak!

[Mad Maudlin McCrumb]

Had to have started with my love for old Errol Flynn movies when I was a kid.. I couldn't get enough of the swashbucklers! As I grew older and bunnies were replaced by wolves, I turned to the SCA and discovered the pirates Guild. They were wilder and were obviously having more fun than the uptight lot I was hanging out with. Even after a rather bad experience involving my first taste of sake and an attempt to pick a fight with every pirate at the event... (woops)... I found myself drawn to them at every event and opportunity. They were so wild, and romantic! Graceful fencers and powerful Captains, roaming free and wicked on the high seas! How could I resist? I saw Peter Pan, and found myself drawn even to Captain Hook! (I wrote a story about him recently, not great, but from an outsider's point of view on the situation.. his fiancee's that he had left at home! And boy is SHE ever mad!) As I prepared to start up my own SCA household/ship, I saw the ads for POTC.. and I thought GOOD GODS! A PIRATE movie? With Johnny Depp? And Legolas??? COUNT ME IN!!! My ship/household has REALLY taken off, and it is now large enough to join the Fleet! (Whatever that is!)

ARRRGH mateys!!

[BLACK JACK SHALAQ]

It musta been my karma. As a lil' nipper, while all the neighborhood kids were pretendin' they were "Spacemen" n' "Indian Chief's".I was stealin' thar marbles n' toys n' havin' my way wit thar mom's n' sisters n' gettin' into thar old mans liquor. And in me spare time I started my tattoo collection. Ah....The Sweet Trade!

Still doin' what I do best!

Black Jack Shalaq

[Mad Woman Cheryl]

I came into piratin' in an round about way. I have always loved Muppet Treasure Island, but din't give any thought to being a pirate. I have been always been a costumer and been dressing as a Klingon since '92. (We are the best looking group on the east coast.) In the past 4 years or so we have been taking sea shanties and drinking songs and gearing them to space and Klingons. At the same time I started listening to Pyrates Royale and getting into the pirate thing. I no longer want to do Klingon and Trek is boring right now.

I believe that it's a pirates life for me!

[Rumba Rue]

I knew Christine and Michael when they were still doing the Renaissance Faire. But in actuality, it was Barracuda De Morte that got me to join.

The rest is history.

Rumba Rue

**Life happens when you least expect it**

[Billie Bonnie]

Well, pirates have been following me all me life.

As a young lass I was in love with fantasy movies, especially Peter Pan and The Princess Bride. Plus, I have always had a thing for outlaws. My family started reenacting when I was about 12, so I caught THAT bug early.

I was involved with a pirate radio station for a while, and helped it become more of a corsairing radio station

A friend of me Pa introduced me to the Gazela Philadelphia, I started volunteering and caught THAT bug a little late :) But I am learning all I can.

I have always been interested in anarchist tendencies in history, and became obsessed with researching Pirate islands and communities, as well as communities that may have influenced Pirates (like the Maroons and The Levelers).

So, thats how I came to our fine trade :)

["Mad Mab" Longfeather]

My dad was interested in the sea for a very long time, and being Daddy's Little Girl, he used to take me to a lot of the sailing things he went to. When I was very young we went to this Pirate Festival or something of the sort where they taught you how to rig a sail and fire a cannon. I learned all of the sea shanty's (yeah.. and it was really embarassing when I watched "Moby Dick" in my junior year English class because I unknowingly was singing along to most of them... "Uhm... I uh... heard them on... the radio!"), read a ton of books, etc. I have always found pirates wonderfully fascinating.

Then I saw POTC and it was settled.

And here I am

--Mab

[Desert Pyrate]

I've been into piracy my whole life. I used to love the PotC ride at Disneyland and would make my dad take me on it again and again (our record was 14 times in a row). I also loved any pirate movies I could fine. Then, my pirate interests became latent. Recently, however, I found this board, and it was like bellows to a furnace. All my memories and interests came rushing back, and it's like I've been a pirate my whole life. Arrr.

[Wartooth]

I guess it has been the years of geneological research into my ancestry. Found several direct lines to dutch privateers and naval officers fighting the Spanish armada. A few of them turned to piracy after their own government refused to award a share of the captured loot. A couple weren't the nicest folk on the seas either. LOL! The one I've spent the most time researching is Jan Janszoon, a dutch privateer who was rebuked by the House of Orange after raiding MANY spanish galleons on route back from the Caribbean. He later was exiled from the Netherlands, but sailed to the Barbary Coast and continued to harass the Spanish fleets. Still, he flew the dutch flag as well as that of the turkish suleyman he was hired by.

Wartooth

[Redd Oktober]

Well...let's see. I'm a second generation Ren Faire rat. My uncle Steven is a clothier at various Ren Faires around the western part of the U.S...and I, of course, spend many weekends running around with him (lil' Redd in tights...awww...ahem...ARRRRRR!!!)

I loved pirate movies (Yellowbeard, Treasure Island, hell...even the Swiss Family Robinson)...and I was five when my dad and grandfather grabbed me and pulled me into the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland....we went around three more times!!!

I was hooked.

My mom once read me Peter Pan when I was little. She was very taken aback that I never wanted to hear it again. I hated it. Pan WINS!!! What's up with that! What a little a**hole!! This little, faerie changeling kidnaps children...leads a band of cannibalistic, Lord of the Flies children in a fantasy land...consorts with mermaids....and then cuts off a fine sea gentleman's hand and feeds it (and eventually...the rest of Hook) to a crocodile! F*** PETER PAN!!!

...ahem...I have my composure back now....

I then was introduced to the art of N.C.Wyeth, Frank Schoonover, and Howard Pyle. That was the end of that. I bought TONS of books on Pirates and studied up on them. It was no surprise, that whenever I would do a book report (and I could choose the book), it would inevitably be a pirate book.

The first Ren Faire costume I ever sewed on my own was a pirate costume. I even started fooling around with theater and worked as a pirate chorus member in Peter Pan (*shudder*....sorry I love Captain James Hook too much to mention that blasted faerie's name without nausea). I even once sailed on a float in the San Jose Holiday Parade as Captain Hook on a Peter Pan float (the only time I've been able to be Hook).

I've worked in various haunted houses in the Bay Area as a pirate...it's what I feel most comfortable as (besides creeping ghouls and silent zombies). I can ham it up...and let all the nastiness out at once. Then...one of my pirate acting buddies suggested we come up with names. He named me due to the color of my coat and beard (which is naturally different from the color of the hair on me head....or what's left of it)....and my favorite month: REDD OKTOBER....plus, this was the same year that the movie of a similar name was in theaters....so it stuck.

Ever since then...I've been Redd Oktober...scourge of any bathtub that I find meself in (leavin' little pink rings everywhere I goes).

[Red Maria]

Well...let's see. I'm a second generation Ren Faire rat. My uncle Steven is a clothier at various Ren Faires around the western part of the U.S...and I, of course, spend many weekends running around with him (lil' Redd in tights...awww...ahem...ARRRRRR!!!)

a PAN!!!

From Faire brat to Faire rat! Faire families live on!

[Zorg]

It were all Red Maria's fault

:)

[Red Maria]

Little ole' me?!

You're the one who has the pirate ancestor! It's in your blood! :)

Come on admit Zorg

[Captain Tito]

Mine is a long love of history.

We visited alot of historic places when I was a smaller scoundrel.

(Boston, DC, Williamsburg, Gettysburg, Ottawa, Quebec City, Alex Bay)

Then came goin ta Disney and ridin U KNOW WHAT!!

I liked the Pirate shop at the one in California especially.

I bought a hat, plastic hook, Jolly Roger, picture book and postcard book of the ride, a set of slides of the ride, and glow in the dark skull.

I still have the skull but my lady made me sell the other stuff in garage sales. OH YEAH I also bought some replica Pieces of Eight, and a couple of parchment reproductions. One of an East Coast Pirate map, which most of you have probably seen, and one called "Dead Men Tell No Tales" I have seen the map available online at Pirate Shops today.

My mom also bought this book about American Folk Legends (still has it) and it included a Pirate section. I did a report on many of them once for school. Some years later a friend went to Disney and brought me back a record with Disney ride songs on it. YOHO is my fav!!

Then we Fastforward to my honeymoon. We went in a bookstore and I bought "The Pirate's Own Book". Another trip to Disney in Florida and I got a KEWL POTC T (about the ride, this was years b4 the movie mateys)

Then fast forward to last summer. We went to Seattle and I went into the Pirates Plunder shop, the first Pirate shop I had been into in years.

I bought a few Piratey pieces and all of a sudden I was HOOKED again.

bad joke I know.

We also saw POTC at a theatre out there and when we came out, wouldn't ya know it, the Seattle SeaFair Pirate Parade was goin on!!

When I got home I spent the summer rekindling my old Pirate flames of interest and passion.

Thanks to all you mateys for havin this forum!!

Heres to ye!!

[Lady Bassett]

I was kidnapped. Then I was framed. Then I was shot, but I survived. I learned the trade from a Master Pirate of the worst kind. I mean THE WORST KIND. Now I am a pirate slave forced to do his evil bidding.

I'm serious. Really. This is fact.

Oh, I forgot the part where he used his blade on me. That was particularly frightening. But now I fear not.

[Captain Tito]

OOOOOPS

Did visit the Ren Faire in Sterling NY that is each summer.

(any of ya ever go 2 it?)

I loved the Sea Tails thing with the Pyrate there, where he had audience participation in inventing a Sea Story.

[Matty Bottles]

Well, as a young lad I really enjoyed the appeal of pirates. I think it had to do with sword play. I liked everything that involved swords - knights, samurai, robin hood, pirates and jedi knights. It just seemed like such a cooler way to fight someone. And since I was a gentle soul at heart, I appreciated how visually exciting it was to watch. You could have a brilliant sword fight, and no one could get hurt (whereas a gunfight with no casualities is just boring). I watched Treasure Island, wrote stories and drew pictures of pirates,a nd then, when I got older, I watched the princess bride and wrote stories and drew pictures of pirates.

I joined Boy Scouts and became a rather astute camper, even though I couldn't be bothered to earn any merit badges. My attitude was simple: I knew how to do it, and some little cloth patch wasn't going to help me do it any better. However, I did earn two merit badges: Sailing and Rowing. (I knew how to canoe, but once again, I was too cocky and didn't bother to fill out my paper work, despite several dozen trips through class III (OLD class III) rapids. Hell, I canoed over a dam once with cheerful results.)

Then I stopped spending my time doing fun stuff, because I moved and had no friends with either equipment or inclination. Then I went to college, and had no time nor money. Then I graduated, went on some more canoe trips, and a few years later saw POTC, formed a Pirate support group, and here I am.

[Merrydeath]

I am also a Ren Faire Rat and performer. I was at Minnesota RF and a handsome man at Excaliber told me .. you would look great in this hat..

I bought it, joined the guild, loved the pirate life (still do Court when I have to) and

I blame NQG on darkRose..

[Coastie04]

Lets see, it all started many, many years ago when I was but a tiny bugger. I went on the Lady Washington on a dockside tour. Then, I forgot about sailing for quite a while. I was lerned in black powder by me dad, who had been an avid reinactor of the mountain man era. I learned to shoot mainly flintlock, but with some caplock and a few modern guns (M-16, AK-47, and other toys ).

Then, my 8th grade year in school, I went on a week-long trip on the historic schooner Adventuress. I had never sailed before in my life, but I was hooked. The first mate actually asked me to submit an application for a position of apprentice. So, I did and learned the basics of sailing and living on a 101' tall ship. I made friends and connections, and sometime remembered the Lady Washington from my past.

I found the website and printed out the application. After many calls to the office, I finally got a date to join the crew for a two-week training. About a week into the training, I called my mom to ask for a few more days. Then I called her in a few days to ask for more. Finally, after three weeks or so, she had to practically drag me off the ship to go on a family vacation. I've pretty much been sailing on that boat whenever I get home and have time.

The love of the sea grew, and I turned away from pyracy (don't worry, only on the surface!) by joining the Coast Guard Academy. What really hooked me was seeing pictures of the CGC Eagle. Though somewhat of a pirate hunter right now, I plan to one day take over that rusty bark and raise a tasteful black flag (which will be replaced by a red flag as soon as the .50 cal mounts from WWII are replaced).

I've sailed on various other tall ships since then, but not as official crew. Now, I just reinact on the Lady Washington whenever my leave schedule allows, and hit a few festivals whenever possible.

At least I know that wherever I'm stationed upon graduating, I'll be near the coast, and therefore some sort of pyratical gathering. Hope t' see some o' ye there.

Coastie