Santa Maria - September - Just the Facts

[michaelsbagley]

This thread will be locked. I will update this with important or notable information regarding this event as the information becomes available.

So far...

Pirate re-enactors will be taking over the Santa Maria in downtown Columbus Ohio for the weekend. We will have access to the ship starting at about 6:00 PM Friday night, through Sunday at about 5:00 PM (perhaps 6:00 PM).

Accommodations

All participants in this event are welcome to "camp" on the ship Friday and/or Saturday nights at your leisure. Space is fairly limited, so smaller more compact sleeping arrangements are preferred (please avoid using extra large or "King" size air mattresses). Privacy is pretty much non-existent on board the ship, so if you plan to "camp" out, please do so with that thought in mind. I will post some local alternative accommodations for those so inclined, but the short version is, close (walking distance) hotels tend to be in the over $100 range, hotels in the $50+ range are available at about the 15 to 20 minute drive range, family camp grounds for as little as the $20 range (+/-) can be found in the 30 to 45 minute drive range.

As for camping in the area...

Alton RV Park - This one is likely the closest to the ship, but only for RVs. This park is on the same major street that passes by the ship (Broad Street), but from the look of the map it would be about a half hour drive west of where the ship is in the middle of the city.

Jackson Lake Park - Is about three or four miles from where we live (it is about a 20 to 25 minute drive to the ship from where we live). It is hard to tell from the web site, but it looks like this place offers both RV and tent camping.

KOA Buckeye Lake - Buckeye lake is about a 45 minute drive east of where the ship is at. It might be the cheapest of the options, and likely the closest to the freeway, but the longest drive of the close options.

Food

Food can be cooked on the ship, but cooking space is limited and tight, so it is preferred that we pool cooking resources. If everyone could contribute to the food and/or drink that would be preferred. Someone will start a discussion about food organization closer to the date of the event so we can sort that out then. Last time things worked out well.

Events

The best place for the latest information on events for this weekend will be the event web site found At this web link location.

The ship will be open to spectators between 11:00 AM and 6:00 PM (subject to change).

There will be battle re-enactments both Saturday and Sunday, we have aimed to do these early in the afternoon (around 2:00 PM)), and have pulled it off in a reasonably timely fashion in the past. We're not strict on timing, but we do our best.We are also brainstorming to come up with other additional ideas for this weekend, if anyone is interested in perhaps adding more of Friday to the event, please contact me so I can direct some of our resources to trying to come up with ideas for that as well. Living History displays (presentation style or in character at your whim) can be done throughout the day on Saturday Or Sunday.

Safety and Visibility concerns

There will be no smoking on board the ship. It is preferred that if you smoke you try to keep it out of sight from the public, but as there is limited out of space locations, no one will bust your chops over this. Absolutely no adult beverage consumption during public hours. After hours it is okay, but a modicum of discretion is asked for (be subtle not paranoid). No drinks off the ship. If you have to drink and smoke at the same time, you can stand on the metal gangplank, but please try to leave a safe path across at all times.

Auction

We will be having another auction of goods to help raise funds for the ship, last time the increased attendance of spectators the pirates generated and the moneys raised from the auction were about on par with each other, so this two pronged approach has worked and is great. Please contact me about donating items to the auction.

More to come!

Suggestions or ideas are most welcome, please post your thoughts to the ongoing discussion of this event topic/thread.

[michaelsbagley]

Starting to plan the May edition of this event. Date is weekend of September 18th and 19th of 2010.

Updated Participants web page is up, but there is a lot more to be added, this work in progress will likely be mostly completed by January. Although with inevitable extra additions to the event, updates will likely continue right up until the week before the event.

I've also updated the Event Web Page some. Nothing dramatic, but a bit more user friendly (or I hope so). I am also going to be working to improve this some more as well.