Immersion Classes

[RIPP Tar]

This past week our crew gathered for a pirate immersion weekend. This is an event that is open to our crew only. During the event members ran classes for other members on a host of subjects, including navigation, 18 century daily life of the various classes, Pirate brokers etc. It was a great event and a lot of fun for all of us. This was the second this year and we view them both as huge successes for a number of reasons. I have a couple of questions for those of you here on the Pub Have any of the other crews here on the pub participated in something like this in the past, or would like to in the future? Would this be something you might suggest to your own crews. Lastly what would some of you like to see in classes presented in your own crew’s immersion weekend? One of the reasons I ask is although I don’t post here often I read many threads and see many here are very knowledgeable in many areas concerning our time period. Most of you have much more experience in re-enacting than myself. I’m very interested in your opinions

[Quartermaster James]

What's a pirate broker? Something to do with the stock exchange?

Would I like to do something similar? Hell yeah! Consider the idea stolen!

If the response I get be anything like my previous attempts to rally interest

in anything outside of drinking rhum, I might get three positive replies!

I'd like to know more of the list of classes presented at your weekend, and

off the top of my head, in addition to what you have already mentioned think

I'd like to include the following:

• An introduction to Black Powder Firearms (something I could actually present);
  
• Rope handling & basic knots - the functional aspects of marlinespike seamanship;
  
• A separate class on marlinespike seamanship as a decorative art (not necessarily GAoP, I know...);
  
• An historical overview of "pyrates", from Drake to Tripoli, emphasis on GAoP of course -
  and to provide disambiguation regarding the buccaneers, filibusters, etc.;
  
• What pyrates really wore;
  
• Why rhum? AKA: Drinks of the 18th Century;
  
• Something on 18th Century cooking (maybe even build a boucan?);
  
• Games and gaming in the 18th Century;
  
• Something on how people thought, emphasis on how different it is from the assumptions
  we carry today and why (AKA: life before & after The Enlightenment, Freud & Einstein).
  
• Why we talk like Robert Newton and how to really talk like a pyrate!
  

Give me a few more minutes and I'm sure I can come up with more!

[Red Cat Jenny]

Hell yes!

There is a school and I can't remember the name. I'll try to find it. They teach 18th century fighting and weaponry and also have boarding classes. I have wanted to do that so bad. But it's on the Right coast I believe in CA. Why is everything in CA? I'll post ot when I find the link Im off to work shortly.

[Quartermaster James]

Hell yes!

There is a school and I can't remember the name. I'll try to find it. They teach 18th century fighting and weaponry and also have boarding classes. I have wanted to do that so bad. But it's on the Right coast I believe in CA. Why is everything in CA? I'll post ot when I find the link Im off to work shortly.

Right coast? Usually we're called the left coast. You must mean Orange County.

Everything in CA? Seems to me the midlands and the eastern seaboard have it all going on!

[theM.A.dDogge]

Hell yes!

There is a school and I can't remember the name. I'll try to find it. They teach 18th century fighting and weaponry and also have boarding classes. I have wanted to do that so bad. But it's on the Right coast I believe in CA. Why is everything in CA? I'll post ot when I find the link Im off to work shortly.

Right coast? Usually we're called the left coast. You must mean Orange County.

Everything in CA? Seems to me the midlands and the eastern seaboard have it all going on!

right coast???...maybe they're lookin down from Canaidia!?!?

[Quartermaster James]

...it's a "C", eh?

[RIPP Tar]

Pirate brokers looked at prominent people who endorsed piracy mostly for their own benefit like Governor Benjamin Fletcher of New York

Many of the classes you mentioned have run over the course of the 2 events some of the others were cut because we ran late on time

it was a great time and great boost to everyone's understanding of the era - im hoping one or two of my mates might post some thoughts here as well

[Red Cat Jenny]

LOL oops...um yeah thats what I meant

[Red Cat Jenny]

Found it! http://www.historicalmaritimecombat.com/

[Fox]

Funnily enough, I'm running just such a "School of the Sailor" this weekend. The programme consists of:

What Goes Where? A tour of the ship's upper decks.

The Sailor's Tool Kit. An introduction to the shipboard tools most seamen would be familiar with.

Basic Ropes, pt. 1. Basic use and care of ropes

Small Boat Handling.

Sail Trimming for Beginners. Just what is 'wearing ship'? What does that mean in practical terms on the deck?

Quarter-deck Navigation. Practical navigation skills for seamen.

Chart-room Navigation. Plotting your course.

Basic Ropes, pt. 2. Six knots and two lashings that every sailor should manage

[Quartermaster James]

I'm actually pleasantly surprised.

I suggested this to our local group, which has 150 members, and got about eight positive responses.

I have named ours the William Dampier Memorial Immersion. We're tentatively scheduled for March 2010.

[Mission]

Funnily enough, I'm running just such a "School of the Sailor" this weekend. The programme consists of:

What Goes Where? A tour of the ship's upper decks.

The Sailor's Tool Kit. An introduction to the shipboard tools most seamen would be familiar with.

Basic Ropes, pt. 1. Basic use and care of ropes

Small Boat Handling.

Sail Trimming for Beginners. Just what is 'wearing ship'? What does that mean in practical terms on the deck?

Quarter-deck Navigation. Practical navigation skills for seamen.

Chart-room Navigation. Plotting your course.

Basic Ropes, pt. 2. Six knots and two lashings that every sailor should manage

Ed Foxe's Period Sailing for Dummies?

Boy, I'd like to attend that.

The "How people thought" discussion would be an interesting one to take on. You'd could get into explaining all the different vermin, medicine and how it affected personal appearance, the wearing second-third-fourth hand clothing among the hoi polloi, period societal class structure, the political situations, the multi-various wars between the European countries, the concept of apprenticeship from youth (7 years as a slave, basically), work-ethic, the ever-present dirt and filth, waste disposal...my God, but there's a lot of stuff you could do.

[blackjohn]

And for day two of the total immersion, you do the exact same thing as on day one, but while totally inebriated.

Pirate!

[Captain Jim]

OK, I can't read this topic without a picture of D'Dogg's total immersion experience popping into my head. Classes? He don't need no stinkin' classes! (photo the Callahans):

Edited November 13, 2009 by Captain Jim

[RIPP Tar]

OK, I can't read this topic without a picture of D'Dogg's total immersion experience popping into my head. Classes? He don't need no stinkin' classes! (photo the Callahans):

LMAO Thats awesome

[Johnathan Atwood]

What's a pirate broker? Something to do with the stock exchange?

Would I like to do something similar? Hell yeah! Consider the idea stolen!

If the response I get be anything like my previous attempts to rally interest

in anything outside of drinking rhum, I might get three positive replies!

I'd like to know more of the list of classes presented at your weekend, and

off the top of my head, in addition to what you have already mentioned think

I'd like to include the following:

• An introduction to Black Powder Firearms (something I could actually present);
• Rope handling & basic knots - the functional aspects of marlinespike seamanship;
• A separate class on marlinespike seamanship as a decorative art (not necessarily GAoP, I know...);
• An historical overview of "pyrates", from Drake to Tripoli, emphasis on GAoP of course -
  and to provide disambiguation regarding the buccaneers, filibusters, etc.;
• What pyrates really wore;
• Why rhum? AKA: Drinks of the 18th Century;
• Something on 18th Century cooking (maybe even build a boucan?);
• Games and gaming in the 18th Century;
• Something on how people thought, emphasis on how different it is from the assumptions
  we carry today and why (AKA: life before & after The Enlightenment, Freud & Einstein).
• Why we talk like Robert Newton and how to really talk like a pyrate!

Give me a few more minutes and I'm sure I can come up with more!

As Tar mentioned a pirate broker is someone who backs pirate ventures. This was most often done when the pirates themselves were trying to appear like privateers and were even bothering to get a letter of marque. I just can't believe he mentioned Fletcher while leaving out RI's own Samuel Cranston- pirate broker extraordinaire for 30 years. But they were not just governors or Lt. governors. New York had a group of 5influential merchants, who were usually called the New York cabal- surely a reflection of the town's outpouring of affection for them.

Glad I be that ye find the idea worthy enough to take to yerselves. Tar, ever so modest, gave a great class on GAoP navigation, andwe did classes similar to those above.

Edited November 13, 2009 by Johnathan Atwood

[RIPP Tar]

I did remember Cranston but i didn't think anyone else would recognize his name. I'm just glad Capt. Atwood is finally on board here to share his knowledge.One of the best lessons learned came from Capt Atwood when he taught me it was a bad idea to wake him early on sunday morning

Edited November 13, 2009 by RIPP Tar

[Quartermaster James]

What sort of "guidelines" did yall have about attendance?

[RIPP Tar]

What sort of "guidelines" did yall have about attendance?

To be honest we started planning this soon after the last one so we had about four months to prepare. we started to let everyone know in mid august when things started to firm up. we required teachers to be well versed in what they were instructing. mind you most of this is simply basic stuff. to attend we really wanted only crew members. this was important because some of the teachers are somewhat uncomfortable speaking in front of crowds, at least initially. however they became more and more comfortable as time went on.

Our Boatswain Short Stack is the one who initially came up with the idea and did tons of research for a lot of us at the first one. This time around she really suprised alot of us by hosting an open discussion concerning the future of our group. She surprised us because she was able to do a remarkable job while working full time here in Rhode Island and traveling to upstate New York 4 or 5 days a week to work the Cayo Industrial Haunt from mid september till after halloween. she motivated the hell out of all of us.

Our Captain ran a couple of history sessions at both events covering all of the golden age of piracy and focusing on pirates native to RI. How the hell he keeps all that in his head I don't know. I just read something here and i forget how to use the door knob

if you plan on running one keep an eye on those you dont really think absorb any thing. They are the ones that really surprise you in the end with what they know.

again we leave it open to everyone on the crew, you find the ones that are serious about your groups future are the ones that show up, and you'll find its probably better that way. the ones that show up work their butts off big time. at some point i think we want to open it to outsiders even bring in other crews to teach and learn.

I know I dragged on here a bit but i hope it helped

Cheers Tar

[Quartermaster James]

Thanks Tar! That helped a lot.

I'm facing a slightly different situation in that there's no core "crew."

With luck, one might form from this!