Pirate Ship Defiance

[Johnathan Atwood]

Pirates of the New England Coast has commissioned the well known and respected shipwright Harold Burnham to build a pinky schooner. The project has a dual purpose: to help keep the Essex wooden boat building tradition alive, and to create a replica vessel of what many New England pirates actually sailed.

As of now we have the oak for the ribs, keel, and hull cut, and the oak for the deck furniture is aready in plank form. We are raising funds all summer long, and true construction will begin this Fall. We estimate she'll launch in March 2014, and be ready for service by May!

Please follow us through our website at http://pirateshipdefiance.com/, and on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/PirateShipDefiance.

Most of te help we need s monetary, and pledges are accepted through paypal. We will also accept elbow grease this Fall.

fair winds and a following sea!

[Dutchman]

hey shipmate, your link is dead. went to the facebook site, but alas- no info on your fine vessel. have you got plans online or something for us to take a peek at?

[Johnathan Atwood]

That is very strange. I tried the link above and it didn't work, but put in http://pirateshipdefiance.com and was greatly relieved to see that we are still up and running. The difference of a slash, eh?

Our demensions are 78ft tip to tip, 58ft at the rail, 15ft at the beem. there's a fo'c'stle, crew quarters, galley, and engine room below. Defiance will sleep 13 comfortably. No great guns, but we are planning on some swivels.

Defiance will actually be the sister ship to the pinky schooner Ardelle (http://schoonerardelle.com), which is owned and operated by Capt. Burnham. However, we're going to have slightly different deck furniture to be truer to period.

Edited May 7, 2013 by Johnathan Atwood

[Jib]

This is great!

[Jake the SeaSnake]

Beautiful!! always a fan of anyone bringing back wooden ships of the period! Now a pinky schooner, isn't that what Ed Lowe used?

[Johnathan Atwood]

Jib: Thankee. We are very excited about this project. One of the few years when I am looking more forward to the end of sailing season than the beginning.

Jake: I haven't seen any sources for Low on a pinky schooner, just sloops. Do you have a good to reference? Low, Lowther, and Harris are some of my personal favorites as I cruise from Narragansett to Cape Anne.

[RIPP Tar]

Try this for the facebook page https://www.facebook.com/PirateShipDefiance

[William Brand]

It's a great project!

[Johnathan Atwood]

Here is our first "teaser" video.

Our Kickstarter campaign starts on the 15th of July!

Follow us on Facebook.com!

[Commodore Swab]

Ive been thinking of converting my sailboat into a pirate ship as well. She is a 31 foot C&C sloop I figure by cutting out the cabin adding in a gun deck, reworking the aft deck would become a sort of quarter deck. Adding a bowsprit, top sprit gaff rig, topsails etc complete the rig. As far as armament I already have 4 bronze swivels, multiple large small arms and would be outfitting the gun deck with 4 bronze 6 pound carronades. After sketching het out on ACAD she would be beautiful and around 50 feet overall. Pretty much making her into a costal raider I know she may not be authentic and be fiberglass but Im just a simple pirate working with what I can.

[Johnathan Atwood]

Commodore, That sounds like a very fun project! Please post pics as you progress.

[Johnathan Atwood]

Our project to build a pirate ship is LIVE! Once Pirate Ship Defiance is built she will be used to educate children and adults about pirate and privateer life during the Golden Age of Piracy! Please click to pledge, and share with your friends! http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/484178458/building-pirate-ship-defiance