Aaargh!

Being a pirate is hard work. I spend hours searching for information on dragoon pistols, cartouches, granadoes, cutlasses, baldrics, powder flasks, dirks, sashes, tricorns, monmoths, frogs, hangers, sloops, frigates, articles, buckles, etc... I'm engaging in a new piratical/IT/programming endeavor that should make it all a bit easier. I will say no more about the endeavor until it is ready to be revealed. Muhubwahaha!!!

The Lady is a Tramp

State's 'Pirates' ship too dirty for Calif.

"Our diesel emissions are like throwing a gum wrapper out the window. But we're not going to ask for a temporary exemption. We represent the state of Washington, and we feel we should do the right thing and upgrade to a cleaner engine."

Huzzah for clean and green pirates!

Steven Spielberg takes on 'Pirate Latitudes'

Project based on Michael Crichton's final novel

Never having read the novel I would assume the story involves a supra genius historian who has a diabolical plan to create a time machine to bring murdering, pillaging, raping, evil bastards from the late 17th and early 18th century and employ them in a family friendly amusement park ride. Hmmmmm.... But something goes terribly wrong and the murdering, pillaging, raping, evil bastards end up murdering, raping and pillaging. Was I close? Will Dustin Hoffman play a pirate captain.

Okay - I read the synopis at MichaelCrichton.com and it sounds like a pretty standard buccaneer tale. While the title is Pirate Latitudes, I think the main character would be considered a buccaneer or a privateer and not a pirate. Might have to add this to my reading list.

I was just thinking the other day that the story of François l'Olonnais would make a great movie. It would probably need to be directed by Quentin Tarantino to really put a shine on the murdering, pillaging, raping, torturing, evil bastard.

Pirate 010100000110100101110010011000010111010001100101

How many ways can you be a digital pirate? Quite a few. This isn't even a complete list. I cut out most of the puzzle games and older out of circulation games.

1701 A.D. - PC
Age of Pirates: Caribbean Tales - PC
Age of Pirates 2: City of Abandoned Ships - PC
Black Buccaneer - PC
The Guild 2 - Pirates Of The Seas - PC
One Piece: Pirates' Carnival - PS2, GameCube
Pirate Hunter - PC
A Pirate's Legend [Game Download] - PC
Pirates- The Legend of Black Kat - Xbox
Pirates of Dark Water - Sega Genesis, Nintendo Super NES
Pirates of the Atlantic [Game Download] - PC
Pirates of the Burning Sea - PC
Pirates of the Caribbean - PC, Xbox
Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned - PC, PS3, Xbox360
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl - Game Boy Advance
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - Nintendo DS, PS2, Game Boy Advance
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End - Nintendo DS, Wii, PSP, Xbox 360, PS2, PS3, PC
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow - PC
Pirates! (NES) - Nintendo NES
Pirates! Gold - Sega Genesis
Pirate's: The Hunt For Blackbeard's Booty - Nintendo DS
Pirates: Duel on the high Seas - Nintendo DS
Pirates: Legend of the Black Buccaneer - PS2
Playmobil: Pirates - Nintendo DS
Port Royale - PC
Port Royale 2 - PC
Sea Pirates - PC
Sid Meier's Pirates! - PC, Mac, Xbox, PSP
Tortuga - PC
Tortuga Two Treasures - PC
Tropico 2: Pirate Cove - Mac, PC

Grenades

I've started the grenade project. I'm aiming to build inert replicas of grenades used in the GAoP (late 17th, earth 18th centuries). They will most likely be constructed of a wood ball with a drilled out core, some gravely bits to represent the powder and a bit of cotton clothes line for the fuse. I might add some fishing sinkers to add some weight. All scraped, hammered and painted to resemble cast iron. The diameter will be 2 1/2". Examples from the GAoP period range in size from 2" to 3".

There isn't much information on the web about early grenades, but I managed to find some great examples of US grenades from the FIW and Revolutionary War period at big-ordanance.com.

Gentlemen Brethren

Avast! I feel like such a poser after reading all the information at Gentlemen of Fortune and Ye Pirate Brethren. My kit is definitely in the fantasy pirate category but I've got to start somewhere... and it's plenty fun too. I'll keep an eye out for more authentic period pieces though. It would be nice to put together a kit that is GAoP correct. A ten page post on the YPB forum about shoes tells me project will be a lot of work to get right.

Voyageur Flask

Aha! This be the one! 75$ will fetch this copper flask from Goose Bay Workshops. Aside from the flask they also make a wide range of copper period reproductions.

Priming Flash Illustration

Below is an illustration by Jacob De Gheyn II of a powder flask from the Historic Jamestown website. Hmmm.... I wonder how hard it would be to make one of those things?

17th Century Powder Flash

Searching for 17th century powder flasks I came across this little critter at Send Armory for $33. This would make a nice addition to one of the English charge bandoliers.

Bandolier and powder charges

After reading the Pirate and Buccaneer books it appears that I'll be needing an appropriate bandolier with wooden powder flasks. Upon further research these things are really hard to come by. I've found three vendors constructing sets for English Civil War reenactment and they aren't inexpensive. Considering the amount of manual labor involved in crafting the leather strap, pouch and wooden flasks I suppose the prices are appropriate.

The Gatling Gun produces a handmade set in the U.S. composed of leather bandolier, 10 wooden charges, 1 wooden priming flask and leather shot pouch for $275. A small oil bottle would have to added to this set.

Tattershall Arms, another U.S. vendor, produces a set including a leather bandolier, 10 wooden charges, 1 wooden priming flask and a leather shot pouch for $135. Their website is very undeveloped so I'm not sure if they are still in business.


Bandoliers in the UK produce a variety of bandoliers and charges. The charges can be had in plain wood, painted wood, leather wrapped, and wood with metal cap. Prices range from $135 - $245. I converted the price from UK pounds to US dollars. They also have accessories for the bandolier sets including oil bottles. I'd love to get a set of the leather wrapped charges.

Buccaneers 1620-1700

Finished reading Buccaneers 1620-1700 by Konstam and McBride. I suppose I should have read this before Pirates 1660-1730, but one can't always be chronological. Again, a good quick read with great illustrations by McBride. I can't help but laugh at how geopolitics really haven't changed all that much over the past 400 years.

Pirates 1660-1730

Finished reading Pirates 1660-1730 by Konstam and McBride. Good, quick read typical of the Osprey books. McBride's illustrations are wonderful. I just wish there were more of them. Capt. Grimstock lent me the book so as to set myself firmly in the piratical world.

Huge Anglo-Saxon gold hoard found

Tis a day i be wish'n me a farmer than a pirate! Landlubbers plunder a farm field for ancient booty.

The UK's largest haul of Anglo-Saxon treasure has been discovered buried beneath a field in Staffordshire.
Experts say the collection of 1,500 gold and silver pieces, which may date to the 7th Century, is unparalleled in size and worth "a seven figure sum".

Portland Pirate Festival 2009

Many a plunder'n and merry making to be had at the Pirate Festival. So many pirates to be found that you couldn't toss a stone without hit'n one! Such a sight was to be found that the gentlemen of the Guinness Book proclaimed a record to be had as evidenced by the 1651 pirates. Beat'n the bloody english record of 1,467 pirates in one place.

Portland Pirate Festival

Plunder at the 2009 Portland Pirate Festival

My complete kit from the 2009 Portland Pirate Festival is listed below. I have some regrets about getting the Pirate style holsters from Ravenswood as the large amount of leather covers the pretty pistol. In retrospect I probably should have selected the buccaneer style with the open end. Ah, but I'm sure I'll be needing additional holsters in the future. This would definitely be classified as a fantasy pirate kit in the vein of a swashbuckling gentleman rat bastard, which is fine with me. I'm more interested in having fun with the period for the time being.

Coat, vest, medium dagger, pouch, powder horn were gifts from Capt. Grimstock
Baldric, holsters and dagger frog - Ravenswood Leather
Small dagger- Realms and Empires
Cutlass - ???
Pistol - ???
Shirt and tricorn hat - Dress Like a Pirate
Head scarf - Arrow Leather
Feathers - ???
Belt, breeches (black jeans), boots (motorcycle boots) - My closet

4th Annual Portland Pirate Festival 2009

Letter from Sir Stephen Evans

To: Captain Patrick Fyre

From: Sir Stephen Evans
Governor General of the Hudson Bay Company

The HMS Sandringham has surprised a French Privateer off the coast of Oregon. The captain, an English traitor named Lewis Grimstock, is now in custody in the stockade at Fort Vancouver. We are currently ascertaining the validity of his papers. Clearly he is a supporter of the King James and thus Louis of France.

However I am not inclinced to further an international incident. I am releasing him and his crew and vessel. With the condition that you, as a loyal subject of His majesty, secure his departure the the area.

Yours Sincerely,
Sir Stephen Evans

Letter to Capt. Grimstock

Capt. Grimstock

Please accept my profound apology for my most tardy response to your letters. We were sacked by the British frigate HMS Serapis at the delta of the great rivers Willamette and Columbia. The ball-buggering bastards commandeered my ship and clapped my crew in irons, leaving me with nary a copper to my name. Your gracious gift of the gentleman's surcoat and vest was most opportune as I escaped their prison wearing neither a stitch nor skin upon myself. The rendezvous planned for 19 September will provide a suitable host to refit a hale ship and hearty crew.

As you are in the tropical climes of the southern hemisphere I would strongly advise you to procure a cache of beans from the coffee tree either by fair trade or frenzy as the natives in these parts are most taken with the black drink brewed from the beans. Such a shipment would fetch you a handsome prize.

The time of the great gathering draws near. Make haste along the Pacific Coast for this time of year the winds shall be to your favor, but take heed when you reach the estuary of the Columbia as its mouth is most ravenous and swallows whole fleets without satisfaction. So foul are the waters that even Davy lets lost souls sink to the bottom of the Pacific Graveyard without toll. Study the breakers and watch for shallows. Beware the fog as it will roll upon you no forewarning. Wait for slack waters then stay true to the deepest channel.

Once in safe waters you may wish to refit at Tongue Point Village thirteen miles past the bar on the south bank of the river. From there continue upstream sixty-five miles to the Multnomah Channel to the Willamette River. Avoid the Main Channel as the British have established a fortification on the north bank of the Columbia in the towne of Vancouver, where they patrol the Main and exercise a tax upon vessels commuting to the Columbia and beyond. Instead take the smaller Multnomah Channel which on the starboard side sits amid Suavie Island and the mainland. The island heaves into view as a massive foul swamp covered with every manner of rough bird and beast. Loose your ballast, draw in your sheets and set your keenest helmsman to wheel as the channel is narrow, twisting and shallow but overlooked by the British. Once past the channel you have a mere two miles for the rendezvous at the great green cathedral. There I shall look forward to spilling a great draught of rum with you.

Yours sincerely,

Capt. Patrick Fyre

My dear Capt. Fyre

My dear Capt. Fyre

The weather gauge has been firmly in our favor as we have just today made landfall at Valpariso. This town is far superior in size, quality, and decency compared to that hell hold of Punta Arenas. We received good news a this port that we shall be accompanied by Captain Alexander Steel. This most viscous, yet entirely gentlemanly personage, will afford us added strength to our numbers at the rendezvous. He is rumored to have a female companion. Some call this femme fatal, Slaughtering Sally, the living Gibbet of Cornwall, the lady of the lake of blood, Death Merchant of Scandinavia, Brutal Bess the butcher of the seas, or simply Jessica.

On a sadder note. We were attacked by three pathetic sloops that defended the port. We were well prepared to give them leave to pass but they insisted on suicidally attacing us. We easily crossed the "T" and dealt each a tatal wound to their sterns. One escaped only to be later wrecked on the jetty. The two vessles were sunk. Being so small they most probably had little in the way of booty. So no tears were shed. The mayor of Valpariso has given us a royal welcome now that his "fleet" is destroyed.

We will make sail in two days hence and make for San Diego. These waters are ill omen but we care not for superstition. I shall contact you again as God in his mercy doth allow.

Yours Sincerely,
Capt. Lewis Grimstock

Letter from Capt. Grimstock

Greetings Capt. Fyre,

Much has transpired since my last communication. We left the Spanish Main a few weeks ago and rounded the horn just today. The weather was typical in its appalling aspect. Four crew were lost in the voyage. However we have put in to Pont Arenas and taken on more food, water, and four more men.

It is here, my dear fellow that I write to you. Pont Arenas is as God forsaken a town as can be imagined. Not to put a black mood upon you I shall no dwell upon the towns sqalid nature.

We shall put to sea on the morning tide and hope to make Valparaiso in a week. From thence we shall sail north and make a further port at such anchorages that bare us fair welcome. Wish us luck my hartey rover.

I forsee no engagements in our travels, since the powers that the French King is at war with are not operating in the waters of the vast Pacific. At leas no in the eastern waters. And frankly until we reach Portland, I myself see no such confrontations.

Yours Sincerely,
Capt. Lewis Grimstock

Letter from Capt. Grimstock

Greetings my dear Capt. Fyre

Much apologys to you dear sir on the poor way my personal note was sent to you. I was in much distress at the time and so allowed the situation to dictate whome I allowed to deliver my message. The Governor of Martinique's son was a filthy bastard, a liar, and a cheat. He was also prone to partake in a significant amount of the ultra violence. Hence the dager and blood stains. He has gone to hell where I am sure he is annoying Satan.

The rovers of the area will rendezvous on the 19th and 20th of September. So if you cannot attend us on the 19th then by all menas the 20th will be just as satisfactory. Please send Lady Elizabeth my warmest regards and tell her that she too is more than welcome to attend us in Portland.

Yours Sincerely,
Capt. Lewis Grimstock

Lettre de' Marque

To all who shall see these present letters. Greeting. His Majesty having declared war on the supporters of the userpers of the Crowns of England and Scotland, and on the Estates General of the United Provinces, for the reasons set forth in the declaration that His Majesty has caused to be published throughout his kingdom and the lands and lordships owing him obedience; and His Majesty having commanded us to enforce what is contained in these declarations, in those matters which it has pleased His Majesty to commit to our charge; in accordance with the particular orders given by His Majesty we have given leave, power and permission to Captain Patrick Fyre to arm and equip his vessel with whatever men, cannon, ball, powder, and lead, and other provisions and munitions as shall be necessary for him to put to sea and attack pirates and corsairs, and other lawless men, and also the subjects of the Estates General, of the supporters of the usurper of the Crowns of England and Scotland, and other enemies of the state, in whatever places he may encounter them, on the coasts of their own countries, in their ports or on their rivers, and even on land in such places as the said Capt. Fyre shall deem fitting to make landings to assail the said enemies, utilizing all the means and actions permitted by the laws of war; to make them prisoner, with their ships, weaposn, and other possessions.

The said Capt. Fyre is hereby charged to observe, and to see that his crew observe the Maritime Ordinances; to disply during his voyage the flag and ensign of the King, and our own; to register this present letter at the record office of the nearest Admiralty; to draw up a roll signed and certified by himself, containing the names and surnames, birthplace and dwelling of all the memebers o his crew; to return to the same port, or to another port in France within our jurisdiction, and there to make a report before the officeers of the Admiralty, and no others, of whatever has happened during his voyage; he is to inform us and send to the Secretary General General of the Navy his said report and its attached document that the whole may be orderd by the Council as is fitting.

We request and require all kings, princes, potentates, lords, estates, republics, friends, or allies of this crown, and all others whom it may concern, to accord the said Capt. Fyre every favor, help, assistance and shelter in their ports, with his ship, crew, and whatever he may have captured ruing his voyage, without offering or allowing that he should suffer any let or hinderance; engagin to do the same for them when they shall request it. We order and command all officers of the Navy and any others under our authority to allow him to pass freely and surely with his said ship, arms, crew, and any prizes he may have made, without offering or allowing that he shaould suffer any let or hinderance, but affording him all the help and assistance he may need. This presnet letter is not valid after a year from its date of issue.

As proff of which we have signed, and had these letters countersigned and sealed with the seal bearing our arms by the Secretary General of the Navy.

Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon,

Comte de Toulouse, admiral de France
Versallies, 20 September 1693

Letter from Capt. Grimstock

Greeting and Salutation from Capt. Lewis Grimstock

I am hopeful that you are in good spirtis and sound body so as to accompany our fleet via a meeting of Rovers at Portland, Oregon 19 September, in the year of our Lord 2009.

I make the assumption that Lunatic Jom of the Sloop-A-Death has already contacted you. This further correspondence is in my own hand so that you may have knowledge of my firm intentions. We will sail under Letters of Marque granted us by his grace Lewis Alexander, the Count d' Toulouse, Admiral of France, on behalf of the French king Louis XIV.

By receiving this letter it is further assumed that you understand the vravity of this request and the certain doom that awaits you should you prove lacking in the mental department and decline this "invitation." I assume you have kept the sliver piece. Please provide this as proof of your identity.

Yours Sincerely,
Capt. Lewis Grimstock

Letter from Lunatic Jim

From: Lunatic Jim what sails on the Sloop-A-Death

To: Capt. Patrick Fyre

We was runnin broadreach in the Main when we came in contact with Capt. Mad Lew and his crew of murderin, piligin, evil bastards. He hailed us and come along side. He then commanded me to tell you that he was expecting a rendezvous of us sea rovers on 19 Septermber in Portland.

I was also to tell ye that if you incline not to show then the Black Spot will be upon ye and the MPEB will be so inclined to send you on an all expense paid trip to Davey Jones. And I'm not speak'n of that squid head neither but of the black dark deep of the sea.

Piratically Yours,
Lunatic Jim

PS: Capt. Lew is sending you a present to aid in your mental masticansions.