Upon what sort of ship do you sail?

[Rani Zemirah]

I called my first ship the Flattery because it got me nowhere. 

Oh, and here I thought it was Flattery that got Jack everywhere... ?    

[Captain Jack Wolfe]

Maybe you were using the wrong kind of fuel, Jack. 

Actually, it was a matter of mastering how much heat to apply, where, when, and for how long.  The fuel has never been a problem... 

[Blackbead]

Me and me crew sail aboard the brig Adventure, a nimbler square rigger I've never seen, she's stiff, she's yar, and she's weatherly, and her lines are true and clean.

[Anna Iram]

Now that sounds like a lovely ship to be sailing upon Blackbead. (says this Lady of Adventure) 

A Happy New Year to you all and may the sailing be smooth for you.

[Welsh Wench]

Maybe you were using the wrong kind of fuel, Jack. 

Actually, it was a matter of mastering how much heat to apply, where, when, and for how long.  The fuel has never been a problem... 

Spontaneous combustion--

1.  A substance with a relatively low ignition temperature begins to release heat.

2. The heat is unable to escape, and the temperature rises.

3. The temperature rises above its ignition point.

4.  Combustion begins, if sufficient oxygen is present.

But only if you are fortunate careless.

[Blackbead]

Now that sounds like a lovely ship to be sailing upon Blackbead. (says this Lady of Adventure) 

A Happy New Year to you all and may the sailing be smooth for you.


And that be a lovely sentiment, m'Lady!  Yes, a most Happy New Year to ye!  In the coming year may ye always have fair winds, dry powder, cold grog, biscuits free of weevils, and a full treasure chest!

[*Teach*]

*I be sailing on a rumrunner... Of course you all had to know that one*

[Welsh Wench]

The Jolly Roger is a three-masted, square-rigged sailing galleon with 110 pieces of working rigging and nine fully functional sails. She is 80 feet overall with a 16-foot beam and weighs 47 gross tons. Constructed of wood with an oak frame, her hull below the waterline is cypress and her topsides are yellow pine and she has teak decks.

It is a two-thirds replica of the Nina, one of Christopher Columbus' 17th century galleons.
It was built in 1986 at Snug Harbor, in St Petersburg, Florida.
I was fortunate to have been there when they were building it. The cypress wood was hand steamed and bent for the hull.
Unfortunately I missed the launch party.
The ship was originally called The Lady Barbara and is now sailing around the Grand Caymans.

A good friend of mine was the builder. And if you happen to be at Ohio Renfaire, he was the man who built the pirate ship there.

OK so I don't sail on it but it was really cool. Tony even had a few parrots on his shoulder the whole time he worked on it.

[renren]

That is all kinds of awesome, WW!

[Rani Zemirah]

(sigh...)

How is it that just thinking about a ship can recall the creak of timbers shifting and the singing of  the wind in the lines... ? I had to go get the brass polish out of the cabinet just to get a clearer picture, though. It's so easy to recall the exact glint of newly polished brass fittings shining in the Florida sun, a deck newly stained and sealed, the anchor being cranked and sails snapping into place as they're fulled and flush from the scented Caribbean breeze!

Shakedown, anyone???

[Captain Jack Wolfe]

And I know that ship.  I've seen her more than once, and it was love at first sight.  Now I really, REALLY want to go back to Grand Cayman!

[The Scotsquatch]

Anyone ever been to the Mystic Seaport in Mystic, CT?  If not and you are in the area and love tall ships, you HAVE to stop in and go and see them!  These aren't just reproductions, these are the real deal whaling vessels that built the early New England economy.  Okay, so they aren't pirate ships, but it wouldn't take a lot of imagination to pretend they are!  And they are seaworthy for the most part!  You can tour them and climb the LOWER rigging and see the rest of the living history museum...it is an AWESOME place to go if you love oldtime maritime history, pirate or no.

The Charles W. Morgan was MY favorite ship there...and I spent a lot of years right down the road from here starting when I was a wee lad of 15.  My mother took a job at the Seamen's Inn as a waitress...btw the BEST clam chowder on the planet!...and because it is a part of the seaport, I was allowed to spend ALL day exploring the ships and museum when I was a kid for free!  Lots of daydreaming and very formative to who I am now...lol!

Just a little way down the road is the Coast Guard Academy in New London, CT...and you can go see the USS Eagle, and STILL commissioned vessel that they use to train cadets in oldschool seafaring knowledge.  It is also the vessel that SM Stirling used as the backdrop for one of my favorite set of novels.

Then skip down the road to Groton and check out the Submarine museum at the Groton Sub Base...see a scale replica of Hubble's Turtle, and of course the USS Nautilus, SSN 571, the very FIRST nuclear submarine ever built, and STILL a seaworthy and commissioned vessel after all these years!

And finally for the daring, out of Mystic Harbor there is a three masted ship that will take you out on cruises, from just a day to a couple of weeks...its a barefoot cruise ship and youwork while onboard, to a point anyway...I forget the name of the ship and the company, but I'm sure you can look it up.

So if you are between faires during the warm weather season, check out Mystic, CT and the surrounds!  Plymouth Plantation in MA is pretty darn cool as well!

Kev

[Rani Zemirah]

Ahhhh... daydreams can take me places I haven't been in... well, longer than I want to remember, lets say!

But the memory of salt spray kissing my lips, the tilt of the deck underway, and the feel of being suspended between sea and sky with rudder and sail connected only by the great wheel... that never falls too far out of mind, and is easily recalled each time I glimpse a tricorn in the threads, or the flash of a frock coat or ostrich plumes fluttering in the breeze!

Thanks for all the really great pirate dreams, everyone!

[renren]

*sigh*
the gentle rocking of a ship...so soothing!

[*Teach*]

Spiritin' away me spirits, running from them what thinks they can take back me booty
Happiness is a hold full of rum and nothing but time and waves on my mind.



*There be the deck of me rum runner... good times... good times indeed*