At Sea

This son of a souced lobster holds a linstock with a lit slow match ready to fire the fine grained powder poured into a fuse at the cannon's touch hole to prime the charge. As the slow match ignites the powder, he yells, "Harr matey, have a ball! "

During the age of sail, the weather gauge provided a tactical advantage in engagements. To close or bear off, to reduce or add more sail, to board or escape are maneuvers more easily performed upwind. Sea rovers used this advantage to perform blitzes upon merchant ships firing as much small caliber shot in a barrage as they sailed past.

The boom of cannons, horrible shouts, clangs, fiddling and curses bring you to your windward rail where you see a fearsome crew of buccaneers. The black flag demands surrender and the red flag offers no quarter. To those that resist, their motto is, "Dead men don't bite!". Can you find all forty... "thieves"?

Arriving onto an unfamiliar shore can be a dangerous affair. Even a prearranged meeting may be fraught with danger. Messages can be intercepted, native inhabitants may seek violence, and friends may become foes. So, it is best to be wary and prepared. From the viewpoint of looking from land to sea through the keyhole of the mangroves the scene reflects the turbulent shape of a hurricane.

Signed articles compensated crew members hurt while pursuing their trade, allowing disability compensation arrangements for the loss of a limb or eye. Crippled pirates were retained in the crew, and respectfully treated, Long John Silver being a popular example. Such a crewman prepares the vessel by whetting a keen edge on the blades aboard while the ship is at anchor.