Buried pyrate treasure is, I’ve been told repeatedly, a myth. But, it’s a persistent myth, isn’t it? For me, the more that I’m told that pyrates did NOT bury treasure, the more my pyrate-sense (similar to Spidey-sense), tells me that they did. Am I just perpetuating my own pyrate-get-rich fantasy? Am I just a stubborn,…

Ahoy, mateys! I was out plunderin’ the other day and came across something that was unexpected: The many…more than I thought…uses of gunpowder. Get yourself some grog; here we go! You probably know that gunpowder was used to make a pyrate ship’s guns, muskets, and flintlock pistols go boom. But do you know how much…

My pyrate crew recently invaded…erm…took an extended visit to Mexico Beach, Florida. Great times were had (with minimal aggressive negotiations), and while there, I managed to locate and seize what is now my favorite tunic…erm…t shirt. Sidenote: I really am excited and in love with my Sea Dog t shirt, but I feel obligated to…

Treasure! ARRR! When I began plunderin’ for the Fenwick Pyrate it was in pursuit of an alleged pyrate ghost, pyrate treasure, and a secret pyrate tunnel. Alas, the plunderin’ did not reveal any of those things. Well, there’s a tunnel and maybe a pyrate. In 1692, British privateer Robert Fenwick arrived in Charles Town on…

Yer probably familiar with the ship names of some of the more (in)famous pyrates from the 17th and 18th centuries:  Henry Avery’s The Fancy, Bartholomew Roberts’ Revenge, Sam Bellamy’s Whydah Galley, William Kidd’s Adventure Galley, and Blackbeard’s Queen Anne’s Revenge.  Intriguing names, to be sure, but when I stumbled upon a pyrate ship that had…

Whence on the sea’s horizon comes that roar? Can it be Barbarossa now returning From Tunis or Algiers or from the Isles? Two hundred vessels ride upon the waves, Coming from lands the rising Crescent lights: O blessed ships, from what seas are ye come? (part of a poem by Turkish poet Yahya Kemal Beyath…

I was wunderin’ the other day if pyrates kept captain’s logs? Journals? Did pyrates actually write anything about their adventures? I have heard rumours that some pyrates DID keep journals and logs, and while I was plunderin’ that subject, I stumbled across a Smithsonian Magazine article about a 300-year-old book that was found aboard Blackbeard’s…

Ever get a wee bit curious (or confused) with all of the different pyrate monikers? Corsair, buccaneer, kingpin, freebooter, raider, marauder…what, if any, is the difference between them? Well, I went to plunderin’ and did myself an educate on this very topic! ARRR! So, a “pyrate” seems to be a generic term for all of…

So, I was wonderin’ the other day about Italian pyrates. How come I haven’t read (more) about Italian pyrates? I was genuinely puzzled, but then felt like a wee bit of an idiot when I read and subsequently realized that Italy didn’t have colonies in the New World and seemingly, not much interest in the…

I’ve been plunderin’ and pillagin’ my way through the East Indies ala the Ubisoft video game, Skull and Bones, and part of that experience is ship cosmetics. Aye, outfitting your ship with guns, mortars, and oil barrels is essential to your success, but the look of your ship is (apparently) JUST as important. I don’t…