Ahoy, mateys! I’ve come across something that could be a great value to ye. No, not gold, silver, or jewels. No spices, frankincense, or rum in this chest o’goodies. Nope, today’s plunderin’ is all about runnin’ into a sea serpent and how to live to tell the tale. There’s a pyrate called Captain Mako who…

When I think of pyrates, I envision salty, scarred men and women who are wiry, strong, and fiercely independent. They take what they need while living their best life on the high seas. And they love rum. I don’t imagine them growing old and retiring somewhere tropical with all of their life’s pleasures close at…

I was reading a book not too long ago, Pirates in the North Atlantic: Robbery Murder and Mayhem off the Canadian East Coast, by Dan Conlin, and I was dumbfounded to read that, (at least for a period of time), Ned Low, of all pirates, had pets. Plural. Not cats, Not parrots. Not monkeys. Ned…

I was wunderin’…what, if anything, did pyrates fear?  What would make a pyrate change their best laid plans or completely abandon a plunderin’ party? What made them tremble and shake in terror? Twitching at the end of a hangman’s noose, for sure, must have been a pyrate nightmare. Krakens, luscas, evil mermaids…all good reasons to…

I was playing the video game Skull and Bones the other day and decided to spend some ingame silver on an ingame ship pet. I chose a kitty, (because I don’t have enough cats in my real life – that’s a joke, I DEFINITELY have enough cats in my real life…anyway), and having my little…

I recently received a fabulous book called The Pirate Primer that is not only useful for speaking pyrate in a proper manner, it’s also been a source for some bouts of tear-inducing, hysterical laughter. For instance, pyrate nicknames for food. While at sea, most pyrates ate typical naval rations of pickled or salted meat, hard…

This is the fourth and final in a series of plunderin’ ghost ships. To catch up, go to The Octavius, The Flying Dutchman, and Ghost Ship of the Northumberland Strait. The Caleuche She’s been called a ship of magic, a phantom ship, and a gatherer of the dead. Some say she’s not a ship at all,…

This is the third in a series of plunderin’ ghost ships. To catch up, go to The Octavius and The Flying Dutchman. The Ghost Ship of the Northumberland Strait There’s a burst of flame and a flash of lightAnd there on the tide is a frightening sightAs a tall ship all aflame lights up the…

This is the second in a series of plunderin’ ghost ships. To catch up, go to The Flying Dutchman The Octavius On October 11, 1775, while sailing just west of Greenland, a whaler named the Herald came upon an eerie sight: a slow-moving ship, completely white from bow to stern, covered in thick ice and…

Specters…derelicts…illusions…curses…I’ve plundered a few spooky ships to share with ye, so let’s set sail… The Flying Dutchman I’ll start with one that you’ve likely heard about: The Flying Dutchman is a legendary ghost ship that is considered to be a harbinger of doom. There are at least a couple of versions of how this ship…