I gave up the old Frigate for something more my style

The Nemisis I gave up. Tis too much a ship for my crew. I have no need to for such a monster. So on the way back from France I took a Dutch Pinnace and renamed her Nemisis II. She is a fast, bluff, and manuverable ship of 24 guns. With 40 hands we can sail her true to any course. And she draws only 10 feet so that we can take her to many'a port and stream that would wreak a larger craft.

Of course we had to take her and that was a nasty business. She was headed to the Texel Roadstead but we had the weather gauge and had a sloop of 8 guns. We over took her and tired to put her crew ashore in terrible winds. They foundered in sight of the headlands and all were lost. Twas a terrible thing to behold, all those men crying out, and we with our stern to them.

Their ship is a fine vessal indeed. Stout and of high quality. The Dutch shipbuilders are have a well deserved reputation as master craftsman. We spent the crossing, with mostly good weather, taking down the bulkheads and streamlinging her as best we could.

I hope Captain Fyre has fair winds with the old Nemisis. She is a fine grand battle boat. But this little Pinnace is a crafty, fearsome, and quick sea bird. There is something about each vessel I have stood upon. From the old Providence to this ship. Each has a spirit, as it were, and each a personality. A captain's hands upon the wheel of any ship need to love her lest he lose her. And like all women, each is unique.

My new hat

I was tired of my old hat. So I took a knife to it and removed the old braid and feathers. Then I added new more luxuriant braid of a far superior quality. I kept the Ostrich plumes and my clan badge.

Currently the hat is at the limit of what would have been available in the 1690's. Its rear is not turned up like the sides. It also has a black and gold hat band. I got in a big trouble doing this. For it was late one night and I marked up the marble floor in the rotunda and Vaux le Vicomte with my knife while adjusting said hat. Luckily Madame Fouqet was most aggreable to forgiving me once I educated her in the finer ars le Amour. (This is appocryphal. In truth I was in danger of losing my hat to the steward. The requiste bribe did the trick.)

I am on my way back to Tortuga.

After a lovely time at Vaux Le Comte with Meme. Fouqet I am on my way back to Tortuga. I was informed that the English ship Essex has gone down with many tens of thousands of pounds of gold in her off Gibraltar. I know nothing of the sinking of this vessel. And damn and blast that she went down before we could board her. Not that I know anything of such a ship in the first place.

Our last night at Vaux le Vicomte we were privy to a performance of Alceste under the stars. M. Lully has been dead now since 87', but his petite band and company survives, M. De la Lande performed. They were at Vaux and the Madame persuaded them to perform. We all took part. Everything about the French nobility is beyond ostentatious. Particularly those close to the king. A great treat was that Monsieur La Prince was also in attendance. He is a great poof, but is also a man of good nature and was a lot of fun. He told me that he was glad to be away from his brother the King.

This is an MP3 player test post

The Crossing East

The Eastindiaman off the coast of Tortuga after my boarding.

The crossing of a great ocean of the Earth will never be an easy voyage. No sane person could attempt it without a profound sense of his or her own smallness and futility. One crosses such watery spaces with the compliance of the fates and without such natural aggreement one is doomed, no matter how they lived their lives or how many times they bothered to pray to God.

Not long ago the Dominicans sent a small fleet of Brigs from Spain to Vera Cruz. At least that was the intended destination. The fleet sailed from several Spanish ports. Sent word from the Canaries then vanished from the Earth. Many ships sail into oblivion and to return to Europe is the worse course; with the currents and winds not prevailing.

Our journey took us from Tortuga north to St. Augustine, then on a northerly course and finally sourthward again until we made Barfluer. It was a journey of five and a half weeks. Not bad at all. I have known of some captains that fight the currents and the winds to go straight at Spain, France, or England, and spend the better half of a year at sea only to make port in Boston or North Africa.

I hope that my time at Vaux Le Comte is brief.



Our crossing!

A letter from my boss

My boss has sent for me. A letter to that effect was waiting for me in the hand of M. D'Orgeron at Freeport on Tortuga. There is an East Indianman on its way to Europe that is leaving tonight on th ebb tide. So off I go. I have instructed Captain Patrick Fyre to take command of the Nemesis in my stead and see to the repairs. If I do not return he can keep her and make what use of the ship he can.

In the letter M. La Comte states that he is residing at Vaux Le Vicomte and that I need to meet him there. He is a friend of Madame Fouquet and tends to visit often. I am sent for very infrequently so I am very interested in what he has to tell me in person that cannot be conveyed by letter.

Here is the Comte and Comtesse the last time I saw them.



Here is Madame Fouquet. She does not seem overly distraught over the fate of her husband who is rotting in prison.

We have arrived at Tortuga!

The passage was nerve wracking. We put on more sail everytime we saw more than a mast on horizon. We were in no mood for more fighting and had but just enough hands to sail our new beast. So we let the prevailing winds set us to westward and we arrived on Turtle Island at Free Port, just last evening.

Our intentions are to discuss, with M. D'Orgeron, settling ourselves there for a time. The ship is in need of careening. It is also fairly shot up from our own guns. So some months of repairs are in order. I have good credit with M. D'Orgeron so money will be no problem.

The crew on the other hand will be ready for a brawl when we put to sea again. This is a dangerous thing since anger does not always allow clear thinking. But no matter. The Nemisis will aquit herself well in combat should the instance arise.

The English will be smarting and most assuredly come after us harder than ever. I know I would. The other problem is that we will be pressed into the service of M. D'Orgeron is in defending the island from the poor Spaniards who still wish to retake the island. We will of course aquiess to this request, if it happens, since we are in debt to the man. But I do not wish to have to gain yet more hands in replacements for the ones lost in some battle with Spain.

Current News. Damn and Blast!! Nearly lost a battle!

I have the lamentable tasks to inform you that our cherished vessal Induna is no more. She was burn to the waterline in action off Hispanola. We were engaged all day with three English ships. They had been sent to destroy us.



We were off Punta Cana, on the very eastern shore of Hispanola.

At dawn we saw three ships fast approaching. Two of them were sloops, the other was a frigate. We turned to to outrun them. As stated earlier we are not suicidal. However the two sloops closed the gap then began to fire their chase guns from 300 yards. The seas were moderate and the winds seemed to favor our enemy.

The frigate, that was a match for us and in our class, closed the gap aswell. At noon we decided to fight it out. We were within site of land and in 5 fathoms. We cleared our starboard battery at the frigate at a range of 600 yards. We scored some hits with our 12 pounders. For the next several hours we maneuvered around each other blasting away. At 6 bells our mizzen was stroke and she tore straight down onto the mainmast, cleaving yardarms, and fowling the rigging. This caused many of the crew to abandon the fight to free the tangled mess above them.

The nearest sloop put a canoe in the water. This proved to be our doom. They had made it to seem that they were damaged and would paddle to land. We ignored the canoe and continued fighting. The canoe past us then they fired grapples at us and came along side. As they approached the jumped ship. The last of them set a fuse.

All hell broke loose on the larboard side and we began to list severely. I ran to the rail and looked into a gaping hole. We were done for. We as much as we were afraid to die we were more angry at the dishonorly treachery done to us. So we put to sea in our canoes that numbered about 15. We hove to and made for the frigate as to surrender.

The cannonade stopped and we were allowed to come aboard where we immediately started to do bloody murder upon the worthless English. The two sloops took time to come to full knowledge of the action on their sister ship. By that time we had her in our hands. We went to her gun deck and found, much to our good luck, that she had her larboard battery primed and loaded. So we steered a course that brought us up with 40 yards of one of the sloops and blasted her to bits.

The other sloop turned to and left as fast as the wind could take her. We lost 40 men, most of whom had died below decks when the fire canoe exploded. We were so angry over the turn of events and the loss of our ship and much loot aboard her, that we turned to the remaining English and tossed them all into sea. Then we took turns shooting at them with pistol, musket and blunderbuss, while they bobbed in the bloody water and screamed for mercy that we were not inclined to show them.

Our new prize has been renamed the Nemisis, for the Greek god of retribution.

1700 vs 1770 fashion

Here are two gents. Mr. 1700 has Justacorp that can close in the front, has wide bell cuffs, no collar. Mr 1770 had frock that really can't close without a lot of effort, has narrow cuffs. His waistcoat is also very short. Mr. 1700 has a waistcoat, that if it could be seen, would go to at least the knee. Also note that Mr. 1770 has socks that go UNDER the breeches. Whereas Mr. 1700 has socks that roll over the breeches. The footwear is also quite different. Men wore heels, much like women, up until the death of Louis XIV. On the right Mr. 1770 has much lower heels. The rich of 1700 had heels painted red.

There were also "sumptuary laws" back in this era that forbade a man or woman to dress above there station.

Headgear was also different. The hat, starting with a hat that had NO curve, began to take on the form of the tri-corn or cocked hat. This was to show off the wig beneath. Courtier hats usually had copious amounts of crap on them, from Ostrich feathers, to fresh fruit. By 1770 the cocked hat had become severely turned up and in France continued until they ended up with a bi-cron hat (think Napoleon). Military hats were very high in the front and worn with the front point over the left eye.

Mr. 1700 has a long peri-wig whereas Mr. 1770 has a very short wig, or perhaps no wig at all. However even in 1770 the wig was a status symbol for men. Wigs also denoted what in the hell you were. By 1770 a military wig was short and powdered. A courtier wig could be absolutely ridiculous in complexity, requiring a wooden or wire infrastructure to maintain. After the death of La Grande Monarch in 1715, wigs began to shrink in length, but transform in weirdness.

Facial hair in England and France fell out of fashion until the French revolution. In Austria however a soldier HAD to have a mustache. Many used faux mustaches. There were strict guidelines as to what kind of mustache all troops had to possess. Basically the Austrians wanted Clone Warriors.

The walking stick was another part of manly attire. The "high-staff" was used into the middle of the 18th century then became shorter. Mr. 1770 has a short, pretty much normal, walking stick.

Lastly the sword, as a fashion item, began to fall out of fashion in the 18th century.

Another ship to avoid at all cost, the De Zeven Provinciën

This was Dutch ship of the line. Ships of the line were 3 deckers, two deckers, like that. The De Zeven Provinciën (The Seven Provinces) was a ship of 80 guns and helped defeat the English in the Four-days-battle in the first Anglo-Dutch War. In 1673 she was vital in the victory in the battle of Texel in the 3rd Anglo-Dutch War. In 1692 she was severly damaged in the Battle of Barfleur figting agains the French and was scrapped.

These monster gun platforms, though slow, were horrifyingly effective in close combat and at range since the 3 decks of guns could handle pitching seas. While single deckers had to fire on the up-roll the 3 deckers had the advantage.

I hated seeing these beasts on the horizon. Best just to avoid them.

The three great ships

Here we have the three great ships. On the left we have the Induna. On the Right we have the Sloop-o-Death. In the middle is the great vessel of Captain Fyre. But I know not its name. Here they are pictured crossing the Atlantic.

Capt. Grimstock and Capt. Steele

Grimstock, at left, and Steele at right attend the rendezvous of rovers at Portland. In order to set the World Record breaking pirate festival of 2009. This image was of the two captains trolling for more stout harts to sail with them. Captain Steele, though young, already captains a privateer called the Sloop of Death. He sails with Grimstock and Captain Fyre.

Luther Memorial Church has been plundered

We plundered the church, by handing out candy to kids for holloween, however we did take victuals with the congregation. Hot dogs, chili, and candy, yum.

The most dreaded ships at sea

Of all the ships at sea the most dreaded were the French Galley's. Not that they were the most formidable of warships. They were on the decline. What maded them so dreaded was the fact that they were, in essense, prison ships. As a prisoner you could to to jail, or if you were really bad, you would be condemed to death on the galleys. And it was a death scentence. Many Protestant men, who refused to convert after the renunciation of the Eddict of Nante, were sent to the galleys, most of whom died, being worked to death. On slave trading ships the cargo at least had a chance to survive the voyage. Galley crews were doomed.

However not all galleys were floating execution platforms. Here is the stern from the Reale De France. This was the royal galley. Check out the use of gold and the head of apollo (ei Louis XIV) in the center of all the gold goo-gah.



Below is ship that took the Reale's place. The ship is NOT the kind of ship I would want to run into. For one thing it could blast me to bits. For another if I was able to take this ship I would still be SOL since it takes such a shit pot load of people to crew.

Christopher Codrington

The Leeward Islands are the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles chain of islands, part of the West Indies. In the years of my sailing in the Western ocean, I had several run-ins with the Captain~General of these islands. His name was Christopher Codrington. I have mentioned him before. He was born in Barbados and asumed his fathers post in 1697. His picture is above.

It was against him that I experienced my largest engagement. In 1703 he led an invasion force against the French island of Guadeloupe. Joseph d'Honon de Gallifet, the sickly governor of that and other French islands, called me and several other privateers, to him to keep the British off his island home.

Codrington was a soldier and an Englishman. In other words he was entirely full of himself. He put to sea with a small force of a dozen vessels of various types with himself captaining a Brig of war. Codrington had to sail his fleet south by south east, agains the prevailing winds to reach Guadeloupe.



Now Guadeluope is the northern most set of islands in the great arch of islands that make up the eastern rim of the Caribbeann Sea. It is not a single island but five islands. The main populaiton lives on either of Basse-Terre or Grande-Terre. From sea they look like but a single island but in truth a very narrow channel, known as the salt river, divides them. The other islands are sparsely populated. As the nothern most island in the great chain of islands, Guadeloupe would be a great catch since it would provide a nearby harbour for English ships attempting to take all the islands to the south.

Codgrington's father, aslso named Christopher, had attempted in 1691 to take Guadeluope and failed. Now his son came south. And we were sent to stop him. Now privateering is based in the weakness of kings. England, France, Holland, had very small navies. The lords of these lands had spent many centuries concerned with landed interests so the idea of a standing navy was new to them.

National armies came into being back in the 15th century. Navies, as you know them, did not yet exist. Men such as Henry Morgan, and myself, were the navy of the kings of Europe. The French governor sent our fleet to sea with express orders to prevent the English from taking his islands. This was a vague order. It was a good order that we could actually follow.

Our fleet split in two with half our numbers to the north of Grande-Terre and the other half, my half south of that island. Codrington's fleet had easted far too much and so when then came up on the wind and sailed on Guadeluope they ran into my fleet first. Codrington had numbers on his side and the wind. His ship was well armed and the seamen who crewed the ship new what they were doing. All was with him including a rising tide.

But this last bit luck was to tern evil towards him. For as his ships aproached my own fleet they came upon shoals. These shoals were at the time hidden by the tide. They drew up in line to do battle with us. We, in deep waters, did like wise and so began a cannonade that lasted several hours. The tide turned but Codgrington's ships were still over the shoals. So very soon after the turning of the tide, his ships had to fall off lest they ground themselves and be wrecked. Two of his ships were lost this way.

With the shoals preventing him from coming at us he attempted to sail to the south and come about to cross into the bay. This manuver put him broadside to us and we took advantage by blasting away at him at a range of four hundred yards. We had but to stay in position. He had to contend with a rapid tide coming off the shoals, and a backing wind.

In two hours his ships were so damanged that he withdrew to Nevis not to return. Guadeluope remains a possession of France to this day.

Pirates were scum

Some people still confuse, thanks to numerous fellows, privateers and pirates. This is mostly due to the fact that some privateers, once given their walking papers, turned to piracy. Shame on them and the governments that used them anyway. In an earlier post I said that I cannot hide the fact that much of what we did "legally" was what pirates were hanged for. It is a stragne thing war. War in time of peace is mass murder. There will be some accounting to be done in the here-after.

I, being me, will put the atrocities of me and my breathren out of my little mind. One cannot dwell on the suffering one induces and not go mad. My fellow gentleman of fortune, Capt. Fyre, is still looking for a brace of pistols. I have told him of the worth of my Catalonian pistol but he does not like it. How about this?

The proper sword for the times

Cold Steel makes a small-sword that pretty much matches the typical small-sword of the late 17th thru 18th century. The small-sword evolved from the longer rapier. The small-sword was a mandatory article of fashion for gentlemen. It was also, of course, a defensive item. The blade of a small sword is deisnged with a triangular surface, like the rapier, for thrusting. It is short enough that it can operate in a confined space and will also not get in the way when worn to a Salon for an evening of gaming and debauchery.

The small sword is also an historic item for it was the last sword used by gentlemen. By the 19th century the sword ceased being a fashion item and, with the rise in quality of firearms, was no longer a great defensive item.

The Most Dangerous of My Missions

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I have plied the seas for so very long that it is quite difficult to tell you what the most harrowing mission would be. I have seen all manner of sea-born combat, ports seiged, ships blown to the water line, men eaten by sharks before my eyes, etc. However the most dangerous, after much mind taxing, was the mere taking of a letter.

As you know I have letters of Marque from Louis of France. This being so I am pretty much at the service of La Roi Soliel. Now back in the days of his grandfather were was such a thing as the French-Ottoman alliance. Yes friends, the most Catholic of kings was allied to the Islamic Turkish Sultan. Over time this alliance failed.

Then in the 1690's the king of France recieved a delegation from the court of the Sultan. He resoponded by sending a letter. This letter I was tasked to deliver to Istanbul. As you may recall I was a slave there once. This journey was fraught with all manner of nastiness; from Barbery Pirates, to Italian Pirates, to Cypriate Pirates, to ... oh well you get the idea.

The story is a good one. I should elaberate on it some time. Suffice to say that once again the most Catholic of Kings and the most Muslim of Sultans, became fast friends, at least in the political sense. What was contained in this "love note"? Well I read it and was not impressed. Basically Louis told the Sultan that he would remain neutral if the Sultan attacked the Austrians. Good God what a note to send to the bastards what held my captive. To let those same bastards do their will to my compatriot Austrians. Oh well the money was good.

Grand Siècle De Vaux Le Vicomte

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In France they don't seem to have Pirate festivals. However they DO have lots of authentic palaces for such festivities, or Fetes. Vaux le Vicomte is just such a place. The residence of Nicolas Fouquet it preceded Versailles in grandeur. Louis XIV was so taken with the place that it was his inspiration for the rebuilding of his fathers hunting lodge (Versailles. He also had Fouqet arrested by D'Artagnen, the captain of the his Musketeers, and thrown into the prison of Pignerol for life. The "Man in the Iron Mask" was Fouquet's vallet during his imprisonment.

Today the palace is the scene of a yearly festival to commemorate the great Fete that Fouquet held in honor of the king in 1661. It sort of makes the Portland Pirate Festival look quaint.

It is known as the Grand Siècle De Vaux Le Vicomte

We should go.

More about Grimstock after his privateering career

Most people think, and correctly, that most men who captained private vessels ended poorly. Henry Morgan was one that seemed to profit from his exploits. Until he died of liver failure thanks to sooo much rum.

For myself I am a great avoider of disasters. A hero I am not. Nor do I allow any heroism in the crew. Early in my career, shortly after my aquisition of the English frigate, I came to the attention of the Chevalier d'Leanor. He had been part of La Salle's doomed expedition to the Louisanne in 1687. He took his ship and left after bucanneers had devastated their fleet.



For a time he and I sailed together off Normandy and Africa. We took several prizes. Over the years he became less enamoured with the sea and ended his days, in agony with a case of severe gout, at his chateau in Marseille. When he died he left me a country house outside Paris. Here is an etching of said property.

The Comte died in 1695 and it took several months for me to know of his gift. Most of the years of my seaborn exploits I seldom saw the place. As time went on and my desire to be tossed about on the black and wicked seas waned, I took refuge here for longer periods. Until one day I found that I had become a country gentelman. I attened Versailles from time to time however I found the place oppresive.

Below is a photo of the place taken in morder times.

Spyglass

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Here is an English Spyglass circa 1790. Nice and compact. It expands.

Captain Kidd...the bastard

Well he was not a "bastard" in the legal sense. However he was a royal, pirate, pain in the arse at Nevis. He had just mutineed with his crew and taken a ship to this little English port when we came into aquaintence. He on the Blessed William and I on the Induna.

Another bastard, Christopher Codrington the governor of the miserable no-mans-land, had hired Kidd to lead a fleet to keep us out of his port. We, flying the French colors, came under fire as we approached the port. This was a futile engagement. The English wasted every shot since the winds were up and all their shots were wild. Still the French commander, was an even bigger bastard and decided to retire.

I took my ship out of line and we saild to Tortuga and got drunk. Thereafter I was inclined to work alone and not attach our vessel to any fleet.

Here is the man I nominally work for. Louis Alexander

Louis is the youngest bastard son of King Louis and Madame d'Montespan. This painting was done in 1708. However in the year 1693, my year, he is only 15 years old. However he is still an Admiral of France. All of king Louis sons are named louis, Louis Aguste, Louis Caesar, Louis Alexander.. And finaly the legitimate Louis the Dauphin. Of course he and his son die before the Louis XIV dies so his grand son also named Louis takes the thrown. At least it make it cheap on the stationaries. Just ad an extra roman numeral or two.

Fyre and Grimstock aboard ship

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Two of the better dressed seamen. I am fully aware that such fru-fru is not sufficient for an Atlantic crossing. Yet these garments are designed by my seamstress to overaw the pathetic mayors and governors we meet with. So that the are under no illusion as to who is the more powerful.

Sid Meiers Pirates

I could re-live me glory days (or is gory days) whilst playing Pirates. It is just a lot of good digital fun. I have had the idea that using the Arcade feature you could have an X-box pavillion at the Portland Pirate Festival and have up to four pirate captains blast away at each other via a large projection screen.

Bart

A nice painting of Bart. He was a snappy dresser. Like me he spent a lot of time off West Africa. He also didn't partake in strong drink. However he was a greedy SOB and started to believe his own crap. So. like most of his kind, didn't last long. I have to hand it to the young fellow he did take a lot of ships while he lasted. If he'd bothered to sign on to a navy he'd have been a legend like Nelson and probably retired a rich man.

Awe the big wide world of the 1600's

This fine map, created by Bleau back about they year I was birthed, is as fine an article as there is on the world as she stood back in the day. No google Earth back then boys. Looking into that work of art and geography, I see that I have seen so very little of the bloody ball.

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What kind of personal defense weapon do I favor?

To each his own but I favor this pistol I purchased in Salerno the day I made land fall in Sicily. It was the first possession I actually purchased for myself. Until that point I was either equipped by my dead parents, the Austrian army, or the Turks. It is pretty much a standard 50 caliber weapon. The grip is nice in that it causes horrible head wounds when used as a cudgel. At the same time it is very hard to clean once the inlay is full of gore.

My self and Capt. Fyre

I count several captains as friends. My dearest by far is Capt. Patrick Fyre. The man is spot on the nastiest individual at sea today. And also smart. Smart count for so very much more than sword play or pistol shot. Its about equal to cannon fire.

Art of my time

Vermeer died a few years ago. Being a dutchman he is an enemy artist. However I have seen some of his work and I like it. His is much more of a personal style/ Like his fellow countryman Rembrandt. The French are so concerned with symetry, and connections to the ancients, that I cannot get into their work.

Music of my time

Although I started out as a impoverished boy in Vienna. I am no longer in such dire straits. I attempt to keep up with culture so as to be able to deal with the fopish bores that tend to inhabit the governors mansions of the various colonies I visit.

To that end I find John Playfords "The English Dancing Master" as a good guide. It was published years ago back in 1651. However little has changed out here in the cultural hell that is the Caribbean. In France this will not due. In France all run in fear of the dancing masters that ply the halls of Versailles. The french nobility seem to be condemed not only to fall at the feet of these villains but to actually walk as they do. Well we all have our gaits so I will not complain too bitterly about them.

Of higher culture in music the leaders, so I gather, are Henry Purcell in England and Jean Baptiste Lully in France. I know neither though I have actaully seen the latter when I visited Versailles some years ago. I also understand that M. Lully has subsequently died of an infected foot. This too is not uncommon in my century.

There are several crewman that posess instruments, bagpipes, a recorder, fiddle, etc. They liven up our journey's quite a bit. However I know not what songs they are playing since they are all muslims and I know of none of that kind of music.

1693 the year I exist in...so far...

To pigeon whole myself in a certain year is to leave oneself open to all sorts of unforeseen consequences. Suffice to say that, to me, it is the year 1693. So what was going on in my world. Where here is a brief list of events for this year.

Some pitiful college in America was founded by the usurper William of Orange and his illegitimate queen Mary.

In May Heidelberg falls to Louis XIV's forces. Not to allow the ancient castle to exist, the French blow the citadel up.

My rover acquaintances have no longer seen any evidence of the Dodo.

Oh and we have NO set agreement on Longitude. It's anybodies guess.

The primary kings that drive all the hurly-burly of privateering and colonial consternation are: Louis XIV of France, William III of England, and Charles II of Spain.



I take no emotional connection to any of these brutes. However since France is much richer than the other two I tend to take more of Louis money, as a privateer that is. Ostensibly the king of France is sticking up for his cousin King James II. James has been deposed by William of Orange and is living at Fontainebleau under the protection of Louis.

So I get to attack English and Dutch ships.

The other kings of this age are so dull compare to the Roi Soleil of France. Though I care not for his haughty nature, I find in myself a great respect for such a man to tame the unruly lords of France, and I find the love he sheds upon his bastards quite a fine thing indeed. For his bastard son Louis Alexander, though only 15, is at present my lord as Admiral of France. I also hear tell that the miscreant lords of his kingdom are shocked by his open love for his illegitimate kin. His legal children flee from the king in terror while showing little intellect. His children from Montespan show all the brillance of la Soleil.

Osprey's Vanguard book #70

For more info on the nature of the pirate ship this book is the one to have. Tis full of all sorts of nautical mumbo jumbo. If Capt. Fyre wishes plunder it off me then I will surrender it for a time.

My ship called the Induna, this is Zulu for headman, leader, topdog, etc, is a smaller vessel than Teach's Queen Anne's Revenge. When I aquired it the ship was a 3 masted frigate of 24 guns. We refit her with an additional series of guns to bring her total armament to 34 guns that breaks down as follows:

22 16-pounders on the gun deck
10 8-pounders on the weather deck
2 8-pounder chase guns in the forcastle

Our refit also included the ripping out of all the bulkheads below deck save for the great cabin in the stern. We then repurposed the timber to build more bracing below the gun deck to support more guns. We also crafdted a strong box to hold the goods we acquired on our voyages.

The blulkheads of the quarter deck were removed as was the bulkheads of the forcastle. This gave us shelter from the rains, and grape shot, but also allowed free access to the guns on the weather deck. We also enalarged the scuppers and torn down the railings, replacing them with solid planks.

Currently our crew cosists of 225 souls.
Our vessel displaces God only knows, but I think roughly 250 tonnes.

Auguste Racinet provides lots of good Illustrations

In the 1870's a little Frenchman historian, named Auguste Racinet, created a multivolume history of European costume entitled Le Costume Historique. I have the 1987 edition. It can still be purchased via the net or Powells for about 10 bucks.

My ship is so complicated

Some swabs ask me what was the biggest surprise I had upon embarking on my Privateer career. Well as soon as I stood upon the weather deck I took note of how godawful complicated a sailing vessel is. Sails, masts, yard arms, all that rigging, then all the jiggery pokery on deck and below! The reason that so many who call the sea home become "mad" is that most of their brains are filled with the data required to make a machine of such mind manggling complexiy move in any given direction.

This is why, in my own mind, piracy is so silly. To be a good pirate you need to act upon your prey with speed and violence. Big ships are slow and capable of great violence in that they can mount more and heavier guns and you can cram more souls aboard them. Small vessels are fast and manuverable and you don't need so many damnable crewmen who all want their cut, but these ships are not well armed and a good deal of bluster and repuation is needed. The cost to outfit one of these ships, big or small, is also high. People that think they can get rich by piracy better have a pretty good angle or they are just stupid and doomed.

I opt for a mid sized vessel. If a first rate ship showed up un crewed all I would do with it is sell it. Too damn big, slow, and needing way to many men for my purposes. The Sloop, for me, is too small. I do not like the sea in my vessel, sloops founder easily in storms. Also one cannot arm them with what would be needed to take a port. So I have my ship of 32 guns. Not too big and not too small.

She was built in England, saw service for a while under an English flag. Then was taken off the island of Salgem Grande by me. It was dumb luck to take her. Yet here I sit in her great cabin. As for crewing a ship such as this there is much to lament. A hundred men are too little and 250, though proper, is too many creedy hands.

Tis gone 8 bells so here I Rave

Why is it that all would-be pirate types attempt either a Robert Newton impersonation or a Jack Sparrow impersonation? As if the pirates that sent many a good God fearing soul to the briney deep were all English. The truth of it is that pirates came from every nation and tribe. And have committed their atrocities since man took to the seas low those many millenia ago.

I cannot claim to be of a different nature than those rovers. I have, from time to time, attempted to seperate myself and crew from the likes of La'Olonais, or Roc Brasiliano but this is a failed attempt. For in the thick of battling on the seas or in ports, though I carry Letters of Marque, we still perpetrate all manner of devilishness.

We have taken our leave of Portland and the festival therein. Twas a record breaking brawl. We are now heading south with all the canvas hung. Back to warmer climates. No sign of the English sloops of war that we tangled with two weeks ago.