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.