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Fort Taylor Pyrate Invasion, Dec 2013 - Key West, FL

Epilogue: Some parting comments; Recognition of the photographers whose work appears in this Journal; The remnants of the photos that didn't quite make their way into the main part of the text for various reasons including: Additional encampment shots; Some nice photos of folks at the event; Stories from the Field; Various themed and non-themed groups of photos and some other, random oddments.

Photo: Mission & Joe Inman
The First Appearance of the Skeleton in the Journals
While this year proved a bit troublesome because of my coming down with the sludge and the negative vibes cast upon the trip by Robert the Doll, I was pleased to see how much fun I actually had while I was looking through all the photos and going over the narrative. You'd have to go out of your way not to have a good time at FTPI.

Before I proceed to the typical drivel I purvey in the Epilogue, I wanted to thank my friend Joe Inman who introduced me to the Efexio program. I mentioned it earlier; it allows you to add skeletons to your photos including appropriate shadows and whatnot. At first I thought it was cute, particularly the way it added the shadow. Then (as you may have noticed), I downloaded it myself and embraced it more fully. If Joe hadn't come across it and put up the image you see at right, I would never have been able to add all those filler cool skeleton photos to the Journal. Thanks, Joe!

The second thing I must do is to thank all the photographers who generously allowed me to use their photographs in the Surgeon's Journal this year. I am grateful to everyone who takes the time to capture moments and then allows me to use them.

Capt. Jim McGavic Photo: William Pace

William Red Wake Photo: Captain Jim

Caribbean Pearl Photo: Caribbean Pearl

Iron Jon Photo: Mission

Sandi Bilbo Photo: Klaus C.

Tiffany King Photo: Tiffany King

Charles D Brooks Photo: Charles D Brooks

Poppa Ratsey Photo: Charles D Brooks

Mission Photo: Poppa Ratsey

Rachel Siegel Photo: Klaus C.

The above list doesn't include the people's galleries when I only used a photo or two, but I still wanted to thank them here (a link to their albums where I can): The Atlanta Pirates and Wenches Guild, Lily Alexander, Klaus Chroszielewski, Mike Cuffin, Jaded Jetty, Jhode Cabral, madPete, Mel Fisher Museum, Ron Rozar, Terry Smith and Wendy Wellman.

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Let's start the photos off with some more shots of the encampment. When I posted the first bunch, I hadn't seen all of Charles D. Brooks' wonderful photos. I wanted to include them along with a few others here before we move on to the silly stuff.

Photo: Charles D Brooks Anna Maria & DB in the Wrecker's Site

Photo: Charles D Brooks The Wrecker's Site Inside.

Photo: Charles D Brooks Captains of the Devil's Triangle

Photo: Charles D Brooks Wasabi's Encampment - Tools!

Photo: Charles D Brooks Someone's Encampment - Navigation!

Photo: Charles D Brooks Captain R Hood's Encampment - Stuff!

Next we have some vendors and the fort. The first image is of Bawdy Be's wagon. Bawdy Be trades/sells things she collects at her tent and via her wagon. The second image is Diosa's display for Diosa's Treasures, her custom-made jewelry business. She actually made things to order for FTPI and brought them to the event for those who ordered in advance. You can currently see some of her wares on Etsy. The last is sort of a filler photo of the fort. Nearly everyone takes one similar to this of the fort and the symmetry of the openings. This year it was my turn.

Photo: Charles D Brooks Bawdy Be's Beg, Borrow & Barter Wagon

Photo: Caribbean Pearl Diosa's Treasures - Jewelry by Diosa

Photo: Mission Fort Cannons - Cool

Certain photographers like to capture people, which usually doesn't serve the purposes of a narrative like mine unless I am profiling someone. So those images don't often find their way into my Journal. However, I often wind up reviewing people's photos dozens of times as I try to find that certain photo for the Journal that I saw somewhere once. In the process, I sometimes see an image that I feel captures someone well. So I thought I'd share some of those here.

Photo: Poppa Ratsey Keith as Joe Cool, Standin' By the Tent Pole

Photo: Caribbean Pearl Fayma 'Mama Ratsey' Callahan

Photo: Mission James 'Poppa Ratsey' Callahan

Photo: Poppa Ratsey Don Maitz Painting

Photo: Mission Lady Chaos Carol

Photo: Caribbean Pearl Dutch of the Meka II

Photo: Poppa Ratsey Anastasia (Scarlett Jr.)

There was a lot of signage made for this year's FTPI, most (if not all) of it made by Poppa Ratsey. I talked about the posters he made several times in the preceding chapters. I believe the poster below is the poster of all the other posters. (One poster to rule them all.) I made it nice and BIG so you have a better chance of seeing everything.

Photo: Caribbean Pearl - The Poster of all the People on the Posters

There was also a banner posted on the wall located in the grassy area located just outside the entrance to the entrance to the fort. (Don't try and figure out where that is; it will drive you crazy.) It featured a collage of people from FTPI 2012. I don't know if Poppa did this, although I suspect he did.

Photo: Klaus Chroszielewski - The Collage-Like Banner Located Outside the Entry to the Fort

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Before moving on to the photo intense part of the epilogue, a couple of stories to tell. The first one is from Sunday evening.

Photo: William Pace - Black Syren's Name in Fort Zachary Taylor Beach Just before sunset, William remembered that he'd made a promise to Piracy Pub member Black Syren to write her name in the sand on the beach in Key West. Black Syren has never been able to make it to Key West, although she would really like to. So William scurried to the beach to make good on his promise on the last day of the event.

He had just finished when when of the fort people appeared. He was making sure the tourists were out of the park before sunset when it closed. He spied William and said (jokingly), "Hey, you better get off the beach! We're releasing the dogs in a few minutes!" Ha ha, those wacky fort people! Nevertheless, William got off the beach. (We're not entirely sure they don't have dogs to release.)

Photo: Captain Jim - Captain James Warren Headstone (Note Skull on Top) The second story is something we learned about Captain Jim just after the event. We were talking about skulls and crossed bones on headstones. (Contrary to what you sometimes see at events, pirates did not go about festooned in things with skulls and crossed bones on them. There is almost no evidence that the traditional skull and bones flag you see everywhere was ever used during their hey-day.) Talking of these headstones led to this comment from Captain Jim.

"While researching my Pyrate name, to see if it was "period" or too modern sounding, I found my name on a headstone. Capt. James Warren, 1715. The winged death's head is a near match to the one on the Mercury flag. "Here lyeth ye body of ye honorable James Warren, Esq Who deceased June 25th 1715 in ye 50th year of his age."

Photo: Mission
The Stynky Dog by Trudi Dufrense The last story is a tale of woe and whining from your author. Regular readers will note that I occasionally give bears made by Trudi Dufrense to people who have impacted my pirate reenacting life in one way or another. She makes outfits for the bears that match the people I am giving to. The first presentation was last year at FTPI to my twins. The second was to Gareth and Elizabeth during my May 2013 trek to the UK. This time it was to be to Stynky Tudor, who, like a cancerous growth, had been a mainstay of my Key West pirate experience.

So I had the bear ready to present to him, thinking I would give it to him on the ship. My plan had been to go out on the boats on the Friday with him. I chose Friday because the fort traffic is often a little slower then
Photo: Trudi Dufrense
Two Views of Stynky Dog in Process. Note That the
Pants Were Changed To Be More Accurate and there were going to be several boats out during the battle hauling pirates. Stynky was supposed to be the safety officer for one of them. Except he didn't come this year, claiming he was sick.

So the Stynky Bear (actually it was a dog, which seemed appropriate) took up a bunch of space in my luggage for no reason. I didn't particularly want to keep it for a year and have to haul it back next year with the hope that he might show up. What to do... what to do... I couldn't even be certain I'd see him at FTPI next year. So I decided to send it to him in the mail with a snarky Christmas card.

Photo: Mission
Mission in His Pyracy Pub T (Clearly not a model.) He actually seemed touched. A few weeks later, I received some wine bottles with the Pyracy Pub logo emblazoned on them. (You may have noticed them in the photo of the glasses I won in the Dead Man's Chest auction.) One of them even had 'Mission' on it. I also received a T-shirt with same logo and 'Raphael Mission' on it. So that was nice. I almost felt slightly guilty for sending the snarky Christmas card. (Almost.)

For those of you covetous of my Pyracy Pub T-Shirt, Stynky has made them available. You can find out how to get them by following this link. Or you can get Trudi to make him a bear/dog and he will send you one for free. Make sure you put your Stynky Dog in a different Stynky costume. Two Stynky Dog gifts in the same garb is like two women wearing the same dress to a party. Plus it will be boring for Trudi to have to make the same thing. Besides, it's IMPOSSIBLE to find the right size and color striping for those stupid pants! I spent a week searching clothing thrift stores because we couldn't find anything like it at the fabric shops! Come to think of it, it'd be much, much cheaper to just go and buy the T-Shirt, so I'd do that.

Thus endeth the story portion of the Epilogue. On to the photos...

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First there was a bridal party... I don't think I can say anything that will add more humor than the pictures already portray. As I recall it a lot of the pirates were just kind of staring with their mouths agape as the bridesmaids and groomsmen marched through the camp after taking wedding photos on the fort wall. (At least the bride seems to have grasped some of the absurdity of it all. The rest of them pretended as if we weren't there for the most part.)

Photo: Mission The Bridal Party Coming...

Photo: Iron Jon ...And the Bridal Party Going!

Photo: Poppa Ratsey - Klaus and the Cruise Ship Then there were the cruise ships. Cruise ships have been around the event for quite awhile, so that's not really new. What seems new (to me anyhow) is including them in the photos. Whether intentional or not, I found a couple of humorous shots of people with them.

For example, we have the photo Poppa took of Klaus who is...
Photo: Stolen
Johnny Olson (Doesn't
Look Much Like Klaus) I guess he's supposed to be holding the cruise ship? Somehow he reminds me of Johnny Olson on The Price is Right saying, "A New Car!" whenever that was the prize.

Next are Jhode and Ken, with Jhode looking meaningfully at the cruise ship which is behind them. For whatever reason, this photo reminds me of Bonnie Parker's "Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde."

Last is a shot of Catalina running with the clyster syringe, this cruise ship looming in the background. I have never actually been on a cruise ship (nor do I really want to go on one), but from what I've heard about the quantity of the food they give you, a clyster syringe might not be completely amiss. (Although she technically should be running towards the ship, not away from it.)

Photo: William Pace - Jhode & Ken and the Cruise Ship.

Photo: Mission - Catalina & the Cruise Ship

Photo: Poppa Ratsey
Bucky and Becky As I mentioned wayyy back in Chapter 1, the highlight of the trip was probably seeing Bucky and Becky in their gibbets. A part of this was just artistic pride, but much of it had to do with the fact that I was afraid I wouldn't get them done
Photo: Captain Jim
Bucky and Becky and the Sky in time. In typical artistic fashion, I had waited until the last minute to start seriously working on Bucky and the two gibbets. I got them done about a week and a half before the event. Thinking it was all good, I soon discovered that shipping was turning into a nightmare as I explained in Chapter 1. So the likelihood of their making it down there was quite touch-and-go up until the last minute. I suppose the extra effort made the victory that much sweeter, but I could have done without the nervous sweats required for the victorious sweets.

Anyhow, below are some photos that wound up on the cutting room floor when I put Chapter 1 together.

Photo: William Pace A Little Gallows Humor - In This Case, Highly Appropriate

Photo: William Pace Bucky's Stuck.!(I should ask for caption suggestions for this.)

Photo: William Pace Bucky Gets a Makeover! Actually, I Am Just Doing Touch -ups On His Paint. It Gets Damaged in Shipment.

Someone pointed out that there weren't nearly enough photos of Gus Diamond mugging in this Journal, so I wanted to remedy that.

Photo: Sandi Bilbo Gus, the Throne and Hook's Hook

Photo: Rachel Siegel Gus and His Treasure Chest

Photo: Sandi Bilbo's Camera Gus & Sandi (You Thought I'd Riff On The Last Caption? Nyah!)

Caribbean Pearl put together a visual guide for the way to put on a mermaid tail, which I include below for your edification. After looking these over, you should all be able to do this. (In fact, next year I hope to combine the photos above with those below and just have a series with Gus Diamond demonstrating this.)

Photo: Poppa Ratsey Pearl's Mermaid Tail 1

Photo: Poppa Ratsey Pearl's Mermaid Tail 2

Photo: Poppa Ratsey Mermaid Tail 3

Photo: Poppa Ratsey Pearl's Mermaid Tail 4

Photo: Poppa Ratsey Voila!

Speaking of cake decorating tubes (We were doing that a couple of chapters ago. I think.), DB Couper picked up a metal cake decorating tube with a wood handle that looked an awful lot like an clyster syringe during his travels lest year. (I'll let you think about that for awhile. Try to bring it to mind the next time you're eating cake with icing.) So DB brought his cake decorator over and we did a bit of duelling clysters. (Cue the music...)

Photo: Mission's Camera - Dueling Clysters with DB 1

Photo: Mission's Camera - Dueling Clysters with DB 2

And since there is music, now is ze time in Journal vhen ve dance!

Photo: Mission

Photo: Poppa Ratsey

Photo: Mission

That has disturbed me almost to the point of insanity...There. I am insane now.

Photo: Poppa Ratsey Calamity Grace Sucking on the Mysterious Pipe

Photo: Poppa Ratsey Calamity Grace Blowing in the Mysterious Pipe

Photo: Poppa Ratsey
Calamity Grace Laughing at the Mysterious Pipe. When I am assembling a profile of someone, even someone I have never communicated with, I search for good photos of that person. Calamity Grace was one of the most difficult people to find photos of, presumably because she is so shy. Fortunately Poppa got several, which you saw in Chapter 11.

Papa also got these photos, which I did not understand. So I didn't use them. All I know is that in some of the photos she is sucking and blowing on a mysterious pipe and then in other photos she is laughing at the pipe. I can't imagine what that was all about although I sort of wonder if it gave her the munchies.

As you may recall from Chapter 11, Mad Maeve is good friends with Calamity Grace (Maeve was profiled in the 2012 FTPI Surgeon's Journal). Papa shot a series of photos of her as the Town Crier which I thought I'd include here. In these, she reminds me of a Motown singer belting out a hit song on stage. (It must be that bell.)

Photo: Poppa Ratsey Stop! In the name of love...

Photo: Poppa Ratsey ,,,before you break my heart.

Photo: Poppa Ratsey Think it o-o-ver...

Photo: Poppa Ratsey Think it o-o-ver.

Photo: Mission
Hat Happening Instigator - The Patrick Hand Original™ Planter's Hat FTPI usually has some hat-related thing associated with it. (At least in these Journals it does.) Sometimes it's the hat swap game (often started by yours truly in an effort to emulate Stynky's Hat Swap Game at Fort Taylor in 2008). Other times it has to do with assembling photos of people trying on the Patrick Hand Original™ Planter's Hat. (People can't resist this for some reason. Probably because the hat is so large and Patrick Hand-ish.)

Unfortunately, neither of things occurred on a large scale this year . A few isolated pockets of hat-oriented events broke out during the weekend, but there wasn't anything of the large scale hat happenings of previous Key West pirate outings. (I blame Robert the Doll for this.) Still, I would be remiss in my duties as Pirate Surgeon Journalist if I didn't share the hat events that actually did occur, now wouldn't I?

Photo: Mission Jon, Trying on a Lovely Auction Hat

Photo: Mission's Camera Mission and Mark Moss Swap Hats

Photo: Poppa Ratsey madPete in the Patrick Hand Hat

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Then there were the random pictures I set aside, thinking I might be able to give them funny captions. Usually, I think of a funny caption when I first see the photo, put it aside and then forget that caption when I reach the Epilogue. So I either have to scrap it or make some lame caption up that is probably half as funny as the original. (Yet I keep doing this. You think I'd learn.) So this is the themeless section, starting with some skull stuff.

Photo: Poppa Ratsey I Love This! (But then I would, wouldn't I?)

Photo: Caribbean Pearl Several Kah Crystal Skulls Containing Yuccky Tequila

The next bunch of random stuff, I loosely group as 'scary stuff.' (No, I do not consider skulls, gibbeted corpses, or Roberts the Doll scary.) This is my idea of scary stuff. Your mileage may vary.

Photo: Mission I Don't Know About YOU, But I Find This Santa Decoration Frightening. (That Beard...)

Photo: Mission Babies in Pirate Costume? Scary. Actually, Any Baby Is Pretty Much Scary.

Photo: Poppa Ratsey OK, This Woman is Not Scary, But She Seems to Be Coming To Give Hugs. Hugs=Scary.

Photo: Mission Key West Road Work. Scary. Now, 'Bob's Barricades' is Fantastic! Bob's Barricades! Ha ha ha.

And then there are the last of the photos for this part, which really have no theme at all. The themeless photos in the themeless section. (Can it possibly lack any more theme?)

Photo: Sandi Bilbo That's gotta' HURT!

Photo: Mission Uh, oh. This Can't Be Good...

Photo: Poppa Ratsey "Can you help me with my ichthyology report?"

Photo: Mission
The Meme. (That's Dani Dufrense and Bryan
Brubaker, Santa Maria May 2012 Pirate Weekend.)
I occasionally throw some post event stuff in here and this is going to be one such occasion. I saw a meme that said "Every Fifth Like gets (something absurd)." I can do absurd. So I put together the meme you see at left and posted it on the Surgeon's Journal Facebook Fan Page for fun.

I usually don't get a ton of hits for stuff like this and had doubts that it would even reach five likes. As of this writing it has 36 likes, which means 7 free amputations! (This is all rather absurd given that a ship's surgeon did his surgeries for free.) What was most interesting about all this to me was that many of the 5th posters were people from FTPI. It may have been because people who hadn't seen me at FTPI were afraid I'd actually appear at their houses and try and amputate a limb if they were a fifth poster. (Actually, that's why I added the "Great Many Conditions Apply" line. God forbid someone should actually want me to amputate a limb for them!)

There are currently four people in line to get free amputations from the ship's surgeon from FTPI and two of them are Mercury crew members. (This concerns
Photo: Poppa Ratsey
The Pirate Ship's Surgeon Awaits Your Custom
me a bit because they are both able seamen. If I amputate their limbs, who's going to work the Mercury's sails? It sure ain't gonna be me! I'm the ship's surgeon! These hands are like delicate instruments!) So I thought I'd post the images of those who will be in line at FTPI 2014 to get their free amputations. I also included madPete in there, not because he was a fifth liker, but because I'm sure he wouldn't want to miss out. (Wait, that means he won't be able to work the sails... maybe that's not such a good plan.)

I also note that while Nita Treasure was not a fifth person to like the post, she commented that she wouldn't get a free amputation. This means she has to pay for hers, which is fine by me. So she is definitely on the list for limb removal next year.

Thus, next year at FTPI should present a lot of opportunities for the public to see a period authentic amputation! Be sure and stop by the surgeon's display at FTPI in 2014! (I'll try and space them out so everyone gets a chance to see how it's done.)

Photo: Poppa Next? Sgt. Jeff

Photo: Poppa Ratsey Francois Lafitte Awaits a Knife

Photo: Mission madPete, Iron Jon & Jim Are Ready

Photo: Poppa Ratsey Nita Treasure Awaits Her Turn

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