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Santa Maria Pirate Weekend, May 2008 - Columbus, OH
Chapter 3rd - Saturday Day - Detailing the inevitable pirate vs. everyone who wanted to stay nice and safe on the ship battles - both those that were scheduled and not- as well as the food that the sailors ate (well, these sailors, anyhow) and a practice sword fight of sorts. Some other stuff, too, if your ship's surgeon does not become weary of scribbling.
There was a battle scheduled at 2pm between the pirates on the ship (most of them) and those brave souls willing to go out in the canoe or stand on the rock jetty beside the ship in slippery period shoes (those who drew the short straws). Being the ship's surgeon gave me a desire not to engage in battle at first (that's my excuse for not buying a gun). Knowing the disinclination of people firing guns to become wounded and require my services (because then they would have to stop firing their guns), I took pictures during the shows.
(Photo:Me!)
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(Photo: Mission the most Excellent Surgeon)
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Above Left: Mark prepares the shanghaied Main Deck defenders for their role. ("Look fierce and waggle your rubber-tipped pike most menacingly!) Above Right: Mark engages the real Main Deck Defender: the swivel gun.
Below are those sneaky pirates Michael and Kreiger and/or Thomas (depending on which battle the photo came from - continuity here is non-existent.) From left: approaching the ship, then magically turned around and going alongside, then magically turned back around and in the cannon range, then gone! (No, not really.)
(Photo:Mission)
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(Photo: Monsieur de la Mission)
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(Photo: His Majesty's Photographer)
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(Photo: C'est Moi!)
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(Photo:Mission)
Since the 2:00 battle so increased attendance and excited the pirates, they decided to
have another show around 3:30. Actually, I think this was mainly an excuse to fire more black powder
weapons. (Pirate re-enacting: The Part Not About the Clothes is About
Black Powder Weapon Firing). Increasing attendance may have also been a
factor… well it was at least a seriously considered afterthought, if
not an actual factor. The ship was not allowed to fire cannon during
these battles, but they did have some fine swivel guns. For this second
battle, I decided to get some more dramatic shots, so I positioned
myself in the forecastle, near one of these guns. So I shot picture
while the battle raged for some time. Then Mark appeared and started
getting the swivel gun ready to fire. Since I have fired cannon at every
event I've participated in, I asked if I could fire it. Mark handed me
the slow match allowing me to keep my record as the Cannon-Firing
Surgeon spotless.
Right: The Santa Maria's valiant defenders - from left: Grizz, Kate Souris and Perkeo. Dig that cwazy hat!
(Photo:George and/or Ken)
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Left: Me firing one of the ship's swivel guns with Mark's assistance. I count it as a cannon firing as we actually couldn't shoot the cannon. Right: Kreiger bravely firing his wimpy gun from the rocks. |
(Photo: Kate's Magic Camera)
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Perkeo is from the Pyracy Pub and it was my first time meeting him. He came from some place that starts with an 'I' (I forget where – Indiana? Illinois? Iowa? Iceland?) He bravely donned a large sheep's wool cap called a thrum cap. ("Many sheep died to bring us this hat.") He was particularly proud of this accessory (Pirate re-enacting: It's Still Mostly About the Clothes) and assured me that it was waterproof. This could be part of the reason sheep don't mind being out in the rain. (The other part of the reason being that most sheep don't seem to be very bright.) Talking with Perkeo, I learned that he was an ordained minister of the Universal Life Church and a Tusken Raider with the 501st. This fascinated me as it has now become one of my life's goals to see a Tusken Raider performing a wedding.
Below: Perkeo and Grizz fence under the tutelage of Michael Souris.
(Photo: Michael Bagley)
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(Photo: Michael Bagley)
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(Photo: Michael Bagley)
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(Photo: Michael Bagley)
Dinner proved delightful. It was a sort of bean
soup with sausage in it. Especially for me, Jennie had kindly made a
small, pot of the soup with no sausage in it. I ate far too much of
it.
In addition to the splendid soup, there were also breads & cheeses and - for the unawares and foolhardy – hard tack. Everyone seemed to be aware and wisehardy, so we used the hard tack to repair various small holes in the concrete sidewalk near the ship once dinner was finished.
At left: Jennie slaves over a hot stove of bean soup while Dan looks on uselessly. No, they're not married, but he is her brother.