Chapter Selection Menu: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 E Next>>
Santa Maria Pirate Weekend, May 2012 - Columbus, OH
Chapter 7th: Of Sunday morning's preparatory activities; The impossibly exciting adventure of Anna Maria tying the surgeon's scarf on his head;Various groups chatting; Black market Fully legal trading activities amongst the pirates; The Sunday battle meeting; Another excellent episode of Things Jay Does; Your author doing a couple of surgical procedural photos with the help of Dani and Bryan; and The Sunday Displays.
Photo: Mission
Billie explaining the holes
in his socks - one by one.
Photo: Mission
Artillery Captain John Rieske bringing
his most important supplies.
There were no Pink People lining the streets this morning so it was a rather anti-climatic walk from my hotel to the ship. Phydeux rolled along behind me as we made our way to the parking lot.
When I finally arrived on the ship, I was greeted by people leaving it. Several folks were not able to stay for the Sunday version of the Pirate Weekend and were carting their gear off the deck. Others were just getting their sleeping materials off in advance of leaving later.
All the usual preparations were going on: Billie explaining his socks, The Rieske (pronounced 'Risky') Cannoneer's bringing the pirate flag they needed for the cannon and Blue Jessica getting her stays laced by someone since - stop me if you've heard this - stays are absurdly designed.
 Photo: Mission The Thatchers haul their treasure ashore |
 Photo: DB Couper "I mean who laces a corset like THAT? Only M.A. d'Dogge!" |
Photo: Mission
Ninja chipmunk by the wall
Photo: Mission
Ninja chipmunk practicing the ninja flying leap kick (wakazonk)
Usually about this time we have a report on our favorite pirate squirrel Salmonius. I am sad to report that Salmonius was not seen on this trip - at least by your author. Oh, several people claimed to have seen a squirrel, but they're pirates and you can't trust them.
All I managed to catch photos of was a gang of ninja chipmunks practicing their art on the lawn by the ship. Woe betide the pirate Salmonius when those ninja chipmunks show up...
Photo: DB Couper
Mission as the Blind PewIn the process of getting myself ready, I had to find someone to tie my scarf on me. I tried several times to tie it this morning before I gave up and left the hotel. Yesterday, no problem; today, functionally illiterate. I can only blame the scarf, because it certainly couldn't be my fault! This is not the first time this problem has arisen as regular readers recognize.
Usually I try and find a girl to tie it because girls seem to be able to tie them better than guys. Plus they're girls. So I asked Anna Maria to tie it. As you can see from these photos, she has a unique way of tying a scarf. First she wraps your whole head in it, then she ties it and then you are left to wander around blind. Ha ha! No, you have to roll the scarf up. I guess. At least that's what I did.
You may also notice that I'm devoting an awful lot of page space to this. This is because I gave my camera to Anna Maria's husband, DB Couper, to take the photos of the process and he took about a dozen of them. I can't see letting them go to waste, so here you go.
 Photo: DB Couper Look, I'm Daredevil, except I don't have horns... |
 Photo: Taken in the night ...or muscles... or lame movies. |
 Photo: DB Couper Rolling up the scarf |
Photo: Mission
Chatting on the gangplank
Photo: Mission
Sister and brother chat
I saw a lot of chatting going on at this event. I don't know why, but such little chat groups seem to be the litmus test for a really good event. When people stop to say more than a few perfunctory words with each other, it seems to indicate a good event.
I particularly noticed this facet of the event on Sunday morning. Perhaps this was because things were kind of set, people knew their roles and, of course, we had held several meetings. (I'm not saying that meetings are conducive to informal chats, but maybe informal chats are just a reaction to meetings. Or maybe I need to stop going out in the sun without a good hat to protect my head from gamma rays.)
 Photo: DB CouperChris and Michael on the Quarter deck |
 Photo: Mission Stephen and Jay on the Main deck |
 Photo: Mission Michelle and Billie on the Jeep deck |
One useful function pirates served was to supply goods to the Caribbean colonies that otherwise would not get them. Pirates did this by stealing these goods from legitimate merchant ships and then getting the goods into ports that didn't mind a little black market buying and selling. Our pirates would never do anything like that of course. No, everything you're about to see was strictly legitimate trading. Strictly. Legitimate. No black market profiteering here. Nope.
We start with the trade blanket, at which I saw no one. I can only assume the king was monitoring all trades that were going on there, so people stayed clear of it. It's too bad, too, because I saw some nice stuff on it. Then we come to red hat Silas, Ye Olde Hemp Rope Vendor. He was actually packing his wares away when Nathan and Michael made last minute trades for some of it. Rope or 'line' was one of the things pirates often stole from ships because it was so important to the operation of their ships. Not that this rope had anything to do with that rope that was stolen out of that passing merchant ship that was robbed on the Scioto yesterday. No, siree! Strictly. Legitimate.
 Photo: Mission |
 Photo: Mission |
 Photo: Mission |
Continuing the round robin of trades, we begin with Michael Bagley, who was only just trading for rope and now traded services with Ivan Henry. Ivan gave Michael cloth for his troubles. Ivan then traded his shoes with Thomas Alleman. (Well, not his shoes - some extra ones he had gotten. Not from that pirated merchant ship, either. Strictly Legitimate.) Thomas was also interested in one of Ivan's guns (Like the ones Ivan used to sell on a website, not like the one taken from that angry merchant captain. Strictly. L.), but Thomas decided against that particular trade. One person who did trade a gun was Dan Needham (below center right), who traded his neeto keen ray gun prop gun thingee (appropriate for Steam Punk) with Trish. Also involved in trading activities were Stephen Priddy and M.A. d'Dogge who traded lies on the dock as you see below right. Strictly. Illegitimate.
 Photo: Mission |
 Photo: Mission |
 Photo: Mission |
 Photo: Mission |
Photo: Mission
The meeting leaders: Mark Gist, Michael & Kate Bagley, Nathanael & Shannon.
Once all the commerce concluded it was time for the Sunday Battle Meeting. Huzzah! Another meeting! Actually, I should be nice about the meetings based on how well the previous day's battle had gone. Besides, there were several new people who had showed up last night and this morning who had not had the opportunity to attend a meeting yet. We wanted to make sure they got their chance.
I, having learned nothing by running around and taking photos and not paying attention on Saturday, decided to run around and take photos and not pay attention on Sunday. Since none of the other, better photographers decided to do likewise, my badly lit photos are all we have to show this momentous event. So it turned out to be a good thing that I took them. Well, maybe.
 Photo: Mission Margarita and crew listening |
 Photo: Mission More views of crew listening |
 Photo: Mission "The Gentleman from Rieske has the floor!" |
Photo: Mission
Adam Mudd, Jay Babcock and Terry
Perkins listening at the meeting
Margarita and Jay were amongst the newcomers. From Margarita (pictured above left) I learned that the two of them had been married recently in a small ceremony. She said something about them having a more public ceremony, I believe at the Mississinewa 1812 event in October. (I am relying on my memory here, which has a tendency to forget things like that, but I'm pretty sure that's correct because the word 'Mississinewa' is fun to say. Yes, that is exactly how my memory works.)
Speaking of Jay, how could I create a Surgeon's Journal for an event with Jay Babcock present without another exciting edition of Thing Jay Does. Last time I did this. I used photos of Jay working with Michael Bagley on a project. The addition of another person to the mix was so exciting that this time we are going to feature two other people and a surprise guest. (I don't know that future Things Jay Does segments will ever be able to reach such a pinnacle, so enjoy it while it lasts.)
This edition's Thing that Jay Does is: listen thoughtfully at the battle planning meeting. I know, you probably already gathered that by looking at the photos, but I have'ta fill this space somehow.
 Photo: Mission Jay looking left |
 Photo: Mission Jay looking right |
 Photo: Mission Adam adds drama to the scene |
 Photo: Mission "Mr. Rieske has the floor!" |
Photo: Michael Colosimo
Jim looking thoughtful
Photo: Jim Brown
Jim as a whaler
Before we leave the meeting, I wanted to mention another person I had chatted with briefly there who was new to the event this year: Jim Brown. When I asked Jim how long he had been a pirate, he told me that he felt like a reincarnated pirate. As he explained it to me, when he "first saw Jack Sparrow I knew I had been like him."
I can see the reincarnation thing, can't you? Even his name sounds like a pirate name! He looks like one of the loyal pirates before the mast.
Jim was invited to the Santa Maria event by Silas Thatcher. Silas had seen his whaler outfit (at right) and suggested he attend. Living close by, he decided to come. He really enjoyed it, especially noting how much he liked the people there. He has also reenacted at the Ohio Renaissance Festival which I believe he's been doing for about four years.
Photo: Mission's camera
The impatient patient
Now since there apparently hasn't been enough of me on this page yet, here is some more. Actually, this occurred because Sunday seemed a little more relaxed. Plus I suddenly realized I was running out of time to draft people to be patients for some photo ideas I had. So I scurried about and recruited people to pose for a trepanning article I want to do some day. When I'm not writing silly event Journals, I am writing less silly Golden Age of Piracy Procedure and Tool descriptions. While I've discovered more period images of some of the procedures than I thought existed, it is still nice to have some photos illustrating the less common parts of those procedures. So that is where this came from.
Photo: Mission's camera
Brian gets a 'shave' in preparation
I needed someone who was relatively bald for a trepanning (not wanting to actually shave anyone), so I chose Bryan Brubaker as my patient. I needed a young teen for my surgeon's mate or loblolly boy (aka 'assistant'), so I chose Dani. Dani is, in fact, a girl, but she was dressed like a boy - as would be proper on a pirate ship - so I recruited her.
Today's operation of choice was trepanning - the drilling of a hole in the skull to relieve pressure or fluid buildup under the skull. For the purposes of my future article, I wanted shots of 1) the patient being shaved and 2) choosing between the trepan (which looks like a 'T') and the trephine (which looks like an old-fashioned brace drill). Naturally I also wanted shots of the operation for the Journal, although there are many period images of this which I will probably use instead in the article. Still, you never know.
As a bonus, I found a shot of my patient waiting for the surgeon (above right). Yep, just like your doctor's office, isn't it?
The best part of these images, IMO, are Dani's expressions and reactions.
 Photo: Dennis Dufrense"To trepan or not trepan? That is a question." |
 Photo: Dennis Dufrense Application of the trepan (T) |
 Photo: Mission's Camera Application of the trephine |
Photo: Dennis Dufrense
Brian and Dani glibly accept the idea that I'm going to slice his arm to the bone.
With the model consent forms already signed, I thought I would sneak a couple more instrument photos in for future serious instrument and procedure page emergencies. Although I had completed my master procedural opus on amputation last month, I decided to get some shots of me using the amputation knife.
For reference, the amputation, or curved knife, is sharp on the inside and is used to slice the patient's arm right to the bone in a single pass. Does Bryan appear concerned about that? Not a bit of it! Dani is actually grinning! So these may not have been as useful for my master procedural opus anyhow.
The other thing I wanted to gets shots of were the nippers. Not because I was planning to write about them, but because they're easy to photograph. My patient and assistant were once again a bit too sanguine about the severity of the operation, so I opted to show you the picture with nothing but their hands - below right.
 Photo: Mission's Camera"Just passing through! Don't mind me! Keep lopping off arms!" |
 Photo: Dennis Dufrense Mission using the nippers to take off a finger. |
I want to briefly revisit the displays. While they were essentially the same as Saturday, the people manning them changed on Sunday. In case you haven't noticed it, I am a big fan of our pirate displays. It gives the public something to watch and provides some value for the price of admission. It gives the reenactors a feeling of self-worth as they share their knowledge and skills with the public. Plus it keeps me from getting lonely on the ship, having to gaze wistfully across the gangplank at everyone cavorting about and goofing around in the park. (I sure can hold a grudge, can't I?) So we're going to do a little round of photos since the last one worked out so well.
 Photo: MissionThe Hardtackers singing on shore |
 Photo: Mission George & Trish at Registration |
 Photo: Mission George also worked the games |
Photo: Mission
Michael and Nathanael doing repairs
Photo: Mission
Climbing on the pump
We begin with the Hardtackers singing on shore, seen above left. Moving clockwise, we see George and Trish working the registration table, providing the hungry crowds with certificates and information; Next we find George has escaped registration and is now working the games table. At right, Dan Curtis working the bilge pump with some assistance. Below right, Jessica/Kate Bagley and Andrea Logsdon are working on underwear. Continuing clockwise, we discover that Anna Maria has taken over the Pirate Myths display. Next, we either have Silas Thatcher explaining sewing to a group of girl scouts or vice versa (it's hard to say which.) Either way, I'm sure someone learned something. We finish up at left with Michael and Nathanael repairing something in steerage.
 Photo: DB CouperSilas continues sewing his sailor bag |
 Photo: DB Couper Anna Maria refuting pirate myths |
 Photo: Mission Jessica and Andrea sewing |
Photo: Web-jacked
Our heroine, who deals in bones AND bugs.
You'll notice I didn't stick another photo of my table in here. I figure you've had enough shots of me in this chapter and it was time for some relief from that. However, I want to finish this chapter with a story of something that happened at my table because it's the sort of thing that happens repeatedly. Plus I happened to remember it while doing this chapter.
A young girl about thirteen or fourteen appeared at my table asking all sorts of questions about the instruments. I tried to gross her out by explaining various items on the table (it's my schtick), but failed utterly. She explained that she wanted to be a coroner and this sort of thing really interested her. She said she wasn't afraid of anything which turned out not to be strictly true. (I discovered she was afraid of bugs. Having watched Bones, I can assure her that, as a future coroner, she better get pretty darned used to bugs.) She thanked me for my insight and left. She returned shortly with her mother and little sister (who must have been 6 or 7) and we went through some of it again, only toning the gore down a little for the younger girl.
I can't honestly say this is why I play pirate surgeon, but it sure is nice to have an impact like that.