Happy Talk Like A Pirate Day.

Well its been eight years since the journalist Dave Berry introduced the world to Ol' Chumbucket and Capn' Slappy who created Talk Like A Pirate Day. This once small gathering has turned into a novelty cult following of sorts celebrated by thousands around the world. No- really, it is! Check out their web site and see for yourself.  http://www.talklikeapirate.com/piratehome.html.

The Foundation was contacted by the Mariners Museum in Newport News, Virginia to help them celebrate their annual Talk Like A Pirate Day events. Who are we to say no to an offer like that! Sometimes we just need to work an event to remind us why we got into this project to start with. The Mariners Museum is the National Maritime Museum sporting over 60,000 square feet of gallery space! Their collection includes rare ships figureheads, an amazing collection of hand crafted ships models with such detail you would swear they were real. The museum also holds many USS Monitor artifacts. To learn more about the museum visit their web site, http://www.marinersmuseum.org/ . This was our first time working with the Museum and we had a wonderful time!


Setting up shop just outside the Museums front doors, we set two canvas flies and packed as much fun and education as we could under them.

We were visited by young and old and even interviewed by a student reporter from Regent University. I never did get her name, but I hope she sends a copy of her article to us. Our fearless reporter, wearing the red sash and head wrap under her hat, is talking with one of our newer members, Ashley. Ashley seems to have found her historical niche with embroidery and does a wonderful job of it!





Constable heartless discusses the finer points of weaponry and shot to one of our guest. Our weapons and tactics always draw a crowd, especially when one of the cannons come out to sing. We have various forms of shot on display as well as access to numerous reproduction fire arms and edged weapons to use for this display. All of our bladed weapons have been dulled for safety and before firing weaponry, Foundation members must successfully complete a weapons and safety class. Yes, we are that serious about safety!

About fifty feet down range is a wooden bucket. The objective is to cast the weighted end of a heaving line into the bucket. Pern looks on and offers advice as our young charge has just let fly for the first time. The heaving line is used aboard ships as a light messenger line to haul larger and heavier lines from ship to ship or ship to shore. One of our more competitive hands on activities, this often leads to numerous dads trying to out do each other-Sort of like the strong man hammer at the fair.

Long Tom is working the navigation table. This includes reproduction navigation gear from biblical times to the early 18th century. Simple mathematic principles are covered to help determine latitude,  distance covered over time based on speed in nautical miles per hour, and simple recording methods for speed and direction of travel. Compared to modern technology, it amazes us that these skills were so crudely executed with such precision.

Unfortunately, this is where the camera battery decided to jump ship. Thank you to all of our members who came out. Our ships surgeon, Cutter; Grace and Amber who worked the colonial games table; Mat and Adam who are learning skills and creating their programs as the Foundations needs grow; Cindy and Arden, two of our musicians and Stan, our treasurer, who came out to help set up.

We are off to the boat yard for the next few weeks, so please stop back in to see how Luna is progressing. Just think, shortly we will be afloat doing this!


An addition, one of our fans sent us some pictures of her kids spending the day with us at the museum.