River Pirates

I've been reading up on river pirates. They occupy a big place in media peaking with a segment in How the West Was Won. Like most stories about the wild west, river piracy was never as common as popular fiction would have it. On the other hand, it did exist and its extent is hard to judge because of the dangers of river traffic.

River piracy flourished in the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers in the mid-18th century. During this period there was a lot of one-way traffic going down the rivers, mainly on flatboats. These were large rectangular rafts with sides and, often, some sort of cabin or shelter. They were used to float cargo down river. When they reached their destination they would break up the flatboat and sell it as lumber.

Most flatboats traveled in convoys. It was the loners that attracted pirates.

Unlike an open-sea pirate who needed a ship, river pirates only needed a boat or two. They didn't try to live on their boats. They either lived on islands or along the river banks. From there they could watch for targets.

People who became river pirates were either ruthless whites or escaped slaves (or both). They usually had some sort of arrangement with a local merchant or two who would accept merchandise without questioning the source.

River piracy was only possible during the early years of colonization. As cities and towns grew up along the rivers there was no place for the pirates to hide and the rivers became relatively safe.

Shipwrecks

MSNBC.com has a slideshow of ten Shipwrecks that capture our imaginations. Blackbeard's and Captain Kidd's are among them.

More on the Victory

Here's a different story on the wreck of the Victory.

If you want to see all the details of the discovery of the ship, watch the Discovery Channel's new show Treasure Quest. Starting last week they are devoting four hours to this ship.

Sunken Battleship Found

In the early 18th century, the biggest, most powerful ship afloat was HMS Victory. Nelson named his ship after this one but it sank in 1744. Treasure hunters recently discovered its wreck.

It wasn't a pirate ship - just the opposite, it was a King's ship that would have protected shipping lanes from pirates (and French) but it still carried a lot of gold 400,000 pounds sterling.

Dilbert

Hook

AMC is showing Hook which, of course, features pirates.

Too bad it wasn't a better movie. It's way too long and slow and a lot of it assumes that the viewer is really familiar with the novelized version of Peter Pan. It is an example of Spielberg's worst traits. You could cut an hour out out it and have a better movie.

The first time I saw it I realized that, in a lost boys vs pirates world, which side I'd be with.

Nice ship set and Bob Hoskins is really good as Smee.

Rigging the Whitehall

Last weekend was the warmest since I bought the Whitehall so I decided to try the rigging again. The problem is that this boat is more complex than most Whitehalls or similar boats. Between a lot of research on other boats and some trial and error, I think I have the basics right.

I did have one revelation while putting up the sail - all of the lines are new replacements. They either have not been used or have been used very seldom. There is no wear on the lines. While it is nice to have new equipment, this does make things harder in a couple of ways. First, I don't know for certain that all of the lines are the correct length or that I even have all of the lines I need. Similarly, the lines themselves have no memory. When you use a rope for the same purpose for a while, especially if it is under strain or if it gets wet then it is reformed. It remembers the shape it was in. This is handy later since it gives you a good indication that everything is where it should be.

A couple of related issues - the rope that was used has whipped ends that seem to have been hardened in something. They don't want to go through the grommets. I may have to replace some of the line with thinner rope to make it easier to lash the sail to the mast and boom. Also, there are two thumb cleats. Normally you could just jam the line into the cleat and it would hold but this new line is too hard and does not hold. The solution is to tie a quick-release knot where you want the line to hold but this is less than ideal.

One thing that bothered me when I got the boat was the floorboards. While everything else is perfectly finished, the floorboards were a faded gray. I realized that they are teak and require a different finish. While it was warm I applied some teak oil to the floor. It worked perfectly. After soaking in for a few days the floor now looks like fresh teak and compliments the cherry in the center. Apparently, like the outer paint, this is a maintenance item that had been neglected for a couple of years.