Great Lakes Pirates #5

GREAT LAKES PIRATES PIRATE OF THE MONTH

Captain Xepher Sicarius

Siren of the Month

Alasea Bluemer

Learn how to make Hardtack Thee Bluebeard adventures

November 2015

Star~Dust

Editor, Motivator

Timber Gray Wolf

Editor Chief, Designer, photographer

Issue #5 Great Lake Pirates is published monthly freelying through ISSUU. No part of this magazine may be reproduced or transmitted into any form by any means without written consent from the publisher. Unsolicited manuscripts and photographs will be returned only if accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. All letters sent to Great Lake Pirates will be treated as unconditionally assigned for publication, copyright purposes and use are subject to Great Lake Pirates unrestricted right to edit and comment.

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Contents 04) Tales of RootJack 06) Ships of the Caribbean 09) The Bluebeard Adventures 16) Pirate of the Month 17) Tack Bread 22) Siren of the Month Do you have an awsome article that you would want to share? Email us the article and if the staff loves it, You will know soon enough.

What will you need? The document in a Word Doc., any photos that would go along withe article and a clear photo of you.

GreatLakePirates@gmail.com

The Arguably Plausible Tale of RootJack Our story starts with the ruthless pirate, the Chavalier de Grammont. At the end of August, 1685, Grammont had taken the port of Campache, and demanded a ransom from the Governor or else the town would burn. The governor replied that the pirates could burn it down since the Spanish were rich enough to rebuild it.

In anger, Grammont paraded the Campache hostages to the main square and began hanging them one by one. A few prominent citizens, including the fair Astrea Valentine, begged Grammont to have mercy on the rest of the captives. In exchange these citizens would live the rest of their lives as slaves to him. Grammont agreed to their plea.

Grammont was ruthless to his enemies, but to his crew he was generous and fair.

Astrea worked diligently for her new Captain and in short time became a valued member of the crew.

In her first days on the ship, Astrea could see that many of the crew were suffering from scurvy. She had learned from Spanish sailors a remedy involving citrus, and quickly concocted a brew in secret of Root Beer, Guarana Berries and Oranges and offered it to the crew during a stop in Haiti.

She told the crew the drink was ancient VooDoo that she had learned on the island. The superstitious crew took her at

her word, and drank heavily. The scurvy disappeared.

The crew, now convinced that Astrea was imbued with VooDoo magic, dared not anger her for fear of the repercussions.

In September of 1685, Grammont’s ship and one commanded by Nicolas Brigaut made their way up the Atlantic coast of Florida in an attempt to attack St. Augustine. Brigaut went inshore and his ship sank while caught in a storm.

Grammont directed his ship in, and hit the same bad weather. The ship was rocked by wind and waves. Astrea seized an opportunity to push Grammont over the side during a nasty list. He was never seen again.

Astrea wasted no time in taking control of the vessel. The fearful crew asked no questions. Captain Astrea Valentine renamed her ship the Matanza, and set sail. While she would turn to piracy as the opportunities arrived, she found that there was profit to be made in the Triangle of Trade: Sugar Cane for Oranges for Wenches.

Captain Valentine would ruthlessly defend her ship and her crew, but she also found other pirates were more interested in trade in order to get their hands on the VooDoo elixir, now known as RootJack by many, that kept the sailors in such good spirits.

Ships of the

Caribbean By: Shanna Siewert & Charles Jackson

I bet when you think of ‘pirate tech’, you think of guns, cannons, and bombs, and not the tech that allows us to sail the seas and plunder the booty. This month’s article we will focus on the pirate ships used in the Golden Age of Caribbean piracy.

Now when people say pirate ship, they usually think of large ships, frigates or man-of-wars.

In actuality a pirate ship was anything the pirates could get their hands on. Anything from schooners to sloops to rafts and canoes were viable vessels. There were no special ports where pirates could get ships, so they had to make due with whatever was available.

That doesn’t mean there weren’t some guidelines pirates looked for.

There were three criteria pirates looked for when procuring a new vessel: seaworthiness, speed, and firepower. When a pirate acquired a new ship the first thing they would do is make modifications. These modifications were usually focused on increasing the speed of the vessel and increasing the number of cannons.

Although there wasn’t an actual preference of which ships to use, frigates and schooners were by far the most accessible, readily captured and used. Because they were popular as cargo ships and merchant vessels, they

usually sailed alone making them easy prey for pirates. It may have started as a frigate or a schooner, but by the time a pirate crew was finished, the “new” ship barely resembled the captured vessel. A common change was adding cannons to cargo spaces and changing the rigging on the sail: frigates of the day carried 14 to 28 cannons. The Queen Ann’s Revenge, Blackbeard’s modified frigate, had 40 cannons in all!Along with how fast and how much firepower, the ship’s size was taken into account. There are distinct advantages and disadvantages to the size of a ship. The larger ships could carry more cannons but they were slower and less maneuverable. Also basic preventative maintenance became huge chores. Conversely, the smaller the ship, the swifter it is on the water, and the easier to maintain. However, the smaller vessels meant less cannons and crew members on board.

This meant more strategizing was needed to take on larger ships at sea.

firepower, ships also needed to be armored because in the Caribbean, weather was always a factor. Anything from a thunderstorm to a monsoon to a hurricane, most pirates had to evade or ride out. This is because, especially early on, most ports were not accessible to pirates.

All in all, no matter the original function, a pirate ship became something uniquely pirate, a canvas for their carpenters and armorers alike.

Whether it was a merchant vessel, a pleasure craft, or a giant war ship, after taken by pirates it became a terror of the high seas. Ships from rather humble origins rose to be legends serving as the vessels of Black Bart, Calico Jack, Blackbeard, and many others.

Since pirates typically didn’t carry a lot of cargo, most ships were modified to change cargo areas into sleeping quarters. Besides

Shanna Siewert & Charles Jackson

Get Season 2 on DVD on November 3rd

This month’s contest had a wide cast of pirates that entered. If you would want to get in on December’s Pirate of the month, Fallow and Like us at /GreatLakePiratesMagazine

48%

6.9%

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32%

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Q

How long have you been into the pirate life?

A: I’ve been active in the pirate life for about two to three years now, but always had an interest in it ever since watching Pirates of the Pirates of the Caribbean film series

Q

What made you want to add pirate to your Fursona?

A:My fursona had always been originally an assassin character, and I first started combining pirate stuff with my fursona from joining a pirate based RP group called Feralys. I started becoming more fond of my character being more pirate like as it just seemed well fitting to me, and when the release of Assassins Creed IV Black Flag came, I made my character into a pirate captain assassin

Q

May of us know how warm it can get with as many layers a top notch pirate garb gets. How warm does it get with the extra fur lay and how do you ventilate so you don’t over heat?

A: It gets really hot in the suit, specially with the type of clothing I wear over the bodysuit, however I tend to keep myself cool with plenty of water between breaks and lots of underarmor. I’ve also learned to adapt to the heat and whatever the weather brings me due to having previous experience of being a mascot/fursuit performer

Q

Does your pirate Fursona have a back story?

A: So far for his backstory, taking from the Feralys RP, he starts out as an assassin who is sent out on a mission to steal information from a pirate ship until he is caught by a member of the crew, he pretends to be part of a new member of the ship and goes with the flow of it until he can escape.

He has a change of heart and becomes part of the crew after being with his fellow friends and crew members on board.

The Rising Pheonix

Q

What do you like the most about going to the events and what is one of your favorite so far?

A: My favorite thing about going to events and cons is being to perform as a character you want to be and seeing how people react to it. Moments like those give me reason to go out there and make memories for people.

My favorite moment will have to be when I first debuted my character at Midwest Furfest in 2013, you will never forget your first time

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Ingredients: • 4 to 4 1/2 cups unbleached flour • 6 pinches salt • 1 to 2 cups water Directions: Mix ingredients and knead thoroughly. Roll dough 1/2 inch thick. Place on well greased baking sheet. Cut into 3 inch by 4 inch squares. Pierce each square several times with fork. Bake 30 to 40 minutes at 425, until golden, turning at 20 minutes. Reduce oven to 200 and contine to bake for 2 to 48 hours.

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We here at Great Lake Pirates Support our globe merpeople. Show your support by voting for your favorites for future Issues and even enter yourself to get in on the fun. /GreatLakePiratesMagazine

Q

What drew you to the dawn the fins?

A: I was born with them!

Q

What style of mermaid tail is your favorite to use and how many do you have?

A: The one I was born with of course!

Q

We see you are from the sunny state of Florida. How is the mermaids in that part of the world? Also what drove you to swim up stream to the Michigan Ren Festival?

A:There are lots of wonderful mermaids that live around Florida. But my 2 merdaughters, Sirena and Luna, live in the freshwater of Michigan, so I enjoy visiting them.

Q

What do you like the most about going to the events and what is one of your favorite so far?

A: I think humans are very interesting, I like seeing them and all their interesting clothing. They are usually very happy to see me too so I’m glad I can bring them joy. It’s a really long swim for me but I do love the Michigan Renaissance Festival.

Q

Do you belong to a waterclan or a lone swimmer

A: I belong to a pod of mermaids..

Q

What might be our “day job” when walking upon draw land?

A: Unfortunately I can’t walk on dry land. But I am happy that the humans share their treasures with me when I come to their events.

Q

Is there anything you would like to share with our readers?

A: I always ask my human friends if they will please keep my ocean home clean by making sure never to put trash anywhere but the garbage cans. It is hurting my animal friends.

Meet the supporting crew behind Great Lake Pirates, the Siver Moon Pirates. Like us on FaceBook and if you see us at events pull us aside and feel free to take photos with us!

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Yar har, fiddle di dee, Being a pirate is all right with me, Do what you want ‘cause a pirate is free, You are a pirate!

Yo Ho, ahoy and avast, Being a pirate is really badass!

Hang the black flag at the end of the mast!

You are a pirate!