Wednesday, July 23, 2025

Jaws turns 50


This year is the 50th anniversary of the release of the one that started the "summer blockbuster", Jaws.

There are all kinds of celebrations and movie screenings, etc. There are also all kinds of toys and T shirts to celebrate as well. I think I am going to give it a few months, say just before Christmas, and start looking for some of the toys and Blu-Ray's to start going on sale. 

I'd love to get some Quint and Hooper action figures.

I kind of missed all the hoopla surrounding the anniversary, I suppose if you don't live on the East Coast around where the movie was filmed and takes place you aren't going to get much of the buzz.

I did watch it the other day on Netflix, or was it Prime? It is too hard to keep it all straight. And I will check out the documentary that I posted about below, this weekend. 

   

Hot Wheels Brings Spielberg’s Infamous Shark to Your Desktop in a 1:64 Die-Cast Miniature

Jaws celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, and we’ve enjoyed seeing all the special-edition releases rolling out in the past months, ranging from water thermoses, popcorn buckets, and even an incredibly sleek Seiko dive watch. The latest addition to the jubilee celebration is none other than a toy from Mattel. Part of the Hot Wheels lineup, this diecast model recreates the famed Orca boat, owned by Robert Shaw’s Quint in the 1975 film, in miniature form. Let’s take a look.


When Toys Get Serious

Unlike, say, Star Wars or Back to the Future (which has also received some cool merch for its own 40th anniversary this year), Jaws has never been one to dabble much in the toy market. But this is 2025, and “toys for men” is a real thing. This year alone, we’ve seen some quality figures from NECA and a handful of Funko Pops. However, the new Hot Wheels Orca seems to veer away from kitsch and actually offers something you can display proudly atop your workbench or desktop.

The set distinguishes itself by focusing on one of cinema’s most memorable sequences, and Mattel doesn’t phone it in at all. This is a proper diorama that captures the tension of Chief Brody, Quint, and Hooper’s infamous confrontation with the titular great white, with impeccable attention to detail.


Weathered Perfection

With incredible attention to detail, the 1:64-scale Orca nails the weathered, lived-in appearance of Quint’s vessel. The boat doesn’t look like a pristine toy fresh off a production line but actually has a salt-stained, beaten-up character that made the original prop boat so believable as a working vessel. For this set, Mattel has also included a miniature Chief Brody figure positioned on the aft deck, mid-chum, which brings some authentic storytelling to the piece.

Oh yeah, we also get a miniature version of Bruce the shark for this set. Yet rather than going for cartoonish proportions, the die-cast great white maintains the menacing scale and positioning that made the monster so terrifying in the film. He’s frozen here mid-attack, launching himself at the boat’s stern in a way that recreates one of the movie’s most heart-stopping moments. 

Beneath the scene are molded plastic waves to encase both pieces together inside the box. But outside, you can position the shark in various attack poses or separate the elements entirely if you prefer a cleaner presentation.


Wrapped in a Thoughtful Package

Like most adult toys, the Jaws set is made for displaying, not playing. As such, the window box features period-correct 1970s graphics that transport you back to the era when the film dominated both the box office and the overall zeitgeist. When you open the outer flap of the box, it reveals a removable pop-up poster featuring iconic artwork and quotes from the film. The blister packaging uses sculpted and distortion-printed elements to simulate water as well, in order to enhance the diorama effect.


Pricing and Availability

Priced at $32, the Hot Wheels 50th Anniversary Jaws Set launches July 24 at noon EST exclusively through Mattel Creations’ website, with a limit of two units per customer. It will give an exclusive launch in person at San Diego Comic Con as well. Mattel has not said if this will have a limited edition size or not.

https://hiconsumption.com/gear/hot-wheels-jaws-50th-anniversary-set/

 

Steven Spielberg and Nat Geo celebrate 'Jaws' 50th with behind-the-scenes documentary feature


It's been almost 50 years since "Jaws" was released, and since then, cinema - and our relationship with sharks - has changed forever.

The Steven Spielberg blockbuster hit celebrates its 50th anniversary this year with the only authorized documentary made, "Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story," releasing this summer, July 10, on National Geographic.

The 90-minute documentary takes viewers on a "deep dive," going behind the scenes with never-before-seen footage and newly-filmed interviews. It looks at Peter Benchley's bestselling novel and even evaluates the "legacy that fueled a global shark obsession and inspired generations of scientists, storytellers and ocean defenders."

For National Geographic, "Jaws @ 50" is produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Documentaries and Nedland Films, in partnership with Wendy Benchley and Laura Bowling. Laurent Bouzereau ("Music by John Williams") directs, with Spielberg diving back into the work that launched his career.

According to National Geographic, "Through candid new reflections, Spielberg recounts the high-stakes production, from battling a malfunctioning mechanical shark and relentless weather delays to his own post-production PTSD and fears the film would end his career."

The documentary also includes exclusive interviews with the original cast and crew, including Joe Alves (production designer), Jonathan Filley (Cassidy), Lorraine Gary (Ellen Brody), Carl Gottlieb (Meadows, screenwriter), Jeffrey Kramer (Hendricks), Ian Shaw (son of Robert Shaw, who played Quint), Jeffrey Voorhees (Alex Kintner) and composer John Williams.

Celebrity filmmakers and actors including J.J. Abrams, Emily Blunt, James Cameron, Cameron Crowe, George Lucas, Greg Nicotero, Jordan Peele, Steven Soderbergh, Guillermo del Toro, Robert Zemeckis and more are also featured in the film, discussing how "Jaws" impacted their work and cinema thereafter.

Interviews are accompanied by never-before-seen footage from Spielberg and Benchley's personal archives.

And more than just a behind-the-scenes look at the film, "Jaws @ 50" also features meaningful conversations with "leading marine advocates and scientists-including Philippe Cousteau, Candace Fields, Austin Gallagher, Gibbs Kuguru, Dr. John Mandelman (New England Aquarium), National Geographic Explorer and photographer Brian Skerry, Dr. Greg Skomal and others."

It also offers a glimpse into the real-life inspiration behind the "Jaws" novel, with "insights from Peter Benchley's wife, renowned voice for sharks and ocean policy advocate Wendy Benchley; their children, Tracy Benchley Turner and Clayton Benchley; and his brother, Nat Benchley."

"Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story" premieres July 10 at 9/8c on National Geographic and streams the next day on Disney+ and Hulu.

Sunday, July 20, 2025

Sea People


(from Amazon.com)

For more than a millennium, Polynesians have occupied the remotest islands in the Pacific Ocean, a vast triangle stretching from Hawaii to New Zealand to Easter Island. Until the arrival of European explorers they were the only people to have ever lived there. Both the most closely related and the most widely dispersed people in the world before the era of mass migration, Polynesians can trace their roots to a group of epic voyagers who ventured out into the unknown in one of the greatest adventures in human history.

How did the earliest Polynesians find and colonize these far-flung islands? How did a people without writing or metal tools conquer the largest ocean in the world? This conundrum, which came to be known as the Problem of Polynesian Origins, emerged in the eighteenth century as one of the great geographical mysteries of mankind.

For Christina Thompson, this mystery is personal: her Maori husband and their sons descend directly from these ancient navigators. In Sea People, Thompson explores the fascinating story of these ancestors, as well as those of the many sailors, linguists, archaeologists, folklorists, biologists, and geographers who have puzzled over this history for three hundred years. A masterful mix of history, geography, anthropology, and the science of navigation, Sea People combines the thrill of exploration with the drama of discovery in a vivid tour of one of the most captivating regions in the world.

Sea People includes an 8-page photo insert, illustrations throughout, and 2 endpaper maps.

https://www.amazon.com/Sea-People-Polynesia-Christina-Thompson/dp/0062060880/ref=asc_df_0062060880?mcid=5e194841a652325793518b17f6df88b0&hvocijid=943220808197925301-0062060880-&hvexpln=73&tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=721245378154&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=943220808197925301&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9029671&hvtargid=pla-2281435178818&psc=1


About the author

Christina Thompson is the author of two books: SEA PEOPLE: THE PUZZLE OF POLYNESIA, winner of the Australian Prime Minister's Award, the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award, and the NSW Premier’s General History Award, and COME ON SHORE AND WE WILL KILL AND EAT YOU ALL, finalist for the NSW Premier’s Literary Award and the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing. She works at Harvard University, where she edits the literary journal HARVARD REVIEW and teaches writing at Harvard University Extension. She is married to a New Zealander with whom she has three sons.

Sunday, July 6, 2025

Duke's Waikiki


I could go for some Duke's Waikiki right about now.

Thursday, June 12, 2025

All hands abandon ship !


(artwork by  Sören Meding on artstation.com)

We find ourselves in the Golden Age of Piracy. Just now, this sailing ship (inspired by the Dutch pinnace Duyfken) has been blasted to pieces by a Spanish warship. The main mast is broken, the yard of the foresail is crashing down onto the fleeing pirates. Some sails have gone overboard, but they are still connected to numerous lines, making navigation impossible. The ship is tilting dangerously, already taking on water, and there is absolute chaos as sailors desperately try to untangle the entwined parts. As if that weren't enough, the sea becomes increasingly treacherous. In the midst of the roaring ocean, those lucky enough to find a place in the few rowboats are fortunate. Here, no one had time to gather their few belongings. Everyone is fighting for their survival.

Finally, I found some time again for a personal artwork. Honestly, I must say that I've spent years with this image. It serves as my testing ground to learn new techniques. I'm very pleased that I was finally able to complete the picture, and I hope you like it.


Sunday, May 25, 2025

Pindo palm

 

The South American Jelly Palm, also known as the Pindo Palm, is one of the most cold hardy feather palms and has a long history of scientific reclassification. It is commonly mislabeled as its less cold hardy cousin, Butia capitata. Jelly palms can grow in temperate and subtropical climates up to 20 feet in height with a trunk typically up to 2 feet in diameter. The tree grows quickly once established, pushing 6 or more fronds per year even in cooler climates.

This palm produces a fruit typically yellow-orange in color, which is said to taste like a mix of apricot, pineapple, and vanilla. The fruit is commonly consumed fresh, used to make jelly, or fermented for making wine.

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Striking in its look, the Pindo's feather-leaf, silver-colored fronds (some call it more of a turquoise) produce an exceptional contrast to a typical lawn's color.

These are some of the hardiest palms in South Florida, doing fine in cooler temperatures, blazing sunlight, salty air and dry conditions.

An indigenous plant in some cases called "Jelly Palm," the Pindo Palm generates edible berries that can be made into jelly with a sweet banana/pineapple flavor. The fruits are around 1 inch in size with a seed in the middle. However, just one tree is self-fertile and will produce large bunches of dates every season. 

The style of this palm is distinct yet functional. It is often used for smaller lawns, found in moderate coastline homes, an antique Florida bungalow, or dressing up the backyard of a ranch-style residence. Pindo Palms look great in large forest estates, horse ranches or waterside houses as an intense spot in the landscape.

Sunday, May 4, 2025

Chilean Wine Palm - Jubaea chilensis

The majestic and stately Chilean Wine Palm is truly extraordinary. It is the largest palm in the Western Hemisphere. Until recently, its massive trunk had earned it the title of the largest palm in the entire world – until the larger African Fan Palm (Borassus aethiopum) was discovered. Nonetheless, it is awe inspiring to see any palm of this size. 

Seeds of Chilean Wine Palm were brought to California in the mid-1800s. Young specimens were available for purchase at Ralph Kinton Steven’s nursery here in Santa Barbara, from 1882 until his death in 1896. The remaining 37 acres of that nursery are now the grounds of Ganna Walska Lotusland, where many fine specimens of his enormous palms still stand. 

Amazingly, Chilean Wine Palm is so cold-hardy that it grows as far north as England, Ireland, and Victoria, British Columbia. More importantly, it grows exceedingly well in our Mediterranean climate, which is very similar to its native habitat in Chile. 

Chilean Wine Palm has a straight single trunk that grows slowly to over 80 feet tall. This great trunk height is interesting, since it can take several decades before a trunk even begins to develop on young palms. 

At maturity, the trunk is widest at the base, three- to five-feet (or more!) in diameter. After attaining some 30- to 40-feet in height, the trunk gradually narrows to half of that width. This narrowing results in a fully grown palm having the appearance of an elongated wine bottle – and makes identification easy. In addition to its tremendous size and odd shape, the elephant-gray trunk is further distinguished by its smooth texture, which is only marred by faint horizontal scars where shed fronds had previously been attached. It is astoundingly hard – as if made from gray concrete. 

The trunk is topped with a large dense crown, consisting of 40 to 50 arching pinnate (feather-like) fronds (six- to twelve-feet long), which stand on a petiole (stem) (1½- to 3-feet long) that bears stiff hairs but no spines. Each frond has many leaflets (to two-feet long, one-inch wide). 

As with most palms, on seedlings the juvenile fronds are simple (unsegmented) for several years. Once the seedling stage has passed, on young trees the fronds are straight, rigid, and often stand quite upright. As the tree matures, pinnate fronds emerge glaucus (bluish green) or in various shades of gray-green, depending on genetic variability. The fronds are “self-cleaning” as they will drop when dead, without need of pruning. 

Chilean Wine Palm is monoecious, meaning each tree produces both male and female flowers. From April to June, the small (1/2-inch diameter) flowers bloom – maroon in color with a yellow-white center. Large (two- to three-feet long) clusters of flowers emerge from between fronds. The flower clusters are usually very difficult to see from the ground, because they are almost entirely shielded from view by a persistent woody bract (envelope-like sheath) until the fruit is fully formed. However, fallen flowers, like dainty snowflakes, often cover the ground at the base of the trunk. 

After pollination, female flowers produce clusters of globose fruit (1½-inch long) covered by an orange-yellow fibrous skin. In late summer to early fall, the fruits ripen and then drop to the ground. Under the fruit skin, there is a round (one-inch diameter) brown nut, which looks like a miniature coconut. When cracked open, the nut reveals a white meat that has the look, texture, and taste of true coconut. In Chile, the nut is called “coquito nut”.

As can be inferred from its name, the Chilean Wine Palm is native to Chile, and is endemic to that country’s central Coastal Range. This palm once covered vast areas in this area, before its numbers were decimated by loggers who harvested it for its trunk sap. As its name also suggests, the trunk sap was fermented to produce “palm wine.” It can also be boiled down to make a sweet syrup called “palm honey” for consuming and cooking. 

Unfortunately, the palm wine making process required that each magnificent palm be killed – cut down and drained of its “life blood” – simply to collect up to 100 gallons of its trunk sap. 

Fortunately, with protections currently in place in Chile, this logging practice is now legally restricted. Almost all Chilean Wine Palm populations in Chile are presently confined to designated preserves. While there are an estimated 100,000 palms in these preserves, Chilean Wine Palm is still listed as endangered by some conservation organizations. Its preservation is aided by the fact that is being planted – and enjoyed only for its beauty – in many other parts of the world that have suitable climates – like ours.

Chilean Wine Palm is also known by several other common names: “Chile Cocopalm,” “Syrup Palm,” “Honey Palm,” “Coquito Palm,” and “Palma Chilena.” Its botanical name is Jubaea chilensis. It is the only species in its genus. The genus name, Jubaea, is derived from the name of Juba (85 B.C. to 46 B.C), who was the king of Numidia (present day Algeria) before the Roman invasion. The specific epithet, chilensis, means that it is native to Chile. 

This remarkable palm is both cold-hardy (able to tolerate temperature, for brief periods, down to five degrees F.) and drought-tolerant. However, it seems to grow best in a Mediterranean climate, because it does not like excessive heat, humidity, or moisture. It will not survive either salt spray or salty soil, so it is best to keep it away from beach areas. It can live in clay soils – but prefers a well-drained sandy loam. When a palm is young, overhead watering is discouraged, because it may result in “bud rot” – the infestation of the apical meristem (the growing point of new fronds) by a plant pathogen (Phytophthora palmivora) – that will end in the death of a young palm.

Propagation with fresh seeds is easy – but requires considerable patience, since it can take one to two years for them to germinate! Growth is painfully slow at the earlier stages – but it accelerates once seedlings are planted out in an area with favorable growing conditions. It should be planted in full sun for best appearance. Occasional ground watering during the dry season and an annual application of slow-release fertilizer can also speed growth. 

While Chilean Wine Palm is not a palm for small gardens or spaces, it does make an impressive addition to a suitable park or larger property. It can be planted as a single handsome specimen – or planted in a row or a grouping for great dramatic effect. 

https://sbbeautiful.org/chilean-wine-palm-jubaea-chilensis-september-2023/

Sunday, April 27, 2025

New Research Rewrites the Demise of Easter Island

(smithsonianmag.com Feb. 11, 2020)

The story of Easter Island—home to the famous moai monoliths—is a tragic one. But depending on the individual you ask, the harbingers of its early demise aren’t always the same.

In one version, the island—a remote outpost thousands of miles off the western coast of South America—was settled in the 13th century by a small group of Polynesians. Over time, the migrants papered the landscape, once rich with trees and rolling hills, with crop fields and monoliths. The transformation eroded the nutrient-rich soil, catapulting the island onto a path of destruction. As the trees dwindled, so did the people who had felled them: By the time Dutch explorers arrived on Easter Island in 1722, this early society had long since collapsed.

But in recent years, evidence has mounted for an alternative narrative—one that paints the inhabitants of the island they called Rapa Nui not as exploiters of ecosystems, but as sustainable farmers who were still thriving when Europeans first made contact. In this account, other factors conspired to end a pivotal era on Easter Island.

The latest research to support this idea, published recently in the Journal of Archaeological Science, comes from an analysis of the island’s ahu—the platforms supporting the moai, which honor the Rapa Nui’s ancestors. Using a combination of radiocarbon dating and statistical modeling, a team of researchers has now found that the spectacular statues’ construction continued well past 1722, post-dating the supposed decline of the people behind the moai.

“Monument-building and investment were still important parts of [these people’s] lives when [the European] visitors arrived,” says study author Robert J. DiNapoli, an anthropologist at the University of Oregon, in a statement. https://news.arizona.edu/news/researchers-revise-timing-easter-islands-societal-collapse

Data amassed from 11 Easter Island sites shows that the Rapa Nui people began assembling the moai sometime between the early 14th and mid-15th centuries, continuing construction until at least 1750, reports Sarah Cascone for artnet News. These numbers fall in line with historical documents from the Dutch and Spanish, who recorded observations of rituals featuring the monuments through the latter part of the 18th century. The only true ceiling for the moai’s demise is the year 1774, when British explorer James Cook arrived to find the statues in apparent ruins. And despite previous accounts, researchers have failed to find evidence pointing to any substantial population decline prior to the 18th century, writes Catrine Jarman for the Conversation.

While the Europeans’ stays “were short and their descriptions brief and limited,” their writings “provide useful information to help us think about the timing of building,” says DiNapoli in the statement.

The revised timeline of the monoliths also speaks to their builders’ resilience. As foreign forces came and went from the island, they brought death, disease, destruction and slavery within its borders, explains study author Carl Lipo, an anthropologist at Binghamton University, in the statement.

Eventually, however, a still-mysterious combination of factors shrank the population, and by 1877, just over 100 people remained on Easter Island, according to the Conversation. (The Rapa Nui, who are still around today, eventually recovered.)

The trees, too, suffered, though not entirely at human hands: The Polynesian rat, an accidental stowaway that arrived with the Rapa Nui and began to gnaw their way through palm nuts and saplings, was likely partly to blame, reported Whitney Dangerfield for Smithsonian magazine in 2007.

But Lipo points out the many ways in which the Rapa Nui have persevered in modern times.

“The degree to which their cultural heritage was passed on—and is still present today through language, arts and cultural practices—is quite notable and impressive,” he says in the statement.

This “overlooked” narrative, Lipo adds, is one that “deserves recognition.”

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/new-research-rewrites-demise-easter-island-180974172/?itm_source=related-content&itm_medium=parsely-api

Saturday, April 19, 2025

Rapa Nui

Not sure if this photo is real or computer generated, it is so hard to tell these days.

Makes me want to go to Easter Island though. I've wanted to go there for years but whenever I get serious about it I usually talk myself out of it. I'm so fascinated by the island that if it didn't live up to my high expectations I would get depressed and dejected since it is such a journey and process to get there. 

I would probably ask myself over and over, "What didn't you just go to Hawaii?".

Sunday, April 6, 2025

The Pirate Code

from the book The Whydah by Martin W. Sandler pages 20-22

Life aboard a pirate ship was governed by a code of laws called the Articles of Agreement, or simply the Articles, which were developed in the last half of the 1600s by pirates in the West Indies. No one could become a full-fledged member of a pirate crew unless he went on the account, meaning he first signed the Articles of Agreement and then swore on a Bible, an ax, or on a skull to obey them. The Whydah's copy of the Articles were not recovered, but Bellamy's crew would have been governed by rules much like these, from the notorious pirate Captain Bartholomew Roberts:

I. Every man shall have an equal vote in affairs of moment. He shall have equal title to the fresh provisions or strong liquors at any time seized, and shall use them at pleasure unless a scarcity may make it necessary for the common good that a retrenchment may be voted. 

II. Every man shall be called fairly in turn, by the list on board of prizes. But if they defraud the company to the value of even a Piece of Eight in plate, jewels or money, they shall be marooned. If any man rob another he shall have his nose and ears slit and be put ashore where he shall be sure to encounter hardships. 

III. None shall game for money either with dice or cards.

IV. The lights and candles should be put out at eight at night, and if any of the crew desired to drink after that hour they shall sit upon the open deck without lights. 

V. Each man shall keep his piece, cutlass and pistols at all times clean and ready for action. 

VI. No boy or woman shall be allowed amongst them. If any man shall be found seducing any of the latter sex and carrying her to sea in disguise he shall suffer death. 

VII. He that shall desert the ship or his quarters in time of battle shall be punished by death or marooning.

VIII. None shall strike another on board the ship, but every man's quarrel shall be ended on shore by sword or pistol in this manner. At the word of command from the quartermaster, each man being previously placed back to back, shall turn and fire immediately. If any man do not, the quartermaster shall knock the piece out of his hand. If both miss their aim they shall take to their cutlasses, and he that draweth first blood shall be declared the victor. 

IX. No man shall talk of breaking up their way of living till each has a share of 1000 [pounds.] Every man who shall become a cripple or lose a limb in his service shall have 800 pieces of eight from common stock and for lesser hurts proportionately. 

X. The captain and the quartermaster shall receive two shares of a prize, the master gunner and boatswain, one and one half shares, all other officers one and one quarter, and private gentleman of fortune one share each.

XI. The musicians shall have rest on the Sabbath Day only by right. On all other days by favour only. 

Friday, April 4, 2025

Pirates knew the risks

Many of the men who chose piracy regarded themselves as true Robin Hoods, robbing from the rich to give to the poor, and standing in open defiance of all those in authority. Unless they were privateers, acting in the employ of a government, what they were doing was illegal, and they knew that if they were caught, they wold end their days swinging from a rope. But it was a life that most chose happily. "In an honest [occupation]," declared pirate Captain Bartholomew Roberts, "there is thin rations, low wages and hard labor; in [piracy, there is] plenty...pleasure and ease, liberty and power....A merry life and a short one shall be my motto." 

from the book The Whydah by Martin W. Sandler page 49

Saturday, March 22, 2025

November 24th, 1718

On November 24th in 1718, ‘Calico Jack’ Rackham branded Charles Vane a coward and led a mutiny to depose him as captain. Charles Vane and his crew had left Ocracoke, NC in mid-October, unsuccessful in attempting to recruit Blackbeard to join them in an attempt to retake New Providence from Woodes Rogers and re-establish their pirate republic.

Upon their return to the Caribbean and the Bahamas, they had successfully raided the island of Eleuthera. Inhabited mostly by families, the attack was a swift and complete success, with the pirates pillaging as much liquor and livestock as they could carry away.

Over the next month, historian Colin Woodard states that the pirates “lived riotously onboard, drinking heavily and gorging on freshly slaughtered animals.” While they were busy living to excess, they failed to capture a single prize for almost a month. Their merry revelry soon turned sour.

On the 23rd, Vane’s lookouts spotted a frigate downwind of their position and ordered his brigantine and sloop to bear down on it. As he closed in, he raised the black flag up the mainmast, expecting the ship to surrender.

Instead, the ship hoisted its own colors: a white flag with gold fleur-de-lis. No sooner than Vane realized he was chasing down a French navy vessel, it opened its gun ports and delivered a devastating broadside.

Outgunned, Vane gave the order to turn around and run. The French ship trimmed its sails and gave chase. The majority of the crew, believing that they could close and board the French man-of-war, were furious with the decision but had to abide. Vane, as captain, had absolute power “while fighting, chasing, or being chased.”

The next day the pirates were out of danger and Jack Rackham called a meeting of the ships company in an effort to challenge Vane’s rule. Although a small contingent agreed with Vane, the vast majority voted in favor of deposing him as captain in favor of Rackham.

Vane and his supporters were put aboard the consort sloop with some provisions and ammunition. Rackham, now captain, sailed away toward Jamaica. 

December 5th, 1717

The name "Blackbeard" is born after Henry Bostock and his men have an encounter with Edward Teach off the coast of Anguilla.

Somehow Henry Bostock lived to tell the tale. Then encounter took place on December 5, 1717, when for eight long hours he and his men remained Blackbeard's prisoners, never knowing from one minute to the next whether they would live or die. The attack took place off Crab Island near Anguilla, and for the rest of the day the Queen Anne's Revenge, accompanied by the sloop Revenge, cruised the waters of the Leeward Islands in search of more victims. During that time Bostock had plenty of time to watch Blackbeard in action, and when he wrote his statement for the governor of Barbados two weeks later he was able to describe his nemesis in some detail. In fact, the master of the sloop Margaret was the first to provide a description of the pirate who captured him, and it was he who first came up with the cognomen "Blackbeard."

from the book Blackbeard by Angus Konstam page 154

Friday, March 21, 2025

November 8th, 1718

On the 8th of November, 1718, twenty-nine pirates from the crew of the Revenge, members of pirate Captain Stede Bonnet’s crew, were executed in Charles Town, South Carolina.

The men had been brought as captives back from the Cape Fear River by Colonel William Rhett, along with Captain Bonnet, and since the beginning of the month, the pirates had undergone eleven trials. Found guilty, on November the 8th (a Saturday) the men were hanged until dead “at the White Point near Charles-Town” according to published transcripts from 1719 regarding the event.

”The White Point” at that time referred to a publicly owned site of oyster shoals exposed at low-tide, a landmark visible to all in the harbor; a prime location to ensure the select dangling corpses on display would be seen as a warning to those contemplating a life of piracy. Later in the month, 19 more pirates from the crew of Captain Richard Worley would be hanged here as well, and four and a half weeks later, Captain Stede Bonnet would be hanged at the same location.

Today, White Point Garden sits atop the Battery, which overlooks where “the White Point” once was, and in this location is a memorial marker to those executed nearby.


https://charlestondaily.net/the-story-of-the-pirate-hangings-at-white-point-garden-historic-charleston-sc/

Sunday, March 16, 2025

September 7th, 1714

War of the Spanish Succession ; March 1701–September 7, 1714 

When the war ended thousands of "privateer" merchant sailors suddenly became unemployeed when England no longer needed them to wage war against the Spanish in Caribbean.

Left with little options the sailors turned to piracy to sustain themselves.

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The War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714) was a European conflict stemming from the death of the childless Charles II of Spain, who had no heir, leading to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between the French Bourbons and the Austrian Habsburgs. 

England, the Dutch Republic, and the Holy Roman Empire formed the Grand Alliance to prevent the union of the French and Spanish thrones, supporting the claim of Archduke Charles of Austria (another Habsburg) to the Spanish throne.

The war concluded with the Treaties of Utrecht (1713), Rastatt, and Baden (1714), which recognized Philip of Anjou as King Philip V of Spain, but he had to renounce his claim to the French throne.


April 3rd, 1716

Samuel Bellamy and Paulgrave Williams take their first prize, an English merchant ship after they failed to have any luck at finding the Spanish wrecks off the Florida coast. 

They had originally set out to become rich off the Spanish wrecks but decided to become pirates instead once their plans did not work out.

Sunday, March 9, 2025

July 31st, 1715

The Spanish treasure fleet of 1715

12 Spanish ships loaded with treasure left Havana Cuba on July 25, 1715 bound for Sevilla Spain.

On July 31, while sailing north between the Bahamas and Florida, they were hit by a hurricane and 11 of the 12 ships sank. The only one to survive was an accompanying French ship, the Grifon.

Over a thousand sailors drowned. 

The wrecks were scattered along the coast of Florida with the majority of treasure being buried underwater in the sand off modern day Vero Beach. 

-----

(This is part of a new little project where I want to keep track of some important dates in pirate history so I can make myself a timeline of events. I know it has been done countless times before on other blogs and websites but I want to do it myself for my own knowledge.)

Wednesday, March 5, 2025

The Real Reason Bermuda’s Beaches Are Pink

(fodors.com)

Whether you’re pulling up Google images of Bermuda’s pink-sand beaches for instant relaxation or vow to book a flight to the island (seriously, sinking your toes into this sugar-fine sand is dreamy!) there’s no doubt about it: these beaches are beautiful. Few other places in the world flaunt pink-sand beaches.

To be clear, this is not the Barbie-pink or petal-pink. It’s more like a mauve-y hue. But the differently colored sand is still something to experience and photograph.

Determined to crack the code about the science behind this phenomenon, we spoke to Dr. Amy Maas, a biological oceanographer who has lived in Bermuda for eight years. She works at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences.

“Within our lifetimes, they’ve always been pink beaches,” says Maas. And the sand is unlike any you’ve ever seen: both in appearance and in texture.

“It’s stickier,” says Maas. “Because it’s not rocky. Whereas a lot of the beaches on the East coast or West coast, they’re made up of broken-down rock, like terrestrial rock, which gives it that different feel.”


Where Are the Best Pink-Sand Beaches in Bermuda?

Let’s start with orientation. Say you’re only in Bermuda for a few nights and in addition to sampling Rum Swizzles (Bermuda’s national cocktail: rum, orange juice, pineapple juice, bitters, and grenadine) you desperately want to check out this pink-beach phenomenon for yourself. Where do you go?

According to Maas, if you only have time for one or two beaches, hit up the island’s South Shore. More specifically, Warwick Long Bay, Marley Beach, and Horeshoe Bay Cove. Just like the level of sunlight affects how blue an ocean’s water appears, how much light hits the sand demonstrates a different shade of pink.

But these are also consistent spots for pink sand. And it’s all because of a certain kind of single-celled animal that prefers the South Shore’s deeper waters.


Why are Bermuda's Beaches Pink?

The most concise explanation is that when single-celled organisms with red-colored shells–foraminifera, often called foram for short–that reside in the ocean die, they’re combined with the sand before washing up on the shoreline as pink. Their redness mixed with neutral hues in the sand—born out of quartz—is what makes the sand pink.

“Some of them live in the plankton and float around all their lives,” says Maas. “These guys are benthic [living on the bottom of the water]. They like to attach to things.”

Maas compares foram to coral. “It’s an animal that’s creating a rock [which] then is protecting other animals [as a reef] against wave action and storm action,” she says. “But unlike the corals, they’re single cells. When we think about other things that make shells, like clams or oysters or whatever, they build something called calcium carbonate, which is really hard. It’s what we see shells made out of. These guys [foram] add a little bit of magnesium. The thing that makes them so uniquely that color is [the] chemicals from the water they put into that shell.”

Those chemicals–magnesium and calcium carbonate–produce the shade of light ruby pink. Foram live in other bodies of water throughout the world, but their reaction in those waters differs.

There are fewer pink-sand beaches on the north side of Bermuda, near St. George’s—for a very specific reason that, again, has to do with science.

“The north side of the island is the inside of a volcano and it’s shallow reef,” explains Maas. “The water has to come through more so that’s a slightly different community. We tend to have less [foram] there.”

It’s illegal to take pink sand home from Bermuda that you’ve captured on the beach. However, many souvenir shops and craft markets sell tiny glass capsules of the pretty pink sand. Several jewelry artists like Alexandra Mosher and Jennifer Rodrigues also derive inspiration from the pink sand, transforming it into jewelry you can buy online.

“This whole island relies so much on those reefs that then become our sand that then become the attraction that bring people to it,” says Maas.” It’s intrinsically beautiful.”

https://www.fodors.com/world/caribbean/bermuda/experiences/news/why-are-bermudas-beaches-pink

Thursday, February 13, 2025

Island of the Lost: An Extraordinary Story of Survival at the Edge of the World

 

(from Amazon)

It is 1864, and Captain Thomas Musgrave’s schooner, the Grafton, has just wrecked on Auckland Island, a forbidding piece of land 285 miles south of New Zealand. Battered by year-round freezing rain and constant winds, it is one of the most inhospitable places on earth. To be shipwrecked there means almost certain death.

Incredibly, at the same time on the opposite end of the island, another ship runs aground during a storm. Separated by only twenty miles and the island’s treacherous, impassable cliffs, the crews of the Grafton and the Invercauld face the same fate. And yet where the Invercauld’s crew turns inward on itself, fighting, starving, and even turning to cannibalism, Musgrave’s crew bands together to build a cabin and a forge—and eventually, to find a way to escape.

Using the survivors’ journals and historical records, award-winning maritime historian Joan Druett brings to life this extraordinary untold story about leadership and the fine line between order and chaos.

 https://www.amazon.com/Island-Lost-Shipwrecked-Edge-World-ebook/dp/B001DA9J4O


About the Author

I have written for as long as I can remember: my mother kept a "book" I wrote when I was four. It was several pages long, was well illustrated, told a story, and had no spelling mistakes!

In my teens I wrote for Maori and science fiction magazines. In my early twenties I worked in Toronto at a university press, and then in London as a copy editor for Gollanz. Back in New Zealand, I wrote travel articles for international magazines and regularly reviewed books for the "New Zealand Herald". This -- plus teaching college level biology -- was interrupted when I stumbled over the grave of a young whaling wife on the tropical island of Rarotonga. It was a life-changing experience..A Fulbright fellowship led to five months of research in New Bedford and Edgartown, Massachusetts; Mystic, Connecticut; and San Francisco, California. The result was the first in a series of books about seafaring wives, all of which have received awards..

Three years on a joint fellowship (with my maritime artist husband, the dear, departed Ron Druett) in the village of Orient on Long Island, led to participation in a prize-winning exhibit, “The Sailing Circle," which received substantial funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. This project won the highly prestigious Albert Corey Award.

Back in New Zealand, I was lucky in getting another fellowship, the Stout Fellowship at Victoria University, Wellington.This gave me the opportunity to keep on writing. Maritime stories for international magazines followed, and I reviewed books for the Boston Globe, the Listener, and other prestigious newspapers and journals. And of course there were books, including "Island of the Lost," which has become an enduring classic in the survival genre, and has been translated in Italy and Ukraine. "Tupaia," the biography of an astonishingly brilliant Tahitian priest and navigator, who sailed with Captain Cook. This won the NZ Post Best Non-fiction Book award, and. has been translated into Chinese and French.


Sunday, February 9, 2025

Saturday, February 1, 2025

How Jimmy Buffett's "Margaritaville" Became the Most Valuable Song of All Time

(austinchronicle.com 7-21-17)

Ryan White begins his new biography of Jimmy Buffett with the transcript of a 2012 hearing before the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

"When you wrote that song, did you have any idea what it would become?" asks a board member.

"It's been a pretty good song," Buffett casually responds. "No, it was written in five minutes about a hot day in Austin, Texas, with a margarita and a beautiful woman. I finished it in Key West. I had no idea."

Buffett began composing "Margaritaville" one afternoon in 1976 after visiting a Mexican restaurant on Anderson Lane and then retreating to a friend's house in North­west Hills. When he landed back in Key West, he polished off the lead single to his 1977 album Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes, an unexpected hit for the largely unknown singer that peaked at No. 8 on Billboard charts and notched the 14th most popular song of the year.

The tune itself didn't even boast the Mississippi-born, Alabama-reared troubadour's best songwriting. It lacks the narrative spell of Buffett's "A Pirate Looks at Forty" or "Havana Daydreamin'," and the emotional tug of "Come Monday," his only previous Top 40 showing. Even as escapist fantasy, "Margaritaville" reads dubiously, a cold beverage covering up relationship regret and disgust at tourists ruining his personal paradise.

Even so, "Margaritaville" casts an undeniably inviting aesthetic. Inside a gentle commingling of steel drums, marimba, and electric piano, Buffett captures an immensely relatable vibe that gave rise to a musical cult second only to the Grateful Dead's. Riding a style dubbed "Gulf & Western," the song's crisp Nashville backing and tropical breeziness seeped country roots into urban suburbs previously untouched by the genre. Today, "Parrotheads" rival so-called Deadheads for the crown of fan clubs transcending their soundtrack.

The literal value of "Margaritaville," however, resides in a watershed 1983 trademark dispute and resolution.

When restaurant chain Chi-Chi's attempted to trademark "Margaritaville" as a drink special, Buffett filed suit. Although a song title cannot be trademarked, the singer's lawyers argued the name was synonymous with his. The restaurant responded that, "If a nexus exists between songs and restaurants, Opposer could claim an equal nexus between songs and the tangible items of the universe."

Whether or not Chi-Chi's defensive legal quip inadvertently inspired a billion-dollar enterprise, by the time the court ruled in favor of the musician, he'd branded Margaritaville across as many assets as possible. Buffett and Margaritaville were now synonymous in the eyes of the law.

Margaritaville Holdings, owned solely by Buffett and his business partner John Cohlan, now umbrellas everything from branded casinos, restaurants, and resorts across the world to a jewelry line and merchandise of nearly everything imaginable. Earlier this year, the company announced plans for "Latitude Margaritaville," retirement communities for Parrotheads "55 or better." Mean­while, their Landshark Lager and Margarita­ville Spirits continue to grow in market share, contributing to Margaritaville Holdings raking in $1.5 billion last year.

For his part, Buffett ranked No. 13 on Forbes' 2016 list of wealthiest American celebrities, with a net worth of $550 million. Other musicians rank higher (Sean Combs, Jay-Z, and Dr. Dre), but none with success stories built upon a single song.


One Particular Harbor

Austin's Jerry Jeff Walker first introduced Jimmy Buffett to Key West in 1971. The latter was on the run from Nashville, recovering from his flopped first album, Down to Earth, and a recent split from his first wife. Walker had royalties to burn after the success of 1968 hit "Mr. Bojangles," so he hosted his protégé there, and in doing so fed right into his friend's familial seafaring background – fostering a Caribbean awakening that changed the course of Buffett's life.

Moreover, as Walker settled into the progressive country scene of Texas in the early Seventies, he connected Buffett to the burgeoning alternative to Music City.

"Everything was adventurous enough in the Seventies that Austin was an obvious second home to [Buffett], at least spiritually," offers Ryan White. "Both Austin and Key West had a lot of that same outlaw spirit in common, but the difference was that Austin had clubs, and proximity to Houston and Dallas, so you could play around and make a living. He did well enough in Texas to be able to go all over."

If not exactly a fixture, Buffett at least became a familiar fellow traveler among local songwriters. He honed his solo act at Castle Creek with performances relying as much on a definitively Southern raconteur approach to stage patter as his songs themselves. During a multiple-night run at the seminal Lavaca Street listening room, Buffett also acquired the first piece of his Coral Reefer Band when Roger Bartlett convinced him he needed a lead guitarist.

"He came from the singer-songwriter background where he had the onstage rap going that was so common to those guys, and of course a great sense of humor and storytelling ability that was always entertaining," attests veteran Austin country purveyor Gary P. Nunn, whose Lost Gonzo Band helped define the cosmic cowboy movement while backing Walker and Michael Martin Murphey. "Jimmy was just always the nicest guy and so friendly and easygoing. It was the same vibe, just having a good time and celebrating life and enjoying ourselves, but there are apparently a lot more Parrotheads than there are cosmic cowboys."

Buffett found a common ethos in the local roots scene, as well as songs he would make his own. He recorded Willis Alan Ramsey's "Ballad of Spider John" and Keith Sykes' "The Coast of Marseille," with the latter eventually moving to Key West and joining the Coral Reefer Band. Buffett also appeared at Willie Nelson's inaugural 4th of July Picnic in 1974 at Texas World Speedway.

"Buffett wasn't really country," admits local genre pioneer Bob Livingston. "Jerry Jeff and Murphey were both folkies, but what made them folkies was the fact that Herb Steiner played steel guitar with us. Buffett was on the fringes of that. He was a little more mellow, certainly more than Jerry Jeff. He really had that island feel.

"Jerry Jeff would go against the grain at any cost, but Buffett just made his own grain."

"Austin paid attention because they paid attention to interesting things, and Jimmy was doing interesting songs," asserts White. "He fit in. He's always had an ability to fit in with whomever he's around. That speaks to his business success too, because he can fit into a room. He's as comfortable with barflies as he is business suits. He's always been able to do that."


Radio Margaritaville

Traditional songwriting riches generally depend on royalties, a diminishing revenue source in the streaming era. "Happy Birthday" still tops the all-time list, yielding over $50 million, although the song entered the public domain last year. Other perennial earners include "White Christmas," "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," "Unchained Melody," and McCartney and Lennon's Beatles chestnut "Yesterday."

Atop "Margaritaville," Jimmy Buffett charted an entirely different route to riches.

In securing trademark to the name, its composer took the song from a mere copyright to a multinational empire. Everything's connected in Buffettland. Characters from his songs re-emerge in his novels. A new musical, Escape to Margaritaville, landing in Houston this October, weaves its narrative through a collection of his hits.

Equally notable is expansion beyond that finite body of work. In 1998, Buffett launched Radio Margaritaville, which broadcast his tunes and live shows online, as well as an expansive array of artists that fell into his general aesthetic, a thread running from Bob Marley to the Zac Brown Band. Headquartered in Austin, the station got picked up by SiriusXM and Dish Network. Following suit, the digital arm of Margaritaville, already a powerhouse in fan data mining and engagement, is developing content including mobile games and its own video channel.

"Really, the closest analogy I've come up with is Star Wars, which also came out in 1977," says White. "Just the way there was this original thing that's expanded to where everything has become part of this universe. Radio Margaritaville came out of an artist taking advantage of the internet when the rest of the industry was still focused on selling CDs."

Unsurprisingly, other artists have begun to follow the script. Not that branding and merchandising is in any way new to music, of course. From Fab Four lunch boxes to Dolly Parton's Dollywood, enterprising artists capitalize on their brands. Willie Nelson's entrepreneurial efforts, from biodiesel to weed, encompass a cultivated aesthetic. Dr. Dre's cut of the $3 billion acquisition of Beats by Apple netted him the largest single-year earnings by any living musician, according to Forbes.

As such, Sammy Hagar's Cabo Wabo brand may be the most analogous to Buffett's Margaritaville success. The onetime Van Halen frontman sold his tequila company, named after his 1988 song, to Gruppo Campari for $91 million. He retains the branding for his chain of Cabo Wabo bars, and last year announced a new liquor line.

Likewise, country star Kenny Chesney serves as Buffett's closest genre and business acolyte. Look no further than the former's brand of Blue Chair Bay Rum and the growing following for his No Shoes Nation – complete with No Shoes Radio. According to Forbes, Chesney now ranks as the second highest earner in country music behind only Garth Brooks. If 1990s Nashville got overrun by pop crossovers "gone country," then the past decade has been characterized by country artists gone fishing.

Savvy artists, from hip-hop to country, are today as keenly aware of their brand as their band, and the opportunities to merchandise it. That's a decidedly fine line for artists to tread, but also increasingly a reality they can't afford to ignore. Had Jerry Jeff Walker marketed his own brand of sangria wine and made Terlingua a destination experience, cosmic cowboys might be as ubiquitous as Parrotheads.

https://www.austinchronicle.com/music/2017-07-21/how-jimmy-buffetts-margaritaville-became-the-most-valuable-song-of-all-time/

Thursday, January 16, 2025

The Pirate King: The Strange Adventures of Henry Avery and the Birth of the Golden Age of Piracy

 


(from Amazon.com)

Henry Avery of Devon pillaged a fortune from a Mughal ship off the coast of India and then vanished into thin air—and into legend. More ballads, plays, biographies and books were written about Avery’s adventures than any other pirate. His contemporaries crowned him "the pirate king" for pulling off the richest heist in pirate history and escaping with his head intact (unlike Blackbeard and his infamous Flying Gang). Avery was now the most wanted criminal on earth. To the authorities, Avery was the enemy of all mankind. To the people he was a hero. Rumors swirled about his disappearance. The only certainty is that Henry Avery became a ghost.

What happened to the notorious Avery has been pirate history’s most baffling cold case for centuries. Now, in a remote archive, a coded letter written by "Avery the Pirate" himself, years after he disappeared, reveals a stunning truth. He was a pirate that came in from the cold . . .

In The Pirate King, Sean Kingsley and Rex Cowan brilliantly tie Avery to the shadowy lives of two other icons of the early 18th century, including Daniel Defoe, the world-famous novelist and—as few people know—a deep-cover spy with more than a hundred pseudonyms, and Archbishop Thomas Tenison, a Protestant with a hatred of Catholic France.

Sean Kingsley and Rex Cowan's The Pirate King brilliantly reveals the untold epic story of Henry Avery in all it's colorful glory—his exploits, his survival, his secret double life, and how he inspired the golden age of piracy.


https://www.amazon.com/Pirate-King-Strange-Adventures-Golden/dp/1639365958/ref=asc_df_1639365958?mcid=d0c0b10928023c6dbb4b764ba4c49d2b&tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=693309443448&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5470892330580247959&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9029894&hvtargid=pla-2186667098536&psc=1


About the Author

Dr. Sean Kingsley is a marine archaeologist who has explored over 350 wrecks from Israel to America. Off the UK he identified the world’s earliest Royal African Company English ‘slaver’ ship. Sean writes for National Geographic and is the founder of Wreckwatch magazine about the world’s sunken wonders. He is the author of God's Gold: A Quest for the Lost Temple Treasures of Jerusalem and Enslaved: The Sunken History of the Translatlantic Slave Trade (with Simcha Jacobovici), also available from Pegasus Books.

Rex Cowan is a former lawyer turned shipwreck hunter, author and broadcaster. He served in the Royal Air Force and has a law degree from King’s College London and is also a Fulbright scholar. He has since become Britain’s most successful shipwreck hunter and worked with John Le Carré on A Century of Images. Photographs by the Gibson Family and Castaway and Wrecked.

Wednesday, January 8, 2025

Blackbeard: America's Most Notorious Pirate

 
(from Amazon.com)

The definitive biography of history's most fearsome and famous pirate.

Of all the colorful cutthroats who scoured the seas in search of plunder during the Golden Age of Piracy in the early eighteenth century, none was more ferocious or notorious than Blackbeard. As unforgettable as his savage career was, much of Blackbeard's life has been shrouded in mystery--until now.

Drawing on vivid descriptions of Blackbeard's attacks from his rare surviving victims, pirate expert Angus Konstam traces Blackbeard's career from its beginnings to his final defeat in a tremendous sea battle near his base at Ocracoke Island. Presenting dramatic accounts of the pirate's very effective tactics and his reputation for cruelty, Konstam offers a fascinating examination of the life and business of piracy and the lure of this brutal and bloody trade.


https://www.amazon.com/Blackbeard-Americas-Most-Notorious-Pirate/dp/047175885X/ref=sr_1_7_sspa?crid=257VJ2FHGZNWT&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.-gxJYoYtE6STLGF-UUyYLaO7wFmpx9Etgnb8ns4AbK8ApIaRX4pX1wxF1Ycun7yYQz9yknDinCscCumV3F3To0Gn9yQWt5zWbtDb-7cJOSwCy8YT1lOeQU6BcwgX1zxB3SKzmS2FCyOYAlsrWyto6AcfM1jnP46tPl2t3UZyPfaoQGBnlPft16c_olDzQS-ZGKonkgq7nw7HAHPgKC_n-PpJHLy0LNmo_l3_KAm6H4c.4F3V3L0caU3dFIdvbjU6SN-XWtR6jwPJ_mB_7Fhd7V0&dib_tag=se&keywords=blackbeard&qid=1736399396&s=books&sprefix=blackbeard%2Cstripbooks%2C167&sr=1-7-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9tdGY&psc=1


About the author

With over 50 history books in print, Angus is a widely recognised and much-published historian. While he specialises in military and naval history he has also written numerous more general history books, designed to make the subject more accessible to a wider audience. Uniquely he has been able to draw on his expertise as a senior museum curator who has worked on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as on his academic training as a historian and as a maritime archaeologist. 

His latest book is a full-length biography: Blackbeard: America's Most Notorious Pirate, which is published by Wiley & Sons. of New York (June 2006)

Angus is also just finished writing a history of the Allied landings at Salerno in September 1943 for the British publisher Pen & Sword, and he is currently working on a new project, with the working title of Supership: The Quest for the Renaissance Battleship. 

Angus lives in Edinburgh, in Scotland.


From the Inside Flap

"Imagination cannot form an idea of a Fury, from hell, to look more frightful."

--Captain Charles Johnson

Six loaded pistols dangled from his shoulder sling. Beneath a cocked fur cap, lighted candles sprouted from a bramble of whiskers the color of midnight. And the eyes. Wild, fierce, and malevolent, they haunted the memories of those few who were lucky enough to survive their piercing gaze.

Of all the colorful cutthroats who scoured the seas in search of plunder during the Golden Age of Piracy in the early eighteenth century, none was more ferocious or notorious than Blackbeard (who probably went by the name of Edward Teach). Nearly three centuries after his death his name is still synonymous with piracy. Not content with becoming the scourge of the Caribbean, this brutal and fearless hell-raiser then sailed north to strike terror in the hearts of American colonists from New York to the Carolinas.

As unforgettable as his savage career was, much of Blackbeard's life has been shrouded in mystery--until now. Who was this remarkable sea dog? Did he hail from Bristol, in England, or were his roots in colonial America? How did he rise from being an ordinary seaman to become the archetypal pirate? At a time when captured pirates were either hanged by the cartload or offered full pardons by colonial governors if they surrendered, what gave Blackbeard the audacity to blockade the port of Charleston, South Carolina, and remain defiant to the last?

Blackbeard: America's Most Notorious Pirate traces Teach's career from the time he went to sea to his final defeat in a tremendous sea battle near his base at Ocracoke Island. Pirate expert Angus Konstam follows in Blackbeard's bloody wake through the Caribbean and describes his encounters with many others in the trade, especially at Benjamin Hornigold's "pirate school" in the Bahamas. He also reveals how Teach assembled the most powerful pirate fleet of his day and examines his fateful alliance with the "gentleman pirate" Stede Bonnet.

Drawing on vivid descriptions of Blackbeard's attacks from his rare surviving victims, Konstam presents dramatic accounts of the pirate's very effective tactics as well as his reputation for cruelty. Angus also examines the life and business of piracy, explains the lure of the trade, and reveals how contraband played an important part in the establishment of colonial America's fragile community.

Tales of Blackbeard and his exploits have entertained readers ever since his death. In real life, however, a run-in with this fearsome pirate was no laughing matter. After reading Blackbeard, you'll count yourself lucky to have avoided experiencing the Golden Age of Piracy for yourself!

Sunday, January 5, 2025

Colorful Cargo at the McLarty Treasure Museum

(verobeachmagazine.com 2-19-24)

Sometimes the greatest treasures are hidden in plain sight.

We know that well on the Treasure Coast, where salvage experts like Mel Fisher and his family are renowned for their amazing finds, and where there are still occasional stories of the glimmer of gold seen through the waters. Likewise, the origin stories of the treasure are hidden in plain sight. We all know about the 1715 hurricane and the shipwreck of the galleons. But what happened before the storm? The treasure of our coast had an intriguing journey even before it ended up on the Spanish ships that would prove bound for Davy Jones’ locker.

When the Treasure Fleet set sail from the great port of Havana, Cuba, it was carrying goods that came from South America and even from as far off as Asia. Did you know that Chinese porcelain was part of the cargo? Today, delicate blue-and-white ware can be seen at the McLarty Treasure Museum in Vero Beach and Mel Fisher’s Treasure Museum in Sebastian. Park Services Specialist and archaeologist Corey Kerkela of the McLarty Treasure Museum explains that these exotic items were carried across the Pacific by a separate fleet before they ended up on the Spanish Main (the body of Spanish colonial territories in the mainland Americas).  

“Chinese goods were shipped across the Pacific to Acapulco and then taken by donkey to Veracruz,” says Kerkela. The ships of the Pacific fleet were known as Manila galleons because they sailed from Manila in the Philippines, which had been explored by Magellan; subsequent voyages had led to the discovery of a route called the North Pacific Gyre, which made use of powerful currents to shorten the time involved in traversing the world’s greatest ocean. This course supplanted the famous “Silk Road”—the overland route that had brought Chinese goods to the West since ancient times, and which had been made even more famous by the adventures of Marco Polo. 

“As ships got more efficient,” Kerkela explains, “there was no longer the need for the overland route. What’s the use of going up through Samarkand and all those places when you can sail home?” Camel caravans trekking across the desert gave way to mighty ships crossing the blue Pacific.  

Today, experts identify the porcelain artifacts from the Treasure Fleet as Kangxi ware, named for the Qing Dynasty emperor during whose reign they were made. Kangxi porcelain is valued for its brilliant coloring, referred to as “underglaze sapphire blue,” and for beautiful imagery of bamboo, pines, flowers, and landscapes. The challenge, of course, was keeping these fragile works of art intact during the long voyages. Often they were packed in mud, which would then dry into a sturdy protective shield. If the Treasure Fleet had made it back to Spain, the humble dried mud would have been split open to reveal the precious and beautiful blue-and-white porcelain within. Of course, that was not to be. 

Gold and silver are more familiar cargo items for Spanish galleons; indeed, what would a Treasure Fleet be without them? Yet here, too, there are exotic stories behind the journeys of the artifacts. Gold and silver flooded into the Spanish Empire when the conquistadores, with their firearms, overran the Inca dominions; along with the differences in technology, the Inca were in the midst of a civil war at the time of the attack, distracting them from the impending threat. 

“After the conquest of the Inca, the Spanish found there was lots of gold in South America,” explains Kerkela. “There were walls of gold in Cuzco,” the Inca capital. “At first, the Spanish just melted down the walls.” Another account concerns a golden chain twice the length of Cuzco’s greatest public square. Furthermore, the Inca used gold and silver to fashion sculptures of llamas, alpacas, and other animals that were important to them, as well as human figures. These sculptures were often found in temples and mountain shrines. 

Curiously, the Inca never used gold as currency. They valued precious metals—gold was “the sweat of the sun” and silver “the tears of the moon.” However, rather than trading gold, they viewed it as the personal property of the emperor, who was associated with their sun god. To Europeans, however, gold and silver were money, and the conquistadores considered themselves rich beyond the dreams of avarice. Many precious items were melted down. A surviving artifact at the Mel Fisher Treasure Museum, however, may reflect the Inca background of much of the galleons’ cargo: a silver plate with carvings of condors. The regal condor, an enormous bird of the high Andes, was revered by the Inca and other South American peoples. 

Nevertheless, the conquest was in the 1500s, and by the time of the 1715 fleet, the wealth of the cities had already been plundered. Thus, Kerkela says, the gold and silver of the Treasure Fleet was largely from mining. “There was a mountain of silver called Potosi, and the silver was brought by horses and mules to Lima and then sailed up to Panama.” Even centuries before the Panama Canal, he points out, “Panama was always the shortest and easiest way to get across.”

Another treasure of the galleons was actually insectoid in origin. The cochineal, a relative of the mealybug, is the source of a bold crimson pigment. A related species had been used in the Middle East and Europe for centuries as a source of red pigment; however, the cochineal of Latin America provided a particularly flamboyant color that became highly prized when it was shipped back to the markets of the Old World. 

Before the conquest, the Inca had used cochineal for their valued textile arts; indeed, when the Inca surveyed the wealth of their empire, fine textiles were rated more highly than jewels, and the tradition of textile arts continues in Peru and Ecuador today. It may seem surprising to think of a crimson dye derived from insects being shipped back to Spain amid gold and silver, but cochineal dye was indeed among the treasures of the fleet.

Among the most beautiful treasures aboard the galleons were the deep green emeralds from the mines of Muzo, in what is today Colombia. “Muzo emeralds are the richest in the world,” Kerkela says. “Cartagena, Colombia is an amazing city—they have an emerald museum and a gold museum.” To this day, reaching the mines of Muzo is an adventure, as it calls for trekking across fog-shrouded Andean paths and then descending to the lush jungles and tropical vales where the fabled emeralds can be found. Imagine making the journey by llama or donkey!

As residents of the Treasure Coast, we know about the 1715 fleet and the quests of the famous salvagers. Yet the story behind the treasure adds to its allure and fascination. Tales of gold fever, war and intrigue, the wealth of empires, and perilous journeys across land and sea all lie behind the treasures of our coast.

https://verobeachmagazine.com/features/colorful-cargo-at-the-mclarty-treasure-museum/

Wednesday, January 1, 2025

The Golden Age of Piracy: The Truth Behind Pirate Myths

 


(from Amazon.com)

For thousands of years, pirates have terrorized the ocean voyager and the coastal inhabitant, plundered ship and shore, and wrought havoc on the lives and livelihoods of rich and poor alike. Around these desperate men has grown a body of myths and legends—fascinating tales that today strongly influence our notions of pirates and piracy. Most of these myths derive from the pirates of the “Golden Age,” from roughly 1655 to 1725. This was the age of the Spanish Main, of Henry Morgan and Blackbeard, of Bartholomew Sharp and Bartholomew Roberts.

The history of pirate myth is rich in action, at sea and ashore. However, the truth is far more interesting. In The Golden Age of Piracy, expert pirate historian Benerson Little debunks more than a dozen pirate myths that derive from this era—from the flying of the Jolly Roger to the burying of treasure, from walking the plank to the staging of epic sea battles—and shows that the truth is far more fascinating and disturbing than the romanticized legends.

Among Little’s revelations are that pirates of the Golden Age never made their captives walk the plank and that they, instead, were subject to horrendous torture, such as being burned or hung by their arms. Likewise, epic sea battles involving pirates were fairly rare because most prey surrendered immediately.

The stories are real and are drawn heavily from primary sources. Complementing them are colorful images of flags, ships, and buccaneers based on eyewitness accounts.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1510758348/ref=sspa_dk_hqp_detail_aax_0?psc=1&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9ocXBfc2hhcmVk


"Little has a deep affection for his subject that occasionally leads him to affectation, but his use of piratical jargon is more charming than jarring; clearly he’s having a good time, and so will readers. Packed with insight and adventure, Little’s book is sure to strike a note with armchair swashbucklers of all ages." —Publishers Weekly


About the author - Benerson Little is the author of multiple books and numerous articles on pirates, has twice appeared on the History Channel to discuss piracy, and has served as a historical analyst for the Starz pirate drama Black Sails. A former Navy SEAL, he has worked as a naval special warfare analyst, an intelligence analyst, and a consultant on maritime subjects. He lives in Huntsville, Alabama.