Pirate Theme Party

This is the fourth installment of the pirate party idea blog: Captain Wellington and the Parrot Pirates. Check here often for updates to this quest! Arrgghh!

As Guy opened the chest, he thought his eyes had deceived him. He could not believe what he was staring at. He had grown up so poor and life as a pirate had not been as lucrative as he would have liked. He refused to get into the slave trade like those scallywags, the East India Trading Company. Now his fortunes had finally changed. He was sent by captain Wellington to find water but instead he had found a treasure. He could see gold coins on the top and jewels embedded here and there throughout the chest. He closed the lid and tried to pick it up, but alas, it was too heavy. How would he get this back? He pondered about whether he should tell the captain and crew, but for the moment, decided to keep his mouth shut. He reopened the chest and began to dig in when he heard a voice behind him. “Guy found the chest! Guy found the chest!” In panic, Guy turned to see the source of the voice, but could not find anyone, only a small parrot at the edge of the cave. He turned back around and heard the voice begin, but this time he discovered its source. It was the parrot!

Come back to the pirate party idea blog soon to read more chapters about Captain Wellington and the Parrot Pirates!

This is a little story about a few pirates of the Caribbean, and should provide for a great pirate party Idea.

The sun hovered over the island like an orange giant. Captain Wellington and his crew, the so-called Parrot Pirates, were scrounging for food and water. Their ship, the Rita, was hovering close to death! She was listing to port and had an eight foot round hole in her side; the result of a devastating cannonball attack courtesy of the East India Trading Company. Captain Wellington looked at the love of his life and felt like he was about to grieve for his dying wife. How he hated the East India Trading Company.

They ruled the seas with an iron fist, and had violated all principles that were important to him and his crew. They had dabbled in the hideous crime of the slave trade. Buying their human cargo from the west coast of Africa, they broke up homes and families for the sake of a few gold coins. Slave trading was a lucrative business if you had no conscious. If that were not bad enough, now the East India Trading company was after him! Fortune had at least smiled on Captain Wellington a little bit. For now his crew and he were safe, but storm clouds were beginning to gather on the horizon…… Come to the pirate party idea blog for the next chapter of Captain Wellington and the Parrot Pirates.

Stories about pirates are almost always centered on male figures and characters. The role of women in these stories usually concerns a damsel in distress. We have done our research here, and found a few stories that do not fit that mold. Women pirates were few and far between, but those few characters would make a lasting impression on the history of piracy. For your daughter’s pirate birthday party, why not consider lettering her dress up as Emmy Tot, The Scottish born pirate was actually born into aristocracy. The town where she grew up in now has a figure of her in the center of the city. She is shown to be standing and holding a sword that covered in blood! In the other hand is a severed human head! Apparently people thought she was pretty tough.

When she was a young woman, she happened to attend a party where she met the captain of the Amsterdam, Jan Van der Goot. Van der Goot was absolutely smitten with Emmy, and was determined to have her. Emmy had no interest in the captain, but unfortunately, she was to be his one way or another. While she slept at home, four men broke into her house and kidnapped her. They spirited her off to the Amsterdam where she awaited her fate. Not what I would call the ideal pirate birthday party. Van der Goot showed up in her cabin completely drunk. He passed out on the bed and was soon deeply asleep. Emmy seized the moment. She grabbed a dagger and stuck it in his heart.

She had killed her captor, but was not quite finished. She cut off his head with a sword and took both the head and the sword up to the crew. There she demanded that they turn the ship back. The crew was stunned by her audacity, and did what they were told. The Earl of Eglinton was astonished by Emmy’s bravery and decided to make a tribute to her by including her picture on his coat of arms. The picture was of Emmy holding a sword and a severed head, and it remains like that to this day. For more pirate birthday party ideas, check our ebook out. There you will find a host of information regarding your pirate birthday party including props, costumes and recipes.

A pirate is never complete without a proper sword, and swords make for a great pirate birthday party idea. Pirates used several types of swords and knives, but they were perhaps best known for carrying the cutlass. These swords were about three feet long and weighed about three pounds. They were preferred because they were short and broad, and this made for better hand to hand combat performance in the close quarters of a ship. The broadsword was not used as much as the cutlass. It was much longer and much deadlier. Sailors did not like them because they were not as effective as a cutlass in melee combat. This type of weapon was used to give Blackbeard his death blow, decapitating his head entirely. The smallsword was a light weight short sword. It really was not used in pirate fights, but worn by gentlemen of the day. The only time it was used in actual fighting was during dueling. It was easily breakable and not favored by pirates. The dagger was a good backup weapon for a pirate. Short and easily concealed, it made for the perfect weapon in a quick strike. The rapier was a Spanish sword and it was not built for pirate fighting. It could really only be used for thrusting, but that Spaniards were determined to use it anyway. Using any of these swords make for a great pirate birthday party idea.

You should definitely consider replica pirate guns for your pirate birthday party. Guns were an essential part of the pirate’s armory, and they came in many shapes and sizes. There was the matchlock musket, which was a cheaply made rifle. The matchlock performed poorly for pirates because it was hard to use in wet weather. This did not bode well for sailors in that they were always around water. An improvement on this design, the flintlock musket, was usually a smooth bore weapon, and although it was more expensive than the matchlock, it performed much better in bad weather. Next was the musketoon, which was a shortened rifle so to speak. The musketoon could hold several rounds so that when it was shots, the bullets would spread out. It was mainly used in close combat. There was also the blunderbuss! This weapon could be compared to the modern day shotgun. It could use a host of materials as bullets, including metal scraps. It was an extremely short range weapon, but it was deadly effective. Finally, there was the pistol. The pistol was basically good for one shot because reloading it took precious time that pirates did not have during a frantic fight. Instead, they carried multiple pistols to make sure they had several shots. The famous Blackbeard was known for this. Be sure to include these weapons in your pirate birthday party.

When you try to come up with a pirate party idea, remember that pirates were well known for their fighting skills. Pirates had to be adept in the art of ballistics, marksmanship, and fencing. There weapons were long range, medium range and short range. Their long range weapons were cannons, and some ships carried as many as forty of them! These were mainly used for deterrence rather than actual fighting. The pirates were attempting to capture vessels, and not sink them. These cannons were able to shoot large cannon balls for great distances and could create absolute havoc! Their guns were their medium range weapons. If the ships were close enough, pirated could try to pick off one another with them in hopes of thinning out the crowd before final boarding. There were all kinds of guns including rifles, shotguns and muskets. I will cover more about these in future pirate party idea blogs. Finally, there were the swords! No pirate would be complete without one, and they had to be extremely skilled with these weapons. Many of the casualties in a pirate fight were victims of the sword, so proper handling and techniques were crucial. Next up, we’ll discuss the weapons in more detail.

Navigation charts have long been one of the most important tools for any pirate sea captain. Imagine if Captain Jack Sparrow wanted to attend your pirate birthday party, but could not figure out how to get there. What would happen if he did not know how to read a navigation chart and ended up driving his ship into a sand bar? Then, not only would he not be able to make your pirate birthday party, he would have to abandoned his gold laden ship! Things would be different if he had the proper sea navigation charts because he would be able to see where the sand bars were. Sand bars tend to move location, so sea navigation charts have to be constantly kept up to date. The nautical charts also outline the coastal regions, and include ocean depths. They might also include topographical features and list different man made and natural location identifiers. These are critically important for any sea navigator because natural and man made landmarks are very hard to come by. The next time you plan your pirate theme party, be sure to give your fellow pirates an up to date nautical sea chart!

A pirate recipe can be hard to come by. I have had the good fortune of actually seeing flying fish! During many trips into the Pacific, South China, and Indian Oceans, I have witnessed these amazing creatures fly with ease. The fish can jump out of the water by many feet, and then fly with ease until they land back in the water. If you are lucky, one of them may fly right into the boat. Try this delicious pirate recipe!

FLYING FISH (Fried)
INGREDIENTS:
1 egg beaten
-salt to taste
-seasoned flour
-oil for frying
-hot pepper to taste
-fine dry bread crumbs
3 cloves of garlic minced
1 teaspoon of parsley, minced
1 packet filleted flying fish
1 teaspoon of onion powder
-chive and thyme minced
METHOD:
First soak the fish into water with the
lime juice then Rinse and drain it well.
Next season the fish with garlic, onion,
chive, thyme, parsley, salt & pepper and
Place the seasoning between the seams.
Now mix the beaten egg with a little bit
of water. Coat the fish in the seasoned
flour and dip right in the egg mixture,
finally coat with dry crumbs.
Fry in the hot oil for 5 minutes on each
side turning 1 time until it is browned.
Drain on paper towels and serve with the
hops.

Here is a little more scientific facts concerning ocean currents while you contemplate a pirate birthday party idea. Ocean currents exist in every ocean in the world, and play a huge role in determining the climate of any given area. Currents are not just local phenomenon, in fact, there are five giant current systems, known as gyres, that circle all the major oceans of the world. If you live next to a cold current the climate in your area will be colder than the mean average. The opposite is true for warm currents. The biology that these currents support is also largely based on whether a current is warm or cold. When people think of the tropics, or barrier reefs, they think of large schools of colorful and exotic fish, and all kinds of coral and plant life. The water is crystal clear and light blue (a great place for a pirate birthday party idea). While it is true that there is a lot of life around the reefs, if you venture further out and away from land, the ocean becomes a virtual desert of water! The clear water is a sign that there is not a lot of natural life in the warm water. In colder areas, the water is a dark blue or green. That is a sign of huge amounts of upwelling and plankton, which serve as the bottom tray of the food chain. In these areas, the sea is full of life! There is a host of biological species including plankton, bioluminescence, jelly fish, sea otters, whales, sharks, bat rays, tuna, mackerel, anchovy, squid, octopus, sea lions, salmon, dolphin, kelp, sea stars and the like. The most abundant species (other than plankton) is what is known as a brittle star. These are remarkable creatures and glow if disturbed. Tune in again to pirate birthday party idea to learn how currents were discovered. You’ll be surprised to know who discovered them!

Are you going to invite a few pirates to your pirate birthday party? Pirates did operate in the Caribbean, and many of them were from Britain, so they would have to take the Gulf Stream Highway to make your pirate birthday party. Ocean currents are caused by the unequal heating of water, and they create rivers within the ocean that can actually help a ship travel much faster than in still water. For instance, the Gulf Stream travels north up the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, which means that the water is relatively warm. That is why ocean water on the east coast of the United States is generally warmer than the water on the west coast. The California current travels south, from Alaska, and explains why ocean water in Southern California can be so cold. As for the Gulf Stream, the warm water travels north towards Canada, then makes a right turn and heads for Europe. The water is warm enough that it regulates European weather, particularly the United Kingdom. If Britain did not have the benefit of the warm Gulf Stream water, it would be much colder. The warm ocean negates the effect of the cold air and ensures that Britain has a mild climate. More to come on the history of ocean currents.