Pirate Theme Party

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.

Why not dig into a little history to get your next pirate birthday party idea.Long before there were any pirates, there were the Phoenicians. These were people who lived on a series of islands that spread out over an area that was thousands of miles long. They were the first known peoples to put into practice the art of ocean navigation. They used ingeniously designed vessels and were able to travel great distances. The most remarkable aspect about this civilization was that it existed about four thousand years ago! It is remarkable that a group of people so ancient could negotiate such a large swath of the Pacific Ocean! The technology used at that time was nothing like what we have available to us today. I am sure that any Phoenician would love to be able to use a sextant, mariners compass or a navigational chart. Today we use gyroscopic compasses, modern radar, the global positioning system, and loran. Loran, or Long Range Navigation, was developed around the period of World War II, and uses radio pulses between two separate stations to determine the position of any given ship. Make sure you have all the tools you need for your next pirate birthday party by checking out our ebook!

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!

Not all pirate recipes are from the seafood category. You can find many great dishes that are served that include beef, chicken, and even pork! Pork is prevalent in many pirate recipes, so we wanted to offer this tasty morsel for your hungry sailors!

Pork Chops with Bananas and Bacon
Ingredients:

-beer (optional)
2 large bananas
Juice of 1 lemon
6 strips of bacon
4 pork chops 1″ thick
3/4 tablespoon of cumin
-salt & pepper to taste
2 tablespoons of butter,
-softened

Directions:

Combine butter, salt & pepper with the
cumin. rub into both sides of the meat
and saute the meat briefly, until some
of the fat has rendered.

Now remove and drain. Peel the banana’s
then cut it into 1 1/4 chunks. Place on
a dish and sprinkle with lemon juice.

Next slice bacon into strips long enough
to wrap around each of the banana slice.
put on skewers, threading through bacon.

Place the pork chops on a hot grill, for
15 minutes, turning once. Turn the grill
down to medium.

Add bacon along with the banana’s, grill
for another 10 minutes, turning both the
meat and banana’s. Also good basted with
beer, while the meat cooks.

Makes 4 servings.

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!

Below is another one of our pirate recipes for you. Check out our ebook because we will soon offer you a host of pirate recipes!
Ingredients:
1 oz tamarind
2 tbsp. water
1 tbsp. vinegar
1 lb. fish fillets, cut in pieces
1 medium onion finely chopped
1 piece ginger (I inch), crushed
2 cloves garlic minced
salt to taste
4 pieces bay leaves
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. hot pepper chopped
1 inch piece cinnamon
peel of 1/2 lime thinly pared
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
11/2c. water
Directions:
1 Soak tamarind in 2 tbsp. water and vinegar for 15 minutes.
2. Squeeze with finger tips to loosen pulp, fibres and seeds.
3. Strain through a fine sieve, keeping liquid and pulp and discarding fibres and seeds.
4. Rinse fish in lime juice and water; pat dry.
5. Saute fish in I tbsp. hot oil and leave aside.
6. Heat remaining oil in a large frying pan. Saute onion, ginger and garlic for a few minutes.
7. Add tamarind sauce, salt, bay leaves, peppers, (black and hot), lime rind, cinnamon and water and bring to the boil.
8. Continue to boil for 5 minutes more.
9. Reduce heat and add fish.
10. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes or more until sauce has thickened and fish is tender. Serve with rice; makes
6 servings.
If preferred, sauce can be thickened with a little flour or corn flour.