A visit to the Beaufort Maritime Museum
Have you ever wondered what pirates were like in real life? Did you know Blackbeard put matches in his hair to scare people? Do you want to know what Blackbeard's flag looked like and what it meant? Have you ever wondered what lifeboats were in the 1800's? we just went to the Beaufort Maritime Museum and learned all about flags, Blackbeard, and lifeboats.
Blackbeard
I learned that Blackbeard's real name was Edward Teach.
I also learned that in 1717, he captured a French slave ship called La Concorde de Nantes and renamed it the Queen Anne's Revenge he used the ship for almost two years. In that time, he pirated till 1718 where he ran the Queen Anne's Revenge aground. He and his crew abandoned it with any portable treasure they could find. He then got a pardon from the British royal navy. Later, he went back to pirating and was killed by Lieutenant Robert Maynard. Who then hung Blackbeard's severed head from the end of his bowsprit as a warning to all pirates.
In 1996 the Queen Anne's Revenge was found in Beaufort inlet. Archaeologists' found several anchors (the largest was 13 feet) many of cannons, swords, gold dust, pottery, and lots more items of archaeologists' interests.
flags
Every pirate captain has a different flag, Blackbeard's flag is a skeleton pushing a spear into a heart. I made my own flag on a computer simulation. It was a scull and crossbones flag.
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Blackbeard's flag
Wreck rescue
there are a couple of ways to get off sinking ship one way is the Breach's Buoy. a breaches buoy is a life ring with pants on the bottom. you attach it to a rope that goes to the nearest island or beach. then you ride it like a zip line. later, a life car was created. a life car is a metal capsule that is about the size of a rowboat. the capacity is eleven adults but the average is nine half-grown kids or five or six adults. to get the "zip line" the crew would take a box with rope wound around pegs at the edge of the box. the box was called a "faking box". the line would then be fired out of a cannon to a beach.
this is a life car
this is the life car description
This is a breaches buoy
faking box
Nice writeup! Thanks.
ReplyDeleteIt's "breeches buoy" not "breaches." A breach is a break or rift in something. Breeches are a type of pants.
I found this great page that explains in detail how the fake box was used and how the breeches buoy was used. http://beachbum.homestead.com/life-savingstations/equipment/breechesbuoyrescue.html
It sounds like the fake box stayed on shore next to the cannon, and rope unwound from it following the shot that was fired toward the ship. That makes more sense than firing the box from the cannon - the box might be too fragile to survive being fired, and it would tend to tumble, tangling the rope. So one end of the rope was attached to the shot, and then the shot was fired, pulling the rope out of the box as it flew.
We'll have to make some Pirate Cookies when you get here. We can make some black frosting to make it realistic.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting Caitlin.
ReplyDelete