by Jamaica Rose
How to Send a Message in a Bottle
You will need:
Paper
Pen
A clean bottle, preferably two-liter size
One dollar bill
Cork (optional)
Envelope (optional)
Forever stamp (optional)
Write your message. Remember, you are writing to a stranger to see if they will answer you. Tell them a little about yourself, but not too much. Remember, pirates were careful.
Add your address in case someone finds your bottle and wants to answer you. Or put in your email address. You could get a new email account like Yahoo (it’s free) just for this purpose. You just need to check it every few days. (Talk to Mom and Dad to see which method they would prefer you use.)
After your letter is written, it’s time to put it into the bottle. Use a large two-liter bottle—a large bottle is easier to spot and it’s less likely that some sea animal is going to swallow it. It’s best to use a clear bottle. A green or other color of bottle makes it harder to see your letter inside. Also, take the label off to make it easier to spot your letter.
Is your bottle empty? If not, finish drinking what’s inside. Wash the bottle out so it’s not sticky. Then let the bottle dry upside down. You wouldn’t want your letter to get soggy, now would you? That could make it hard for someone to read it if the letters get all blurry.
If you want the person who picks up your bottle to write you back in the mail, you could also include a stamped and addressed envelope. Use a Forever Stamp on it, so if it takes a long time until someone finds your bottle, the stamp will still work, even if postage rates have gone up. (If you want the finder of your bottle to send you an email message, then you won’t need an envelope or stamp.)
Roll up your letter (together with the envelope if you are including one). Tie some ribbon or string around it so it won’t unroll. If your paper rolls open inside the bottle, then it would be hard to get it out again. You can use a pen to roll the paper around to get it nice and tight.
If you really want someone to spot your message, then let’s increase its chances of being found. You’ve used a large two-liter bottle, so that already means it will be easier to spot. And you’ve removed the label, so it’s easier to see the letter inside. Now, before you slide your rolled up message into the bottle, wrap a ONE-DOLLAR BILL around it before you tie it with the string.
If someone spots a soda bottle with a one-dollar bill in plain view inside, they are a lot more likely to pick it up, don’t you think?
Now slide your rolled up message, with the dollar bill wrapped around it, into the bottle. Put the cap back on, nice and tight, so no water will get in. Finally, take your bottle to a lake, river, or the ocean, give it a kiss for luck, and toss it in.
Invitation in a Bottle
If you are throwing a pirate party, then a great way to invite your guests in style is to send them a message in a bottle.
You will need:
Plastic bottles, 12–20 ounce size, one for each person
Corks that fit the bottles
Address labels
Rolled-up scroll invitations tied with ribbon
Stapler
Ribbon, string, or twine
Something to add: coins, jewels, sand, shells, etc.
Funnel (for sand)
Prepare your invitations as described in chapter 11, but do not add a wax seal or the invitations might not fit into the bottle openings.
Use plastic bottles with the labels removed. Plastic water or soda bottles should work well. Wash the bottles out well and give them time to dry.
Use the funnel to add an inch or two of sand to each bottle. Don’t put in too much sand or it will hide your message. Add a couple of seashells and a doubloon, or a jewel could be included too. If the weather is warm, don’t use chocolate coins, because they might melt and make your invitation hard to read.
Make sure the scroll is rolled tight enough to fit through the opening of the bottle. Tie the scroll tightly with one end of an 8-inch length of ribbon. You do not want your scroll to open up inside the bottle or your guest will never get the invitation out! Make a knot in the other end of the ribbon. Staple the knotted end to the side of the cork.
Seal the bottle with the cork.
Address the label, including your return address, and attach to the side of the bottle. Make sure it sticks down completely. Now hand-deliver your bottles to each of your invited guests. What fun it will be when your friend pulls out the cork, and the message comes out with it.
And here’s a game you can play with your guests using the bottles.
Bobbing for Bottles
You will need:
Parchment paper notes written with tasks
Ribbon or string
Small, clear bottles with lids (plastic water bottles work great), at least one for each guest
Large tub of water
Write a different task on each piece of parchment paper. Some examples are
Make noises like a monkey.
Walk the plank—balance on a board and walk to the other end.
Hop like a peg-leg pirate all the way across the yard.
Swab the deck—wash the patio with a mop.
Stack twelve doubloons in a single tower without them falling over.
A few notes will tell where rewards or treasure are hidden.
Roll up the notes and tie them nice and tight with the ribbon. If they come undone and unroll in the bottle, it will be hard to get them out.
Float the closed bottles in the tub of water. Your guests will take turns getting one of the bottles out of the tub of water—but hands must be kept behind their backs. They have to get the bottle with their teeth! Once they have a bottle, they will read the note and then do what it says. If they successfully complete the task, they get a piece of eight.
Dress Like a Pirate
In movies and television you’ve seen a lot of examples of how pirates were “supposed” to look. Unfortunately, a lot of times these landlubbers get it completely wrong! We’re going to show you how pirates really looked. We’ve got three notorious pirate captains, including Blackbeard himself, to show you what a well-dressed pirate was all about.
Edward England
Name: Edward England
Dates: active as a pirate from 1717 to 1721
Country: England
Ship: Fancy; Pearl; Victory
Flag: His Jolly Roger was the classic design of a skull above two crossed bones on a black background. Eyewitness accounts say he was “flying a black flag with a skull and crossed bones at the main.” Other pirates were described using the same design, including Samuel “Black Sam” Bellamy and John Taylor.
Best known for: Captain England, a pirate with a conscience, was generally kind to his prisoners. England was fairly successful as a pirate, sailing mainly along the coasts of Africa and Madagascar, and in the Indian Ocean. His favorite targets were slave ships. It was reported that he captured more than fifty of them off the west coast of Africa. Pirates liked the slave ships. They were large, stocked with provisions, and well armed with cannons. They were perfect for converting into pirate ships. The slaves were often recruited to become pirates.
Unlike many other pirates of his day, England did not kill prisoners unless it was absolutely necessary. This ultimately led to his downfall, when his crew mutinied against him because he refused to kill sailors from the Cassandra, an English trading ship. He was marooned on Mauritius and died shortly thereafter in 1721.
Stede Bonnet
Name: Major Stede Bonnet
Alias: “The Gentleman Pirate,” also used the name Captain Thomas
Dates: active as a pirate from 1717 to 1718
Country: Barbados
Ship: Revenge; Royal James
Flag: His flag showed the skull for death, a dagger showing he is ready to fight, a heart for the sorrow he will bring, and a bone to show that his victims might die at any time. This design may be a fanciful artist’s ide
a, for an eyewitness only said he flew a “Death’s Head.”
Best known for: Major Stede Bonnet was an unlikely pirate. He was a rich and successful plantation owner on the island of Barbados, described by his neighbors as “a gentleman of good reputation and estate.” But one day, something snapped, and he decided he was going to be a pirate. He immediately went out and bought a sloop, which he named the Revenge, and hired a crew of seventy men (including some pirates) to man her. Some say a nagging wife drove him to it. Whether or not that was true, he did leave shortly afterward in the middle of the night without saying goodbye to Mrs. Bonnet. In 1717, he met up with the infamous Blackbeard, who invited Bonnet to come aboard Blackbeard’s ship and stay awhile as a “guest.” Placing one of his officers aboard Bonnet’s ship as captain, Blackbeard added Bonnet’s ship to his fleet. For a while, Bonnet was a virtual prisoner aboard Blackbeard’s ship. Eventually, Bonnet was given his ship back, and they parted ways. Soon after, Stede Bonnet was captured off the coast of Cape Fear, North Carolina. He was hanged for piracy on December 10, 1718.
Blackbeard
Name: Captain Edward Teach
Alias: Blackbeard; also Edward Thatch or Thach; John Drummond, (a recent biographer claims his real name was Edward Beard)
Dates: active as a pirate from 1716 to 1718
Country: England
Ship: Queen Anne’s Revenge; Revenge; Adventure
Flag: His flag showed the devil holding an hourglass (indicating to his victims that their time had run out) and stabbing a heart from which three drops of blood have fallen. This was truly a fearsome flag for one of the most feared pirates of all time.
The only eyewitness account of Blackbeard’s flag we know of said Blackbeard flew a “Death’s Head.” It is possible he had more than one flag.
Best known for: He was one of the most famous pirates of all time. He was described as being 6 feet 4 inches tall with a long, scraggly black beard tied with red ribbons. Before attacks, to terrify his victims, he lit slow matches and put them under his hat. They surrounded his whole head in a wreath of smoke that smelled like sulfur (rotten eggs).
Pastimes for Scurvy Dogs
There’s a Pirate in Your Closet
To get that proper piratical look right away, you don’t need to spend lots of your hard-plundered doubloons on a ready-made costume. You can probably make do with what you can find in your closet (or maybe Mom or Dad’s closet, but be sure to ask first). You will also need a little imagination.
The easiest outfit to construct is that of a simple pirate sailor or pirate lass. If you are very clever, you might also put together a fancier pirate captain’s outfit by using some of these tricks.
Simple Pirate Sailor
First put on some up-to-your-knees plain-colored or striped socks. If you or someone in your family plays soccer or Little League, the uniform socks should work great. If no one in your family plays these sports, then plain dark men’s dress socks should do the trick.
Next come the pants. Find a pair of plain-colored baggy pants or loose sweat pants. It’s best if you can find a pair without zippers. Also, avoid pants with pockets you can see. Sweatpants usually have a drawstring, which is perfect for our needs, and they usually don’t have visible pockets.
Try to find pants that are a basic color: blue, brown, green, red, or black would be good. Avoid bright colors like fluorescent orange or lime green or hot pink.
First, you need to “blouse” them at or above the knee. To do this, turn them inside out. Put your feet into the bottom of the leg opening (instead of through the waist opening as you normally would).
Put pants leg on inside-out, foot first.
Pull the leg opening up to your knee. Attach it with a big rubber band, a cord, or a thick ribbon. Make sure it’s not too tight! There is a major artery going down the back of your knees. If you cut off the blood flow to your legs for too long, your leg may have to be amputated and replaced by a wooden peg leg. True, this would do wonders for your pirate look, but it sure would make the rest of your life a lot harder.
Once you have both ends of the pants legs tied just below your knees, grab the waistband of your pants and pull them up to your waist. They now should be right side out, hanging a little below your knees, and puffed out a bit. Very simple, no? Now you have instant old-timey-looking knee breeches.
Knee length pants and socks.
Next up is a piratey-looking shirt. If there is an old white dress shirt nobody in your family minds if you cut up, this is best. It is fine if it’s a little big for you. Cut off the cuffs and pull a dozen or so rows of threads out. This is called “unraveling.” It will give your sleeves a raggedy worn-out look.
If you need to keep the shirt in good shape and can’t cut it up, then shove your sleeves up your arm to just below your elbow. Tie them in place with a cord, ribbon, or rubber band. Let the baggy part of the sleeve hang loosely over the ties to hide them. Again, make sure your ties are not too tight, or you will end up like Captain Hook.
Simple Pirate Sailor—complete outfit.
Sleeve folded in to hide the cuff.
Sleeve cut off with a ragged edge.
Don’t bother to button up the front of the shirt. Instead, take the front shirttails and tie them into a knot just at your belly button. Tuck the back of your shirttail out of sight into the rolled-under hem of the shirt. Fold the collar of the shirt in so it looks like you have no collar. At the same time, roll the front opening of the shirt in to hide the buttons and buttonholes. Easy peasy!
For the finishing touches, see if you can find a couple of brightly colored scarves or scraps of cloth. They can be the same color or different colors. Use the smaller piece as a headscarf.
Tie the longer piece around your waist as a sash. Tie it so the knot is on your side, by your hip. If it’s so big the ends hang down on the side, that is fine. If the ends drag on the floor, though, wrap it around your middle two or more times to take up the extra length.
The waist sash serves a few purposes. Besides adding some color and style to your outfit, it hides any belt loops or zipper your pants might happen to have. It also gives you a place to tuck your dagger or sword, if you have one.
For your feet, try to find some plain sandals. Leather ones without any modern decorations are good. Or you might wear some plain canvas slip-on shoes with no socks. Lace-up sneakers should be your last choice.
You might use some face paints or Mom’s mascara (with permission, of course, if you don’t want to eat gruel for a week) to make a moustache, or make lots of little brown or black dots around your chin for beard stubble.
Basic Pirate Lass
Girls have more options. They can decide to dress as a pirate sailor and be a girl in disguise. In that case, follow the directions for the Simple Pirate Sailor outfit above. If you prefer to be a pirate lass, follow the instructions below.
Starting with the blouse, see if you can find a lightweight pullover top with no buttons or buttonholes in front or back. Loose puffy sleeves are best. If you have a top like this, it can be worn pretty much as is.
For your skirts, find two long skirts. They can be of different lengths but should be at least below your knees, if not longer. They should be two different colors. The fabric should be solid colors, or one of the skirts could be striped or plaid. Avoid prints, but if you have to use a print, a small floral or geometric design is best. (See pants discussion for color ideas.) A pirate lass can get away with a brighter color than a lad might. No bright neon colors, though.
Put both skirts on, with the longer one underneath. The blouse should be hanging loose over them. Do not tuck it in. Find a simple belt, preferably a black leather one with a big buckle. Put the belt around your waist, on top of the blouse. Then bring up the bottom hem on one side of the outside skirt and tuck it into your belt. This will show off the bottom skirt.
You can wear the same type of socks as the Simple Pirate Sailor, or you might wear a pair of plain-colored tights.
Your footwear can also be the same as the Simple Pirate Sailor, or you might wear some plain Mary Jane or China Doll type shoes (black is preferable). Find something with low or no heels. Avoid modern decorations on your shoes.
To complete your outfit, tie a scarf around your head. Add some hoop earrings or bangle bracelets, and you are done.
(Thanks go to Francisco, the Spanish Pirate, for teaching us how to find a pirate in our closet.)
Basic Pirate Lass—complete outfit.
Pastimes for Scurvy Dogs
Behind Every Scar is a Really Good Story: Special Effects Makeup
Your clothes, hat, sword, and other props are just part of getting the look of a pirate. You might not have thought of it, but your skin can also be part of the costume.
Remember, pirates led a rough life. They didn’t bathe much, if at all, other than the occasional dip into the water. Their skin was tough and leathery from being out in the sun all day, even if they were young. They were very likely to have acquired at least a few scars. They might even have some fresh wounds.
You can really have fun creating these special effects on yourself. Add to the fun by having a really good story to tell about how you got each scar.
Dirty and leathery skin
Give yourself a “tan” on all skin that is exposed. Face paints can work well for a short time, if you are not getting too hot and sweaty. (We recommend Snazaroo face paints: www.snazaroo.com.)
For a longer-lasting effect, you might ask your Mom (or any other female relative) if she has any makeup she’s willing to let you use. Add some charcoal from a fire and you are ready to “dirtify.”