Pirates & Sea Explorers circa 1785

Our Navy Sea Capt'n

Before Boyscouts, (modern-day experts of the Knot), Explorers, Pirates and Capt’s from the High Seas were Masters of Knots.

We learned that many of the Sea Captains of England, France, Spain and other European Navys were not much different than Pirates. Some Capt’ns and sailors were allowed to seize ships and take goods from them in the name of the country that sponsored them. Some seamen even started out as Pirateers but were commissioned anyway because a nation hadn’t enough ships to protect the coastlines of their colonies or protect the ports where they traded their country’s goods. And if a Navy Captain was really tyrannical, there might be a mutiny, where his crew choose not to listen to his orders (a defiance punishable by death or dismemberment). The mutineers might be sent off in a dinghy or if the mutiny was great in number, the ship was won the Captain and the men loyal to him pushed off in a small boat into the ocean. These men would no longer be allowed to sail for a country, and from then on would be labeled Pirates. And pirate ships would be the only boats that would hire them.

Before 1700′s the sea ports were only in Europe, Africa and Asia. No one had braved the Atlantic Ocean to discover what would be called the Americas yet. Many felt that if you sailed West from Europe far you would fall off the shelf of the earth and get eaten by monsters.

Sea Queens by J. Yolen

Pirate Queens by J. Yolen

And don’t think that all pirates were men. Through the ages, there have been some formidable Pirate Queens. Jane Yolen has written two books on the subject, and one MudPies & Butterflies Mom posed with me as my favorite Pirate Queen Pair – Anne Bonney and Mary Reade who sailed aboard the Vanity!

By the late 1700's Silk, spices, Otter pelts, glass beads, hammerheads were traded around the globe.

M&P kids learned about how Ships 300 years plus ago traded goods for other goods.

We either tasted or smelled the assortment that came from my spice drawer at home: Cinammon from Ceylon (shaken atop Karen’s Apple slices- Yummy!), Tarragon from France, Ginger from China, and other spices from Thailand which were appropriately placed on the map below. longs

In order to get Tea, Spices and Silks from China, American ships leaving the Chesapeake Bay (washington D.C. area) loaded up with glass beads and Metal axe heads to trade with Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest for Otter Pelts. The otter pelts are the only thing worth enough in China (Sadly, China had already eradicated their native otter population). After choosing a woodchip from the park as the boat, the Kids navigated the ship from port to port. Our crafty kids tried to slip between North and South America, but 300 years ago there was only need not a canal. it would save a total of 18,000 miles on a trip from New York to San Francisco. They learned about the Panama canal and how it took . Active Learning is so awe-inspiring to witness.

btw- The Panama Canal took over 70,000 men to to build 51 miles of locks. It was managed by the French from 1881 to 1888 and then completed by the US from 1904 to 1914. 27,500 workers (more than one third) died due to overworking and Malaria.

We also learned a bit about how the Sailors kept on course by using magnetic compasses, the sun, stars and a quadrant. Everyone made their very own simple quadrant from these simple directions. A quadrant would measure the angle your ship was to either the sun or the north star. With that angle, you could determine your Latitude or at a bare minimum ensure you didn’t steer your vessel outside of a preferred latitudinal margin.

Figuring out the landmarks upon the Treasure map

One of the craft stations were set up to make a treasure map. I made one that showed where a Pirate’s Ghost had hidden golden nuggets 300 years ago.

Nico found the right tree and the treasure, but collectively they helped him get down…

I also had three colors of rope for knot tying and making crafts and fun. Grog’s is a wonderful site for learning how to tie knots online. With two Knot printouts, the kids took on making knots with three colors of ropes.