Despite the threat of thunderstorms, me and the wife took a little road trip this morning:
We got there just as the festivities were getting underway. I had the camera, but unfortunately I only came back with about a third of the photos I took (more on that later).
Entertainment was provided by a band of pirates, complete with tall ship, comely wenches, flintlocks, and
cannon!Here is the tall ship:
And a comely wench:
She struck this pose for me as I approached the ship with camera in hand. Bless her pretty little heart, I was really just trying to get a better look at the armament:
Both guns appeared to be of approximately 1½" bore. I struck up a conversation with the troupe and they told me that they were shooting 1½ ounces of Fg topped with an equal volume of flour (for effect), so that's about right.
And I was invited to set off the guns for the first round of fire! Ignition was priming powder and linstock. And these guns were
LOUD!But, here's where it gets depressing. Something happened to the camera, and none of the photos taken after the ones above came out. That includes all of the photos I took of the pirate characters (save for the aforementioned wench)
and the photos my wife took of me firing the guns. Hopefully, it's the memory card and not the camera that malfunctioned.
You'll just have to take me at my word. But if you could have seen the grin on my face all the way home, there would be no doubt.
I would like to have stayed longer and got some more info on their guns, but clouds were looming and we decided we'd better get on the road after lunch for the 65 mile ride home. I did mention this forum to them and hopefully they will check us out.
Hey, I look a little like a pirate, don't I?
