Buccaneers and Pirates

As a little kid I always wanted to be a pirate or a buccaneer. Sailing on tall ships in the tropics, riches of gold and silver, cannons, palm trees and beaches were all the things built into my dreams. The little kid in me still has those dreams.

Today I would rather be a buccaneer than a pirate, not a pirate and a buccaneer. A buccaneer is more romantic sounding, and is not so mean sounding, as a pirate. There is no RAT in buccaneer. I still have the romantic draw of the sea feeling. That will probably never go away. The little kid in me still enjoys the romance of being a buccaneer on the high seas. The new movies about Jack Sparrow’s adventures drew me in with just the first flap of the pirate flag.

The three books I wore the covers off of as a child were Peter Pan, Treasure Island, and 20,000 Leagues’ Under the Sea. I liked Cpt. Hook the best in Peter Pan. Long John Silver was the one in Treasure Island that was of most interest to me, and Capt. Nemo was the one in 20,000 Leagues. All were pirates of a sort, and all sea-farers. I still have what is left of the Peter Pan book. 

The movies about Caribbean Pirates and movies patterned after the O’Brian Books of the British Navy, the Master and Commander, are the movies that caught my interest the last few years. When at the library, if a book or DVD has a cover with a tall ship or boat on it, it grabs my attention. I am still just a kid at heart.

With the boyhood dreams I had you can see why I ended up with 3 sailboats, live in Florida, where there are palm trees and beaches, and buccaneers are part of the history. Most of my dreams have come true. The boats let me sail the high seas when time permits, the diving on the reefs here and the fishing are a treasure, and my tall ship is a small schooner my wife and I built. She even let me have a cannon for the boat, but she will not let me fire it. My biggest treasure is my like-minded wife.

When the wind is blowing the tree leaves and we can hear the boat rigging we both want to head for one of the boats and go. Most stuff can be put off if you can go sailing. The dog is always ready for a boat ride. We three buccaneers can head for the river to find treasure and adventure. The wind blows any troubles away for a few hours. We just need to find a real pirate treasure to make everything come out right.

My wife is a bit of a buccaneer also. She is one of the best sailors I have met. She is a plan ahead, chart sailor. She wants no surprises when we sail in to unfamiliar waters. She is the navigator. I am not bad at it, but she is great at it, so I let her do it. My method is to sail in the general direction and when you get close, look at the chart. The first time I took her out in my boat, we had a delightful sail, and on the way back, she asked if she could sail her. When we got near the marina I got ready to drop the sails so we could motor in. She said the wind was light and just right to sail her in. She brought her in to the marina under full sail, turned 90 degrees in front of the Marina Restaurant, and right to my tie up spot where she told me to drop the sails. When we went to the Restaurant SHE was applauded.

As we two buccaneers get older we still have our dreams about tall ships, and sailing the seas. It is nice to have someone to share the sunset with, while looking for our treasure together.

Harpoons,compasses, naval clocks, model boats....Just a big kid at heart.