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@shipwreckedwithcaptainmarrow
Wish me luck today! Will be setup all day at The Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon in downtown Charleston, South Carolina, talking pirate history with my books, along with my pirate reenactment crew, and a wonderful array of fellow guests! Come on by if you like pirates! 🏴☠️
南の島の風景 沖縄
Kelp Forest by divindk
Dr. Grooms Beach, Grenada
My books now being stocked in downtown Charleston at the Old Exchange & Provost Dungeon, where Stede Bonnet and his men were held in 1718! Signed copies of "Pirate Ghosts & Buried Treasures of the Southeast Coast" & "Arabian Gold." From what I've heard they're doing well!
Was just there on Monday doing more promotional work for Charleston Under the Black Flag!
🌴🏴☠️ Pirate Ghosts & Buried Treasures of Cocos Island! 🏴☠️🌴
No real teaser. No cover reveal. Just dropping this one out of nowhere… My newest book is officially out!
I’ve been compiling material for this for years now; one of the most infamous “treasure islands” in the world, surrounded by a complicated web of tales. Cocos Island sits hundreds of miles off the coast of Costa Rica. It is remote, mysterious, and historically tied to pirates, privateers, and some of the most persistent treasure legends ever recorded. Thus, absolutely deserving to be a part of the series.
Instead of covering a wide region, my new book zooms in on a single place and pulls apart the history, the countless exciting expeditions, and the stories behind things like the Treasure of Lima, Benito Bonito, and the figures connected to it. It’s easily one of the most complicated, and interesting, topics I’ve worked on.
I’ll have signed copies available to ship out; but not until after my author copies arrive and my May 15th–16th event concludes.
…but for now, it’s out there!
What do you think, are places like this hiding real treasure, or just really good stories? Have you heard of Cocos Island?
Navigation at sea during the Golden Age of Piracy was a complicated endeavor that required diligent and non-stop effort on behalf of those serving as navigators, and sailing from one destination to another was anything but simple.
Pictured here is a reproduction of a 1676 Map of Carolina by cartographer John Speed. You'll note that the coastline looks odd. This is because the orientation is that north is to the right-hand side, with the Outer Banks islands noted in the bottom-right as the map strays into the Virginia territory, while the left hand side stretches to St. Augustine in Spanish-controlled La Florida. This wasn't uncommon in coastal maps, favoring a depiction of the coastline upon the approach rather than dictating north to be the top of the map. In this case, this map depicts the coastline to those arriving to the Carolinas from across the Atlantic. A spyglass assisted greatly in analyzing the distant coastline and comparing geography with maps and charts to help determine the ship's current position.
A compass too would be an invaluable tool, for determining north, with needles able to be re-magnetized by a lodestone. Another piece of the equation is the tool located to the right of the map; a mariner's quadrant. These simple devices were used as far back as the ancient Greek and would soon phase out in favor of the "backstaff" and then later the sextant. You'll note it's wedge based shape, 25% of a full circle, hence it's name. From the pointed central tip there is a plumb line that hangs down to a brass weight, and along it's side are two small wooden blocks with holes drilled. This device could only be used twice per day, at noon, and at midnight, as close as possible to exact times. At noon, the user could line up the two eye-holes and stare directly into the sun, and the angle would cause the line to hang down over the markings and indicate a number of degrees. These numbers indicated your current degrees north or south of the equator for the purposes of establishing your current latitude. However this number would have be adjusted as well after obtaining the reading, as an accompanying book would direct the user how to adjust it based on the current date and season.
One issue that could arise when attempting to use the quadrant is that the user would prefer to be on solid ground to get the most accurate reading, and ships rarely sat still for precise calculations. Going ashore along the coast, or to sandbars, atolls, or rocky islets would provide much better readings. Cloudy days also cause issues. If you miss the ability to stare into the sun at noon, you can try again in twelve hours by instead staring at Polaris, the North Star, at midnight. Again, assuming you can see it.
The type of quadrant pictured here that I have is essentially the equivalent of a DIY Mariner's kit from the 17th century. Being a simple device in all truth, shops at ports would sell prints of the facing with the noted degrees and calculations, and the purchaser would be required to apply it to a cut piece of wood and install their own plumb line with a weight of sorts. Adding eyelets were optional, many instead stared along the flat edge of the board itself. Fancier and more expensive versions of the quadrant would have been made of etched brass, but would have been far less common.
Now that's determining the direction of north, and establishing your latitude. Longitude was much harder to keep track of, and required diligent bookkeeping. To track longitude, one would have to note how much time was spent traveling east to west, at what degree of angle, and recording such information knowing at how many knots the ship was traveling for that duration. Typically this was kept track of on a pegboard called a "Traverse Board" before being recorded in logs.
For navigation, and the purposes of the above, one would also need to know what time it was, hence having an hourglass. Or, multiple as many ships had, as they were prone to break being glass. Sundials, often found with compasses, also played a role here. Tracking time was mandatory for knowing when one could use the quadrant, and was also vital information for recording east-west travel on the traverse board. Hourglasses aboard ships were often designed for increments of 30-minutes, and were required to be flipped as soon as they ran out. This was very important, as every delayed time threw the known time to become askew, which would cause readings to become increasingly askew. Often, hourglasses found aboard ships featured loops on both ends so that they could be hanged from hooks on swaying ships, rather than sit on a desk where they could be knocked off.
Crews would need to measure the knots the ship was traveling, time would have be diligently kept so that quadrant readings could be taken upwards of twice per twenty-four hours, compass readings would help inform degrees of travel for accurate marking on the traverse board, which would time and again be reset after being recorded into a logbook, charts would be analyzed time and again, and would be corroborated by sighting islands and coastlines on the distant horizon. With all this combined, "navigation" was often a multi-person effort. Even if a single sailor thought they could tackle all of the above - they still had to sleep at some point, and during that time the ship would remain in motion, un-recorded otherwise.
Assuming all of the above was completed well, and all cross-referenced appropriately, a crew might have some idea where they are in the world; albeit with an ever-present margin of error. Hats off to those navigators of old who tackled this profession well. Navigators were a mandatory part of most every crew, at least those who didn't want to to simply follow visible coastline. While navigators certainly were aboard most all pirate vessels, one notable one that would be a shame to not mention here is that of John "Bartholomew" Roberts, known posthumously as "Black Bart" Roberts. Initially a sailor under the captaincy of pirate Captain Howell Davis, upon Davis's death in 1719 Roberts was elected as captain by the men for both his personality and abilities as a skilled navigator.
☠️We have a finalized event poster! ☠️ Please spread to friends who like pirates, pirate history, Charleston history, or those looking for something unique to check out come May 15th and 16th in South Carolina!
Two full days of swashbuckling history at the The Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon. Come meet pirate historians, authors with both history books and historical fiction, reenactors with living history displays, and more! Throughout each date you can catch a series of educational presentations on the building's main floor, and on Saturday attend a performance of a pirate trial for the public - and help decide their fate!
Stay up to date with the event by checking out our 2026 event page, Charleston Under the Black Flag 2026 on Facebook! 🏴☠️
Berkeley County might be better known for its rivers, rice plantations and Revolutionary War history than for pirates. But according to cent
On the news again! Did filming with the Berkeley Observer on the shores of Lake Moultrie discussing the Charleston area's connections with piracy and discussing folklore relevant to Stede Bonnet. The segment serves as a promotional piece for our upcoming event, Charleston Under the Black Flag, coming up May 15th & 16th!
Another playtest of Keelhauled today, 2 vs. 2, Freebooters vs. Keelhaunts. Lots of powder keg explosions, cannons blazing, coins aplenty, and down to the wire! The Keelhaunts wouldn't stay down, and when the game was at its final moment Bartholomew Strake's pistol shot finished off Captain Goldjaw for good. Thanks to those who made it out to playtest!
(by jirikoo)
Palm tree at sunset in Isla Verde, Puerto Rico
