Some of our visitors come motivated by a curiosity about history; admittedly some just come to take a few selfies and move on. And of course we get lots of people cosplaying pirates. I have two standing thoughts about those: one, that in a world where many peoples' jobs involve sitting in a gray-walled cubicle staring at a computer screen, the romance of a swashbuckling rebel on the high seas is a profound counterpoint; and two, that I turn it into a teaching moment -- we're not a pirate ship, we'd be a pirate target. We're hard to maneuver, lightly armed, travel a predictable route, and when you see this profile you know we're loaded with valuable goods. That's why we travel in convoys escorted by the navy, those faster, heavily armed vessels. And pirates wouldn't want our boat, it's too big and too slow and takes too much crew. They want something small and nimble that can attack and then tuck into the shallows where the bigger ships can't follow.
Mostly, though, I profess delight when people dress up to visit us, though I'm quick to inwardly categorize people that seem to be dressed with an intent at historical accuracy versus those I call "polyester pirates" in caractureish costumes from the party store.
I’m normally a bit skeptical about the “polyester pirates” — they normally come aboard only for the selfies, say “aaargh” a lot, and might be drunk. These two visitors that came on our second-to-last day in Newcastle were different: polite, respectful, knowledgeable and wanting to learn more. They had a number of tattoos including matching tattoos of an anchor with a trailing coil of chain at the base of the thumb on each of their hands. They told me that these were their wedding ink, and showed me that when they hold hands, the two together make a heart. (I can be so sentimental about that stuff!)
Preconceptions and generalizations can be useful; we should, after all, learn from our experiences. However these two “polyester pirates” reminded me not to let those preconceptions close us off to seeing what’s actually right in front of you: be ready, always, for reality to surprise and delight you. (Free life lessons along with your tour of El Galeon, no extra charge.)
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| The "polyester pirates" who I really enjoyed chatting with, and made me rethink my assumptions |
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| On their own, each of them seems to have a simple anchor tattoo, but put together when they're holding hands, the ink tells its own story |
And speaking of playing pirate -- we had a "Jack Sparrow" lookalike visit us in every single port! I'd have a running bet, will we have one here? And then in the next port I'd double-or-nothing. I kept winning, and accumulated an entire album of photographic proof in my phone. Here are just a few:
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| The "Jack Sparrow" from Poole |
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| The "Jack Sparrow" from Yarmouth |
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| The "Jack Sparrow" from Newcastle |
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| The "Jack Sparrow" from Plymouth, one of the times I was also dressed pirate instead of my crew jacket |
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| Another selfie with "Jack Sparrow" |
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| The "Jack Sparrow" from the festival at Delfzijl |
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