Pirates in New England
The upside down flag is an internationally recognized sign of distress, a fact known particularly well to mariners. Imagine, then, the alarm caused by the sight of the skull and crossbones flying – and upside down at that – from the mast of this proper little New England yacht club.
A raid by Somalian pirates? While that might be your first thought, in this day of Google News and live Twitter reports word would have already spread on the news cycle, so that can't be it. A terrorist cell of pirates holed up on the coast of Rhode Island, too deep into their Captain Morgan to realize that the old Jolly Roger is flipped bottom-up? No, that's not it either, although Rhode Island has had its share of pirates (yeah, the hedge fund types, but real pirates, too). Thomas Tew? That pirate of record called Newport home. Captain William Kidd? Newport was a nice summertime pirate haven for him, as well.
But getting back to the upside down Jolly Roger – Not to worry, it was nothing other than a signal that the summer pirate race was cancelled due to weather.
The Pirate Race tradition in these parts is a fun way to get families, and kids in particular, on the water. Each year, a fleet of small boats departs and sails in a cluster close by a vessel that has been anointed as the pirate boat. In this case, the thunder of the pirates' cannons comes in the form of tennis balls that are cast from the pirate boat onto the sails and decks of other boats in the fleet. When those green fur balls marked Penn, Wilson, and Dunlap land in a boat's cockpit, that vessel becomes conscripted into the pirate navy and they proceed to launch tennis balls at the rest of the fleet until only one boat remains. The pirate race is nothing but fun and it's a great way to give young skippers a chance to exercise small boat handling. It's also a game of technique and strategy, just ask the kids that set out with tennis racquets and trash can covers in hand, ready to use their defensive tools to fending off incoming projectiles.
To the uninitiated this may all seem a bit unusual. But you are now fore-warned for the day when you see the pirate flag waving from the club, an eye-patched captain and his mates chucking tennis balls at a fleet zig-zagging little boats.
Pass-along if you will, but keep your distance lest you fall victim should you find a furry little ball in your cockpit.
Share on Facebook
