Be Ye a Pirate of
the Inland Sea
Arrrgh! Why do pirates
say that so often? I’ve pondered such points lately because we’re about
to have a harbor full of tall-masted sailing ships in Duluth this
summer.
There will be activities and ship viewing and lots of pirate-related
side shows, including nightly performances of the “Pirates of Penzance”
in Bayfront Festival Park during the Tall Ships® Duluth 2010.
So I’ve been pondering how an old-time pirate of the Inland Seas might
differ from those better-publicized pirates of the Caribbean.
A Lake Superior pirate might say,
“Arrrgh,
then” or
“Arrrgh, ehhh”
or, more likely,
“Uff Da-rrrgh.”
A freshwater marauder would probably look a lot less like Johnny Depp
and a lot more like Louie Anderson, less of a scalawag than a
rollypolawag.
And that hand gaff - just a strip of duct tape and you’re hooked. Of
course, any self-respecting Lake pirate would have a specially
crocheted “hook” cozy (call it a mitten) and a screeching gull on his
shoulder - a gull named Ole, not Polly, as in “Ole want a French fry?”
Say, you often see a bird on a pirate’s shoulder, don’t you? If parrots
are anything like gulls, I understand from whence comes the “Arrrgh!”
Two minutes with a gull on my shoulder and I’d be saying
ewww or
arrrgh or
uff da-rrgh and “Get this gull off
me!”
Gulls aside … and I do love them from afar … the events surrounding the
Tall Ships festival promise to be a lot of fun. We’ve got details of
the festival, along with profiles of the ships that will be here, in
our special feature this issue.
These vessels also bring a load of history to our shores. While most of
the eight slated to arrive in Duluth in July are replicas of salt
seafarers, the sweetwater seas of the Great Lakes have a long history
of such ships. I was lucky enough to get a ride on the U.S. Brig
Niagara when it last came to port
in 2008.
It was a beautiful, breezy Lake Superior day with blue on blue - the
robin’s egg blue of the sky and the deeper indigo of the water. Though
the deck was packed with visitors as well as the professional and the
training crews for the ship, you could still get the sense of moving
with only the sounds of a modest but muscular wind snapping the lines
against the masts, the shaking out of the hoisted sails and the hull
splitting the waters beneath us.
We have some very short
videos on our
website taken on the
Niagara
that day. It gives some
idea of the sounds and motion of the ship.
The
smells,
the
sounds
and
the
touch
of
the
wind
proved
what the
Niagara’s
Captain
Walter
Rybka
told
me
that day when I asked: What is the importance of building these
historic replicas that can actually sail on the water?
“A ship that sails and one that doesn’t is the difference between a
live horse and a stuffed one,” he said. Sure, you can explain the
points of a horse by looking at a picture or by contemplating a stuffed
version, but can you truly express the thrill of a mane-tossing
stallion galloping across an open plain?
A boat comes alive, the captain was explaining, only when it glides,
plows and occasionally bucks against the waves. Like the owner of a
spirited horse, you never know exactly all of its moves.
Likewise, I think, the crews of these ships, which rarely make it to
our northernmost Great Lake, do not truly know the waters of Lake
Superior without trying to cross it in their sailing vessels. Our Lake,
too, must be experienced live.
So we will have a summer of delightful make-believe with pirates (the
Hollywood kind) and also a summer of discovery.
I can’t wait to get down to the waterfront to enjoy the festival park
and to chat with the incoming crews about their new acquaintance with
Lake Superior.
Yes, the thought of seeing these tall-masted ships come into port and
tie up in our harbor … why it just shivers me timbers.
Konne LeMay, editor
Address e-mail to
kon@lakesuperior.com
by Konnie LeMay, editor
