THE LIFE OF A PIRATE
THE LONGEST LIST OF THE LONGEST STUFF AT THE LONGEST DOMAIN NAME AT LONG LAST

What was the life of a pirate like?

When most people think of pirates, they often think of scraggly men who sat with their feet up on the deck of their ship all day enjoying their latest whiskey and treasure. Or they conjure up glorious images of men dripping in medals and wearing bold red coats to announce their power and authority. Although this certainly depicts some of the pirates from back in the golden age of piracy, the truth is that the life of a pirate was hard. It was mainly divided into two different areas: life on land and life on sea.

Although many would think that it was when they were at sea that pirates were happiest and found life the most enjoyable. The truth is that it was when they were at sea that it was the hardest for the pirates. They were always very bored and had very little to do. There was occasional excitement as they would find a ship to raid and plunder but for the most part, it was sailing around the open waters, working on the ship. The biggest problem with the boredom was that pirates were a breed that craved excitement, usually in the form of battle. When there were no known enemies available, they would often turn on each other, becoming enraged over a minute detail or simply fighting for something to do. The captain would often need to come between the disagreeing parties and try to find peace but most ships were run on a democracy system so the captain was not always heard.

Because they would set sail for so long without food readily available, the ship would need to be stocked before they left. The main source of a pirate’s diet when they were away was hard tack, or hard biscuits. The crew would also make sure that they had plenty of beer on hand. This was not only because the pirates enjoyed drinking themselves silly after a hard day of searching for gold but also because soon, it would be their only source of quenching their thirst. Although they would bring water along, it wasn’t long before they were unable to drink it because of the salty taste it had. Limes were usually brought along on longer journeys so that the pirates could receive a helping of Vitamin C. Very occasionally, ships would have live hens on board that would provide fresh eggs for a little while before they were killed for their meat. Pirates that called the waters of the Caribbean their home also found plenty of nourishment among the delicious turtles that flocked the area.

Life on land was actually where a pirate was the most comfortable. After a long hard journey, they were ready to dock in port and drink much of the town’s alcohol and flirt with many of the town’s women. Although in some towns pirates were disliked and sometimes even banned, townspeople and merchants often liked when the pirates would stop in. They would be bringing with them large amounts of pieces-of-eight and they would spend thousands of these in one night at the local tavern! To put that in perspective, ten pieces-of-eight was enough to buy cattle! Indeed, it didn’t take long for any pirate to give away all of the treasure that they had just worked so hard in attaining.

However, there was also work to be done when they docked. If the pirates were stopping after a particularly bad battle, certain areas of the ship would need to be repaired or replaced. For this reason, merchants also began to take up shops right in the harbour so that pirates that were in a hurry to be on their way would still give them business. The bottoms of the ships also had to be scrubbed thoroughly before the crew would head out again. This was because after a long time at sea, debris and seaweed can build up on the bottom of the boat. The ship also needed to be stocked with water, food, and other necessary supplies before they headed out again on another voyage.

 

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