Pirateology - Trade Traditional Cache
La Lunatica: As the owner has not responded to my previous log requesting that they check this cache I am archiving it.
Regards
Suzanne
La Lunatica - Volunteer UK Reviewer www.geocaching.com
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LESSONS IN BECOMING A PIRATE READ, PRACTICE, LEARN AND BRING YOUR SKILLS TO PIRATEMANIA! 10 in a series of 20 TRADE Honest merchants often became pirates due to the lure of quick gold. Unlike the Man-O-War, the merchant ships (with the exception of the plate fleets) were less heavily armed and often were the property of private or government sanctioned enterprise. Pirates and even privateers, were more inclined to go after weaker vessels such as merchants than to take on warships. The idea was to get rich not get killed. When attacking the pirates would hoist the Jolly Roger to signal the victim to strike or lower their colours. If the merchant's flag did not come down, a red flag which meant "no quarter" would sometimes be raised. This was often a final warning before boarding. If the ship struck her colours upon seeing the red flag, then mercy would still be granted but if the engagement began and the red flag was still flying, the pirates would normally keep their word and slaughter the whole crew, or at least the officers. Merchant marines were not well paid and like the crews on war ships were sometimes pressed into service. Life on board could be harsh. The crew often had no reason to remain loyal to the officers of the ship or the owners of merchant line. When you combine this poor pay with a lack of military training, most merchants saw no reason to ignore the Jolly Roger or red flag and were more than willing to surrender and let the pirates have the merchandise. In fact on more than one occasion merchant crews mutinied once out to sea and turned pirate due to the poor pay and inadequate leadership. When attacking merchant fleets, prates would use the same tactic that wolves or leopards use when attacking prey. That is, if attacking a group of ship they would pick one out of the fleet, try to separate it from the others and then attack it. When possible they would approach from the bow or stern and always try to keep the ships main guns from facing their approach. As mentioned merchant ships were ships that carried cargo. This included slavers (slave ships), spice ships, and general trade ships. The silver and gold laden Spanish fleets were a special type of merchant fleet often referred to as the "plate fleet". Fishing fleets such as whalers and other type work vessels are not normally considered merchant ships but were also known to fall prey to pirates. As with other sailing ships, a merchant ships type was determined by the number of masts and the way its sails were arranged. Many thanks to Mandarin Lake for placing the original cache.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
pehzoyvat cynpr