betterthanaplan: (arrrrrrrrrrrrr)
Duke Crocker ([personal profile] betterthanaplan) wrote in [community profile] fandomhigh2019-09-18 12:15 am
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So You Want to Be a Pirate!, Wednesday, period two

"Welcome back, me mateys!" Duke greeted, this time greeting the class from a lean against the center mast of the Danger Shop's ship program. "Ye've been on me crew for two weeks now, and it's time to start pullin' your weight. But before I can start orderin' you to swab the poop deck or batten down the hatches, you're going to need to know what the hell those things are." He pulled a sheath of papers from his waist coat and brandished them in the air. "For that we have worksheets." Because Duke was not at all above stealing a kid's ship parts activity from the National Park Service. At all.

"Take a look at that and if ye've got a pen and can write, give a shot at labelling it on yer own time." Duke shrugged. "Or rip it apart and throw it in the sea. That's probably more pirate-y. But it should cover the basics."

He started to pace across the deck, his hands folded behind his back.. "Now there be several types of sailing ship — or 'tall ship' as they're sometimes called. This one. . . ." He frowned up at the masts, his pirate accent petering right out. ". . . I'm guessing is a galleon? Probably? Look, tall ships be not my area of expertise. My own boat runs on a motor." He shrugged. "But! It is much easier to swing dramatically into battle when your ship is covered with ropes and sails! Square ones in this case. And the lateen one at the back, for when the wind's against you. Down here on the decks, we have our main deck, as we're standing on here, the forecastle at the front by the bow of the ship, the poop deck naturally enough in the rear! Or stern, to be nautical, because we can't call things the same as they do on land. There's a rule. Which means that that way is port!" He pointed to the left. "And that'd be starboard." The right. "For masts! We have the foremast!" He pointed to the one up front. "The main mast!" The center. "And the mizzenmast!" The rear. "The crossbeams there are called yardarms, the ropes are rigging, and that little bucket up there at the top is the crow's nest. That . . . should about cover it for our purposes, really." He rubbed the back of his head. "Take a look around and explore. See if you can name any of the stuff I skipped. Fuck around with the rigging for awhile and see what it does. I'm pretty sure we can't actually break anything in here, so — go nuts really." He swung his fist and gave a little sneer. "It be the pirate way."

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