AMAZING TREASURE!

Ahoy shipmates!

Exciting news! A sunken treasure ship has just been found off the coast of Colombia in the Caribbean. She’s called the San Jose and she’s got the biggest haul of treasure ever. Lots of gold and jewellery. She was sunk in 1708 but not by pirates. It was the British navy who did it. If only I could tell my friends on the Sea Wolf back in 1706 that in two year's time she would be sailing in the Caribbean. Then they could attack her and steal the treasure. But then it wouldn't be found in the 21^st century! And who knows what else might go wrong if I start interfering with history!

Here’s a picture of the San Jose being sunk.

The pirate flag of the most fearsome pirate ever

Ahoy Shipmates. I was imagining what flag Sinbad the ship’s cat would have. Though he doesn’t need a scary flag to strike terror into pirates’ hearts. They’re all too frightened to come near him!

But I thought it would be fun to make one for him anyway. So keep a look out because here it comes!

Have you made your own pirate flag yet?

Gruesome pirate flags!

Fire Fire!

Remember how my shipmates were in terrible danger at the hand of Captain Blackheart? I wonder if you’ve guessed what I did to save them.

I crept into the galley – that’s the kitchen to you landlubbers. Peter the cook always has the fire in the stove going. I found a big fat wooden ladle and set fire to it. Then I ran out onto the deck, dodging Blackheart’s men, and flung my flaming torch at the Grinning Skull.  But nothing caught fire!

Luckily for me, one of the villains picked it up to throw it overboard. He was so clumsy that he set fire to his own sail! Soon the ship was ablaze. Captain Blackheart had no choice but to rush back with all his men and put out the blaze. The moment they’d gone, we set sail in the other direction!

When we were out of danger we stopped to make repairs - and dinner. It tasted worse than ever. Peter couldn’t stir anything because his favourite ladle had gone!

Save the Crew!

What do you think I did when my shipmates were in trouble?

I rubbed the coin and came home.

Only joking!

No one had seen me so I went below, waded through the water that was gushing in and plugged the hole in the hull with a rum barrel. But what could I do next?I couldn't fight Blackheart’s crew single-handed. I had to take them by surprise. Did I . . .

A)      Dress up as a ghost and scare the enemy overboard?

B)       Fire a flaming torch at the Grinning Skull so the blackguards had to go back to put the fire out?

C)        Dance a hornpipe and made the villains laugh?

Enemy Ahoy!

Hope you’ve all had great swashbuckling holidays, shipmates!

Well you’ve had plenty of time to decide what you think happened next when I went back to the Sea Wolf. Was it A, B or C? The answer is . . . it was all three!!  Unbelievable but true. Blackheart and his crew had attacked in the middle of a storm and I could see that one of The Grinning Skull's cannonballs had blasted the mainmast to splinters. I heard Captain Blade shouting that another one had made a big hole in the hull of the Sea Wolf.  My friends were fighting a desperate fight all over the decks and up and down the rigging. Luckily no one saw me sneak onto the deck. What do 

you think I did?

A)               Rubbed my coin and escape to Backwater Bay?

B)                Swam for shore?

C) Found a way to save my friends - and their ship?

What happened next?

Ahoy holiday shipmates!

I’ve been on holiday - and it rained nearly every day. I didn’t mind though, as there were lots of places to visit. One day it rained so hard that Mum and Dad said we had to stay in all morning! I decided it was time to go and see my friends on the Sea Wolf. Pirates don’t care how wet they get.

But when I rubbed my gold doubloon and popped up in the storeroom on board I found . . .

Here’s some clues. What do you think happened?

A)            The Sea Wolf was in the middle of a raging storm and the main mast had snapped.

B)             There was a hole in the hull and the Sea Wolf was sinking – fast.

C)              The Sea Wolf was in the middle of fight with The Grinning Skull and it looks as if Captain Blackheart and his vicious crew were winning the battle.

Ahoy there shipmates, here be the pirate quiz answers!

Pirate Quiz, me hearties!

Happy Holidays, Shipmates!

Ahoy there shipmates!  Have a swashbuckling summer holiday, wherever you’re going. I’m off to the Caribbean - 300 years in the past - to see the crew of the Sea Wolf, of course. Let me know what you get up to and don’t forget to tell me about the strange places you have read a book. But make sure you stay safe.

My mum once read a book on the top of a mountain in winter and the pages iced up!

Ahoy there, Ash Class!

Knock Knock!

How Harry Hopp lost his leg

Harry Hopp told me how he lost his leg but I’m not sure I believe him. He said there’d been a tremendous battle with Blackheart and he was fighting ten men at once and only noticed his leg had gone when he fell over.

Ned said that was rubbish. Harry had lost it when he was cutting his toenails with his cutlass. Then Captain Blade chipped in. He thought Harry had stepped in Peter’s stew when he’d had too much rum. Ben had heard Harry had lost his leg in a race against a shark. Charlie said they were all wrong. He’d been born with one leg and his mum had sent him to be a pirate where his pegleg would fit right in. Sinbad didn’t say anything. He just sharpened his claws on it.

What do you think, shipmates?

Peculiar Pirate Pet Puzzle - the answers!

Here are the answers to my Peculiar Pirate Pet puzzle.

The weevil belongs to Blackbeard.

Mary’s pet is the parrot.

The shark is Henry Morgan’s.

Calico Jack is the proud owner of a blue whale.

Did you get it right?

Peculiar Pirate Pet Puzzle - Helpful Hint three

Look at all the clues and you can find out where Jack’s pet comes in the grid. 

Peculiar Pirate Pet Puzzle - helpful hint two

Ahoy there, shipmates! Here’s another hint to my peculiar pirate pet puzzle.

Mary’s pet is bigger than Blackbeard’s. So it has to be either the shark or the blue whale. Cross off the weevil and the parrot for Mary!

Peculiar Pirate Pet Puzzle - helpful hint one!

How are you getting on with the puzzle, shipmates?

Here's some help if you're stuck. 

Blackbeard’s pet cannot be the largest pet - a blue whale - because Blackbeard’s pet smaller than Jack’s. It can’t be the second biggest either - shark - because Mary’s pet is also bigger. So there are at least two pets bigger than Blackbeard’s. If you’re using the grid you can put two crosses in. 

Hint two coming up soon!

Peculiar Pirate Pet Puzzle!

Four pirates have different pets. Work out which pet belongs to which pirate.

1. Blackbeard’s pet is smaller than Calico Jack’s.

2. Mary’s pet is bigger than Blackbeard’s.

3. Jack’s pet is bigger than Henry’s.

4. Mary’s pet is smaller than Henry’s.

I used a grid like this to work out the answers.

	weevil	parrot	shark	blue whale
Blackbeard	.	.	*.	.
Calico Jack	.	.	.	.
Mary Bonney	.	.	.	.
Henry Morgan	.	.	.	.

I’ll give you the answers next week.

Good luck, shipmates!

The problems with being a time travelling pirate 4

Pirates don’t know much about school so when I mentioned I’d got in trouble with my teacher for kicking a football and breaking a window, I thought I’d be all right. The crew were surprised that a farmer’s son went to school but they loved the story of how my ball landed in the fish tank (the fish were all right). Then I made my big mistake. I told them my teacher’s name – Miss Elliot. They all gawped at me. ‘Your teacher is a woman?’ growled Harry Hopp suspiciously. I’d forgotten that in 1706 all the teachers were men. I quickly said that of course my teacher wasn’t a woman. His name was Mister Misselliot!

The trouble with being a time travelling pirate 3

Charlie had to kick me again the other day. I was telling Harry Hopp about my mother. You probably remember that pirates love their mothers more than anything else in the world – even treasure. The pirates think my mum is a widow with a small farm, not that she runs a fish and chip shop with my dad. They also think she is very wise. I had just told him that she knew all about fish and he asked me how she’d got so clever. Without thinking, I said she read it on the Internet! He looked at me very strangely. I quickly changed it to she bred them in a net.

Think I got away with it! 

The problems with being a time travelling pirate 2

Oops! I’ve done it again. I impressed the crew by knowing all about sharks in the Caribbean. Then I said I’d got it from our TV. Charlie, who knows I’m from the future, gave me a kick. The crew looked really puzzled. ‘Your TV?’ said Captain Blade. ‘Is the boy mad?’ I had to think of something so I said that our Teevee is our local wise man who lives up the hill near our farm.

Think I got away with it!

The problems of being a time travelling pirate

I love travelling back in time to the Sea Wolf and being a pirate for a while. I can’t wait for the moment that I spit on my special doubloon and give it a rub and Whoosh! I’m back in 1706, all ready for another adventure.

But! It’s not easy remembering not to talk about things that haven’t been invented yet. Some of the crew wouldn’t understand. They would think I was a witch or a spy for the governor and they’d throw me overboard for the sharks to feast on.

So if you ever find a magic doubloon and join a pirate ship from 300 years ago, I’m going to give you some tips over the next few blogs.

Here is tip number one – Don’t talk about mobile phones! We know all about them but for a pirate in the past, the first phone call won’t be made for another 170 years. And they’ll have to wait even longer for a mobile one.

I don’t think a mobile would be much use to a pirate anyway. It would be hard to get a signal out at sea.

Q. Why didn’t the pirate’s phone work?

A Because he left it off the hook!

Look at this amazing ship!

This amazing ship was built nearly 100 years before the Sea Wolf. She’s in a museum in Sweden and she looks massive! Her name is the Vasa and she sank the first time she went out. The people who built her knew she wasn’t stable enough to sail, but they didn’t dare tell the King of Sweden, who wanted her to go into battle straight away. One bit of wind and she capsized! I’d love to go to Sweden to see her. The divers who found her brought up lots of amazing stuff - including food! Even after more than 300 years at the bottom of the sea I bet it would taste better than Peter’s cooking! 

Captain Kidd's treasure

Divers think they’ve found some of Captain Kidd’s treasure. A lump of silver, heavier than me, has been found in the sea near Madagascar. It was close to the wreck of a ship and they believe the ship is the Adventure Galley and that was Captain Kidd’s ship. The divers say there’s more metal down there at the wreck. It’s very dark so they haven’t worked out whether it’s more precious metal or not. Hope there is.  If it wasn’t so far from the Caribbean I’d tell Captain Blade and the Sea Wolf crew to go and look for it.

Only two problems with that. 1) It’s too deep underwater for pirates 300 years ago. 2) If my crew found it then it wouldn’t have been discovered today and I wouldn’t have heard about it to tell the crew to go and find it! That makes my head hurt!

Race to find the Treasure of Lima

Since the Treasure of Lima was stolen, hundreds of treasure hunters have travelled to Cocos Island to find it. One man, August Gissler, even lived on the island for 19 years but he didn’t find it. Some people think that the riches were never buried there but instead they were hidden on the coast of Central America. This doesn’t stop explorers going to Cocos Island. They’re sure that they will be the ones to find the amazing hoard. Wouldn’t it be great to be the one to find it!

The Treasure of Lima

Two hundred years ago, Lima in Peru had some amazing treasures. But the Viceroy decided that this fabulous wealth would be safer in Mexico for safekeeping. Some people believe it was worth about 40 million pounds. It was all put on a ship called the Mary Dear. Her captain was William Thompson. But Thompson and his crew decided to become pirates. They killed the guards and set sail for Cocos Island, near Costa Rica, where it’s said they buried the treasure. They were going to come back at another time to divide up all the riches.

But the ship was captured and the crew were put on trial for piracy. Everyone was hanged except for Captain Thompson and his first mate. They promised to lead their captors to the treasure. But when they reached Cocos Island, they managed to escape into the jungle. Thompson, his first mate and the treasure was never seen again.

The Lioness of Brittany

Here’s a fierce pirate – Jeanne de Clisson. She was French and after her husband was executed she started attacking the King of France’s ships. She was called the Lioness of Brittany. Her ships were black with red sails so they must have looked really awesome. Mrs de Clisson would personally kill her captives in revenge for her husband. She always left a few alive so they could spread the tale of how fierce she was. The amazing thing is, she didn’t die in battle or on the hangman’s noose. She retired to England! I wouldn’t have liked to be her neighbour! 

Warning! Don't try this in 1706.

Here’s a silly joke for you, shipmates.

Why do seagulls fly over the sea?

Because if they flew over the bay, they’d be bagels!

Warning… don’t try it on a pirate crew from 300 years ago like I did. They hadn’t heard of bagels.  

Captain Kidd

I’ve just heard a great story about Captain Kidd.  He was a pirate hunter who was sent off in 1696 to sort out the pirates of the Indian Ocean. Half way through the long journey he decided he would make more money by becoming a pirate himself instead of hunting them. He was captain of his ship and known as a great fighter and seaman. So when his crew threatened to mutiny, what did he do? Showed them who was boss with his swashbuckling skills? Made the traitors walk the plank? No. He killed one of them by hitting him over the head with a bucket!

Easter Eggs Ahoy

I’ve just had an eggy adventure with the pirates on the Sea Wolf. When I arrived it was all calm. Too calm. There was no wind and they hadn’t moved for days. Everyone was bored. The only ones who’d been doing any work were the chickens in their coop. Peter was about to cook something with all the eggs. So I suggested that we decorate them instead for Easter. We boiled them up in a pan of onion skins which turned the eggs orange. Then I got them to draw faces on using charcoal from the galley fire. At first the pirates refused – except for Charlie. But when they saw we were enjoying ourselves - especially when we made a Harry Hopp egg - everyone joined in.

Then we had a lucky escape – well, two really. A wind suddenly came along – and so did Captain Blackheart and his crew on the Grinning Skull! There wasn’t time to get the cannon ready so we pelted them with eggs. Not sure if the enemy scarpered because of the gruesome-looking faces on the eggs, or because they were rock hard as Peter had boiled them up too long. So we were lucky we didn’t get battered by Blackheart – and even luckier that we hadn’t tried to eat the eggs!

Chocs aweigh!

School holidays! Only 6 days to Easter - and lots of chocolate eggs! I’d like to take some to my friends on the Sea Wolf but there are 2 problems. First, I can’t take anything back in time apart from the clothes I’m wearing and second, chocolate eggs hadn’t been invented in 1706. They don’t know what they’re missing!

I found the headless pirate's head!

 I've found the headless pirate’s head! Well, his skull. It’s in a museum in Hamburg in Germany. See the spike sticking up in it? When he was killed, his head was displayed on a spike to warn others not to be pirates. Stortebeker isn’t his real name but a nickname. It means to empty the mug in one gulp. So I reckon he drank lots of beer. The model is what they think he looked like. He reminds me of my friend Ben Hudson, from the Sea Wolf!

March of the headless pirate

I've found an awesome story about a real headless pirate. Klaus Stortebeker was executed 600 years ago. But before they chopped his head off, he made a deal that if his headless body could walk past any of his crew they would be spared. He managed to get past eleven of his pirates before the executioner put out a foot and tripped him up. What a cheat!

The headless pirate

Did you enjoy World Book Day, shipmates? I had a great time. I stuck a cardboard box on my shoulders and Mum helped me drape my pirate costume around it so that I looked headless. I had two small holes to see through. Then I carried a false head under my arm. Dad took a picture and I think my costume looked good. I had to think quickly when my teacher asked me which book character I was. I told her I was an executed pirate and she could take her pick! Luckily she had no idea that executed pirates didn't have their heads chopped off.

After school, I had a brilliant idea about playing a trick on the crew of the Sea Wolf. I rubbed my gold doubloon and went back to the Sea Wolf, still in costume. My plan was to come up from the storeroom, groaning and waving my arms about. (I had to leave the false head behind because only the clothes I’m wearing go back in time with me.) But when I got up on deck, the crew were in the middle of a terrible fight. Captain Blackheart and his vicious band had boarded the ship. Suddenly everyone stopped fighting. They all stared at me and then they all dived over the side, even my friends. Apart from Charlie who can’t swim. She grabbed Sinbad and started to climb the rigging to get away. At that moment, Crow landed on my shoulder and began to nibble at the cardboard through my costume. Charlie guessed it was me and came back down. When the rest of the crew returned, Harry Hopp declared that he’d known it was me all along and he’d been chasing the enemy away. Captain Blade wasn’t very amused. I spent the next two hours scrubbing the deck!

World Book Day Costume Nearly Ready!

I’ve nearly got my pirate costume ready for World Book Day. I cut some old jeans short and made them look ragged at the knees. I’ve got a striped tee shirt and an old corduroy waistcoat of my dad’s. Gran gave me an inflatable parrot to stick on my shoulder. Mum bought me some stripy socks and some pirate buckles on elastic to go round my school shoes. I wanted to go barefoot like Charlie and Fernando but I couldn’t tell her that. My trips to the Sea Wolf are secret.

Now just to think how to do the headless part – and the peg leg!

World Book Day Costume

Hey shipmates! It’s World Book Day next week. What are you going to dress up as? I’m going to be a pirate of course. And I have a great idea. I’m going to be a headless pirate. I’m not sure how I’m going to do it yet but I’ll think of something.

Nine words in our PIRATES sentence. New record!

Remember I went back to the Sea Wolf? Well, Charlie enjoyed joining in the game. She changed the sentence. Now we’re up to nine words.

IRATE pirates eat ripe RAT pies at tea parties!

Can anyone do any better?

We had one sticky moment. Harry Hopp heard us talking and wanted to know what a blog is. I blurted out I’d just seen a blue log and at the same time, Charlie said she’d seen a big log. So then we tried to pretend we’d seen a big, blue log. Harry Hopp stumped off, scratching his bald head and muttering that we were mazed! 

Rat pies!

Lucy’s added another great word. Pirates eat ripe pear pies at TEA parties!  And Sam says if Peter’s made the pies they’d be rat pies!!

Half term challenge, new record!

Ahoy shipmates!

George added two words so it’s now Pirates eat pear pies at parties.

Here’s my go. Pirates eat ripe pear pies at parties! That's seven words now.

I’m going to go back to the Sea Wolf and see if Charlie wants to have a go. We’ll have to keep it secret from the rest of the crew. Imagine trying to explain blog and internet to a pirate!

Half term challenge continues!

Ahoy shipmates!  Sam – great name – has sent me this sentence using the words we made from PIRATES.

Pirates eat pies.  

Although he says he doesn’t think they do if they’re made by Peter!

Anyway I’ve made it longer.

Pirates eat pear pies.

Can you add anything?

Half term challenge

Happy half-term, shipmates. I’m going to try and make a sentence using the words that we all found in PIRATES. Wonder how many words I can use. Why don’t you have a go? Don’t forget you can have really short words like at and is and a. 

Another PIRATES anagram

Ahoy shipmates. My seven letter word that I made from the letters of PIRATES is TRAIPSE. (Tray-ps) It means to trudge off somewhere you don’t want to go. Like when you traipse after your mum when she’s shopping. Try sticking it in a story. I did and my teacher was really impressed.

Well done Lauren!!!

Calling all wordfinding shipmates! Lauren has found the word PARTIES which uses all the letter in PIRATES! Well done Lauren!!! I’ll tell you mine tomorrow.

Pirate challenge continues!

Ahoy shipmates. I’ve found a word that I can make from all the letters in PIRATES! Can anyone else find it? 

Sam's list of words from PIRATES!

Ahoy shipmates! I got 62 words from the word Pirates. Can you do better than that?

air

airs

art

arts

ate

ear

ears

eat

eats

pair

pairs

par

part

parts

past

pat

pear

pest

pet

pets

pie

pies

pirate

pit

pits

rap

raps

rat

rate

rates

rats

reap

rest

rip

rips

sap

sat

set

sip

sir

sit

spar

spare

spat

spit

stair

stap

star

stare

tap

tar

tars

tea

tear

tears

teas

tie

ties

tip

tips

trap

traps