Pirate Invasion, Beaufort, N.C.

Beaufort Pirate Invasion is with Autumn Gillespie and 6 others at Town of Swansboro.

Sunday April 22nd, 2018 - 9:22 pm

"BEAUFORT PIRATE INVASION (AUGUST 10-11, 2018) invades PIRATE FEST, Swansboro, NC, with Captain Horatio Sinbad and Lieutenant Terry Brown. ... See MoreSee Less

Beaufort Pirate Invasion added 3 new photos.

Monday April 16th, 2018 - 10:35 am

FROM THE CROW'S NEST:
ROBERT ISENBERG ("Dutch")
Meet "Dutch" at Beaufort Pirate Invasion (August 10-11, 2018)

As a boy I recall taking the Thimble Islands Tour with my family out of Stony Creek, Connecticut. It was pretty cool. These little glacial rock islands. Some not much bigger than the homes built upon them. Then the Captain said something that caught my attention “Over there is Kidd's Cove on ‘Money Island'! They say Kidd's Treasure is buried on the Island but none have found it so far!” Though we didn't get out to Money Island my brother and I dug plenty of holes in the Connecticut Shore of Long Island Sound in our section of beach known as Mamauguin the name given by the Quinnipiac Tribe. Though we failed to find Kidd's Treasure this planted a seed in me that began a life of sailing and an interest in pirates that over 60 years later has not yet waned.

I began my first trip south from New England in my teens. I've made the trip up and down the east coast by Intracoastal waterway, near shore and offshore many times each route. Mainly for deliveries. I did many to the Bahamas but like the Caribbean, brought more boats back. I had several jobs in the marine industry serving to advance to my ultimate goal. I started working for a maintenance company that did scheduled cleaning and maintenance of metal and teak. We did paint and varnish work as well. Next I sold marine supplies. I became more than familiar with fitting out a vessel. Then I got a job at a brokerage selling mostly cruising sail. During this time I continued to do deliveries as they came up. In 1979 the Captain of an Alden ketch that I'd supplied with equipment and stayed in touch with called me. He asked me if I'd like to join the boat in Panama and sail to Hawai'i. It was a no brainer! I flew to Panama, transited the Canal and after 28 days made the Marquesas, French Polynesia. Like nothing I'd ever seen before and people like none I'd met before. We were given 30 days visas and used that to sail to three islands. I saw the grave of the French Impressionist, Paul Gauguin. It was a dream of a lifetime. From the Marquesas we sailed 18 days to Hawai'i. I stayed aboard in Hawai'i for a while. Truly a beautiful place to live.

I'm retired and living aboard the second boat that I wasn’t running for someone else. In other words, no one is sending the checks!! In retrospect I've lived aboard longer than I've lived ashore.

Aside from the boat business in Florida in the ‘70s my interest in Pirates began in “Kidd's Cove” and the movies of the 1950s. Who didn't want to be Jim Hawkins? About 10 years ago I brought in my power cord, hose and docklines and left Fort Lauderdale. My destination was Beaufort, NC. I had some good friends here and I was over the rush of South Florida. When I got here, an honest mariner, retired gentleman, I was introduced to Capt. Horatio Sinbad. A nice enough fellow. Clever and skilled by the vessel he'd built. Well, ol' Dutch, as I'm known gets taken in. The next thing I know, I'm on the account! In your shore jargon, gone Pirate! What took me in wasn't the gold neither! It were the Clothes! Cap'n sez “If ye finds ‘em and ye likes ‘em, ye keeps ‘em!” Why wouldn’t ye know that bein' one bein' one o' me weaknesses! I likes them fineries! So here I be. Once an Honest Mariner now Pirate! Bo's'un o' the “Meka”II, Armed Brig, 8 guns of Beaufort, NC, Horatio Sinbad, Master. Keep to the Code and Reef Early! Since that introduction I have attended Pirate Events from Eastport, Maine to Key West, Florida. I've been invited to join the 1812 Marine Guard of the USS Constitution. It seems they never got the memo regarding my status as an “honest mariner”!! I was able to tour “Old Ironsides” in kit which was quite a thrill. Below is a photo of me in her companionway with its beautifully carved Eagle. My annual events have been Hampton, VA, Bald Head Island, NC, Beaufort, NC, St. Augustine, FL and Key West, FL. I've done events in New Bedford, MA, New Jersey and in New York State.

Although it's become a bit harder for me to get around these days the camaraderie of these pirate reenactors is such that I've been able to enjoy every event I have been able to attend. ... See MoreSee Less