Pirate weekend on the Santa Maria

The "Dead Man's Chest" from the first auction (May 2009)

The auction is based on an idea that was originally geared towards the "Fort Zachary Taylor Pirate Festival" which is a part of the "Pirates In Paradise" festival in Key West Florida. The idea grew out of a suggestion to raise funds to help preserve and rebuild Fort Zachary Taylor by a member of the Pyracy Pub forum. The concept was originally going to be a chest of goods to be auctioned off to raise money, and hopefully provide the lucky winning bidder with enough goods to start off a pirate impression with everything contained in the chest. Because of the overwhelming suport for the auction by it's supporters, more items were donated than could fit into the chest, so it was decided to auction off the items individually.

After participating in the first auction at Fort Zachary Taylor and seeing it's success, I asked the originator of the idea if he would mind if we did a similar auction for the cause of the Santa Maria, and he agreed whole heartedly and made a generous donation of a chest, a fire starting kit, and some brass buttons perfect for pirate era costuming to the auction. We kept the name the same in tribute to the originator of the idea, because it has a good pop-culture appeal, and the idea and concept works incredibly well thematically. Several other donations of goods were made, and rather than auctioning the items off to the participants only, the auction was put on eBay where the funds raised in the auction could be directly donated to the ship's account. Bidders on the items included a number of the participants and volunteers, as well as many well wishers from further abroad that could not make it to the event, and even spectators were invited to bid on items of interest.

Pirates giving money to a Spanish Galleon? It's a strange world we live in. The Columbus Santa Maria has been good to our pirate group (see the "History" page) and it is in a budget squeeze so we are doing a benefit to help the ship. All proceeds will be automatically donated to the ship. Note the starting bid on auction items is the minimum for eBay charitable donations.

Contributors who donated items for the September 2009 Auction

• Taylor-Rose Historical Outfitters
• Shananigens In Leather
• Old Sutler John
• Individuals, both participants in the event, and supporters from afar.

Thanks to all of those who contributed to the second "Dead Man's Chest" auction for the Santa Mara!

Contributors to the first Auction (May 2009)

• Old Sutler John
• The Pirates of the Coast
• The Santa Maria's Gift Store
• Shananigens In Leather
• Many Individuals, both participants in the event, and supporters from afar.

Thanks to all of those who contributed to the first "Dead Man's Chest" auction for the Santa Mara!

If you have an item or items you would wish to donate to the next Auction, please contact via email.