Pirate weekend on the Santa Maria

General Participant Information

Because of limited space, it is important to register for this event if you are planning on attending as a re-enactor or pirate participant. There is no obligation if you register and later discover that you can not make it, but please try to inform myself or one of the other organizers if you discover you can not attend (contact information provided on registration).

Please email and/or by clicking on one of the names for information or registration information regarding participating in this event as a re-enactor, pirate, or volunteer.

This event runs from Friday evening (after 6:00 PM) until Sunday late afternoon (5:00 PM) for participants. There are no official activities planned for Friday evening at this time, but this may change. Friday evening is more of an opportunity for those who wish to, stay on board the ship for the night and socialize. Participants are not obligated to join in on every happening of the weekend, but are encouraged to participate as much as reasonably possible.

It is crucial that any and all participants take full responsibility for all of thier own actions, and choose not to engage in any activity that they do not feel fully comfortable with while participating. Also, we ask that if any participant sees any activity that is questionable, dangerous, or not in line with safety protocols, that they report the action immediately to one of the event organizers or ship staff. If reasonable to do so (and not placing yourself in any form of danger) we ask that if you see anything wrong that you take action to prevent dangerous, questionable or unsafe behavior.

What do you need to participate?

You will need a pirate outfit. While historical pirate or general late 17th/early 18th century (1680s AD to 1730s AD) clothing is prefered, this event endeavors to be relaxed and open, and more "pop culture" inspired costumed participants are more than welcome!

To participate in the battles you will need a working flintlock reproduction musket or pistol. Caplocks, or any form of inline firearms are not welcome at this event. Matchlock, wheel-lock, or other pre-18th century styles of muskets or pistols are welcome, but due to the more complex nature of these styles of early weapons, we prefer that you communicate your desire to bring and use these styles of weapons in advance so that we can ensure ourselves that you are competant in such a device's use and safety protocols. Any sword that is fitting to the 1680s AD to 1730s AD timeline, is also welcome, and swords similar or of provenance that is close to this time frame will also suffice. If you intend to do any sword fighting or fencing, please see the "Battle Safety" page about restictions on bladed weapons.

In the past some participants have brought displays for living history demonstrations. We hope to put a larger focus on this for this edition of the event. If you have an idea for a demonstration, please do bring it. If your demonstration is just a talking presentation, aim to keep the demo to around one to two minutes, keeping extra material for further discussion after the tour should any spectator want more in depth information about your talk. If you presentation involves props or items, it is preferable that you attempt to try use props or items that can be stored and put away easily. "Blanket" or small table style demonstrations are ideal, as these can be done on one of the decks of the ship, or on the concourse in front of the ship should space becaome scarce. Please try to keep your demonstrations focussed on on the late 17th to early 18th century time line. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact either or regarding your ideas.

If you plan on staying ("camping out") on the ship, you will also require some portable bedding. Air matresses, small foam sleeping matts, and small frame cots (the smaller the better) are ideal, although we can accommodate hammocks as well. If you are planning on bringing a hammock, please let us know in advance as there is limited space to hang hammocks in a manner that is not obstructive. We ask that you do not bring medium to large wooden frame beds or wooden framed rope beds, as space on the ship is just too limited to safely allow for these types of sleeping gear. Please note that all bedding needs to be stowed away and hidden during public hours. Please keep in mind that if you plan on staying on the ship, while it is free (for participants), privacy is essentially non-existent. So if privacy is a concern for you, you may want to consider other arrangements.

There are hotels nearby, most of which are in the $100 per night range, or if you are willing to drive up to 20 minutes, hotels can be found starting from the $50 to $60 per night range. In the past, some of the local participants have offered spare bedrooms for visiting participants, but that has tended to depend on knowing the visitor. If you are willing to drive a little longer, there are a few public camp ground in the $20 to $30 range within about a 30 to 45 minute drive.

There is free parking for participants in the parking lot across the street from Battelle Park in the City parking lot. This parking is only available at any time on weekends and on weekdays after 6:00 PM. All other parking in the area is either metered, or in paid lots or parking garages. Participants must take responsiblity for parking in the correct area, and paying for their own parking if they do not use the city lot. If you fail to park appropriately, you will be responsible for any tickets, fines, or towing that may result. For more information on parking view the bottom of the "Vistor Information" page. The city parking lot is only accessible via going westbound on W Gay Street.

What to expect

As there is a good deal of variety in what constitutes a re-enactment, so as to not confuse or disapoint any participants, I thought it best to add this section.

The short version of what the pirate participants (and other re-enactors) will be doing over the weekend, is demonstrating and talking to the public about what life was like in the 1680 to 1720 time-frame. The ship will be running it's regular tours, which focus on the origins of the ship and the voyage of Christopher Columbus. The pirates usually stay out of the tours except for those who wish to set up a station to demonstrate or talk about a particular facet of lifetime in the pirate age. We need to try to keep the talks or demonstrations reasonably short (a few minutes) so as to not disrupt the regular tour too much. Each day there will also be a mock battle (battle re-enactment).

Interaction with the spectators can be in first person or third person as per your level of comfort and with what works best with your presentation or interaction style. Please try to keep your interaction with the public family appropriate, but if an adult comes and asks about more about a subject that may not sit well with a more sensitive audience, please don't hesitate to answer or go into further detail on a topic as long as no one who might take offence can hear, pulling the person aside if neccessary (I'm sure they'll understand, specially if they are really that interested in the topic). We are open to participants of other time frames, but the 1680 to 1720 has just been the most popular and majority of the particpants in the past have fit best into that timeframe. For those who wish to set up a talk or demo as a part of the tour, when possible, if you can tie what you are demonstrating or talking about into the original voyage o Santa Maria, or draw comparisons to show differences, it would be greatly beneficial. After the guided formal tour, the ship's visitors will be permitted to wander the ship at their liesure, they usually take this time to ask more detailed questions about the various stations that were being demonstrated during the formal tour. This will also give those who do not wish to work a station on the tour time to interact with the spectators.

Some ideas that have been used as stations as a part of the tour before are:

• A table display with various medical instruments and a talk on period medical practices
• A display of weapons and talks about their uses and differences
• Talk of clothing and fashion of the period
• Navigational tools and techniques

Each day (Saturday and Sunday) there will be one battle re-enactment. The battle tends to be loosely scripted with really only a starting and ending point determined, and some parameters to keep the battle display from getting out of hand. In the past, when time, energy, and resources have permitted, we have done a second battle scenario on the Saturday afternoon. The battle scenarios tend to last about 15 to 20 minutes, but often take an additional ten to fifteen minutes or so prior to the start of the battles to get the participants into place, and ensure the appropriate queues are known.

The ship will be open for tours from noon until 5:00 PM each day (again Saturday and Sunday). This may change, but any time the ship is not open will be free time to do whatever you wish (within reason). After hours, we usually eat supper and socialize. Sometimes gaming to carry on the period ambiance, other times celebrating the birthday of a participant in a fun (and not very historical) fashion (a birthday cake with a working mini-canon instead of a candle). The evenings are really up to the participants as a group and individuals to make what fuin they wish.

As stated, participants will be allowed to stay aboard the ship overnight ("camp" out). Bedding and sleeping gear must be stored out of sight during the public hours for safety reasons as well as to keep a historic look to the event (most participants use more modern sleeping gear for this).

While we do understand those who travel from further out may need to leave earlier on Sunday, when at all possible, we do ask those who can to help tidy up at the end of Sunday after the ship has closed (5:00 PM). The cleanup effort in the past has usually not taken more than an hour, and usually much less than that (many hands making light work). The biggest task tend to be helping get the boats out of the river on the boat ramp. In the past we have only had one boat we have needed to trailer, which only required two or three people to help row and guide the boat, but this time we may have additional boats that may require similar crews for.

A last note, while this event does strive to be more historically focussed in look and feel, we have always kept it open to those of a more entertainment focus. While at many events the two tend to be kept seperate, the Santa Maria pirate weekends has tried to be inclusive for both focuses.