Guest Author - Robin Rounds Whittemore

It seems that everyone is in love with pirates these days. Hollywood has made a lot of money recently with Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and a whole slew of pirates. There was a pirate musical/opera called The Pirates of Penzance? Pirates even grace bottles of alcohol as in Captain Morgan. Who could forget Captain Hook in Peter Pan? Treasure Island was a book that many students had to read for their English Lit class. Pirates are out in force on Halloween, pillaging and plundering for candy, and other treats.

In the state of Florida, the city of Tampa holds a Gasparilla Festival in honor of Jose Gaspar. Gaspar was a pirate that invaded the waters around the Tampa Bay area. He sailed from approximately 1789 to 1821. The festival is usually held on the first Saturday in February. The mayor of the city is “captured” and surrenders the keys to the city. Afterwards a pirate fest ensues, complete with a parade as many decorated boats, including a pirate ship, float in the bay.

Before Hollywood, Disney and others took on the romance and profitability of pirates, the real world had its’ share. There were some that were famous and most people have heard of. Blackbeard was one such pirate. He roamed the seas with hemp smoking in his hair as he battled. Most stories of him have his birth name listed as Edward Teach. Jean Lafitte ruled the waters in the Gulf of Mexico. He helped the US in the Battle of New Orleans. John Paul Jones who made the claim, “I have not yet begun to fight”, was considered a pirate by the British.

Back in 75 BC, Julius Caesar was kidnapped by pirates. The ransom was paid and Caesar continued on with his life. That would most likely not happen today. Pirates of today use AK-47’s, satellites and modern technology to capture what they are after. Crews of captured ships may be killed, or forced to drift in a lifeboat setting. Their captured ships are usually what the pirates use to overtake the next ship.

The International Maritime Bureau has weekly piracy reports that you can check out on their website. Before planning a cruise, it would be wise to check out their website and do a few searches on modern day piracy. Pirates do not usually attack cruise ships, and this is not meant to warn you away from a cruise. Just make sure that your cruise is not going to be going into dangerous waters.

The bureau does list the most dangerous waters and informs you what has been happening in those particular parts of the world. Reading through the list, it does look like a lot of the pirates go for ships at anchor, but will attack ships that are actually travelling. The areas most warned about are: Southeast Asia and India, Africa and the Red Sea, South and Central America, and the Caribbean waters.