Talk Like a Pirate Day

Warning to all my good friends that are just into SIB building for the ships and don't care about certain people who sailed them you may want to skip this post because today I'm talking about...

It be talk like a pirate day and though I be a bit of a mangy land lubber I twill be enjoying it.  Truth be told this be my type of holiday.  I read a line on the Talk like a pirate day website http://www.talklikeapirate.com/piratehome.html that said, "the point is there is no point."  And that's just it.  If there ever t'were a day to celebrate the ridiculous and down right fun this be it lads.  So grab ye a bottle and a cutlass and let us talk like pirates!

For those that have not heard the tale, talk like a pirate day came in to be'n in 1995 when two scaly wags named John Baur and Mark Summers were playing a game o racket ball.  They t'weren't the most fit of pirates and many an arrr was heard that day while swinging away at that scurvy ball.  This turned into more pirate lingo and they had such a good time they made a day of it and celebrated talk like a pirate day among friends for many a year after.  In 2002 they contacted a columnist and gentleman of fortune by the name of Dave Barry with the idea.  Dave loved it and wrote out the story in a column and the international talk like a pirate day spread like a flock of seagulls before a fly'n cannon ball.  I won't be go'in to the full story but if ye want to spy more on the tale see the afore mentioned website.

I've always enjoyed pirates and it t'was Pirates of the Caribbean 4 that got me into ship in bottle building.  So thought I, it be only natural that I do a talk like a pirate day post.  I thought about showin how to build a pirate ship in a bottle but since I had so recently done that with the Adventure Frigate I set my weather eye on try'n somethin else.  So here be my own tips and tricks to talking like a pirate.

I often hear such lines as "you scurvy dog" and "avast mateys"  put into every day sentences and it always just sounds just a little weak to me.  Like, "Ahoy you scurvy dog there is the doughnut shop what do you say we plunder us some doughnuts."  It's good but I think it could be just a bit better.  Here's how.

There are three simple words that if switched with three other simple words will improve you pirate speakin abilities from being just a simple man before the mast to a true captain.  These words are "is" "it" and "you" and are switched with "be" "that" and "ye".  For example "Arrr you scurvy dog, it is the one!"  Becomes "Arrrr ye scurvy dog, that be the one!"

Then the afore mentioned sentence becomes, "Ahoy ye scurvy dog that be the doughnut shop what say ye plunder us some doughnuts."  Not only does it sound more piratey but now your talking your friend into getting you doughnuts instead of helping in the plunder.  Ye have now risen to the rank of Captain.

Now if ye be addin these three words to the other pirate phrases found through out the endless seas of the internet ye soon be talkin like an old sea dog.  So go have a fun talk like a pirate day ye gentlemen of fortune and thank ye kindly for readin this here blog.  Enjoy the below video it be my new favorite tune.

Ready The Long Boats!

I stumbled across a new technique while digging through the photo's on the Yahoo forum.  I won't mention which one since SIB builders on the forum are a humble folk and don't usually take a liking to drawing attention to them selves and this blog is very public.  Did I just say take a liking?  Wow too much study for my up coming talk like a pirate day post.  Any way if you want to find the inspiration for this post dig into the yahoo forum photos and you'll find it.  As well as a lot of other inspiration, the yahoo forum files and photos have a lot of good stuff.  

So this post is all about turning a match stick...

...into a long boat small enough to fit on a dime.

Long boat's, dingy's, life boats what ever you want to call them they are a fun accessory to ships in bottles.  Trouble is making one small enough to look the part.  Here is a fairly quick and easy method.  I say fairly because lets face it your dealing with super small parts and it can get tricky.

First take your match stick and mark out the size you want your boat.

Then sand the end.  It is important to leave the boat on the match stick at this point since it gives you a place to hold on while you cut and sand.

Next use a dremel to cut the spaces between the seats.  I usually use three cuts but do what you think looks right.  

The end result should be something like this.

Once that's done sand down the middle seats so they're just a little bit lower.  This makes it look like they are seats in the bottom of the boat.  

Now get out a separate match stick.  This one will be used to create the side of the boat.  Use a razor blade to cut a paper thin strip of wood.  This may take a few tries.  

Cut out two small strips.  

Cover the whole side of the ship with glue and glue the strips onto the sides.  This is important since you'll be sanding on the boat and if they aren't glued tight they can come off.  Also glue the strip so it sicks up a little above the top of the match stick.  You want it to look like you can actually sit in it.  

Now sand the boat into shape.  This is one of the hardest parts since it is so small so be patient with it.  

It is finally time to cut the boat off the match stick and do the final touch up sanding.  You may need to add another strip of wood to the back as well to match the height of the sides.  

Once the boat is off the match stick it will be much harder to handle so try to do most of the sanding while it's on.  As far as the back of the boat goes I like to taper up the bottom and sides just a bit to give it a good shape.  Pretty much just make it look like a boat.  

Congratulations your done!  From here it can be painted stained or just glued onto the ship.  

Thank you for reading and have fun building!