James Masciarelli

Seeker, Author, Storyteller

On the Water

Magnificent Brigantines: A Pirate Heritage

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The-Eye-of-the-Wind
The Eye of the Wind

Readers of Beyond Beauport include sailors, boaters, beach readers and landlubbers.
Sailors and non-sailors alike have expressed their pleasure of nautical descriptions and maritime history woven into the story. A brigantine, Second Wind plays a character and central image in my novel Beyond Beauport. I won’t reveal her secrets here.

Brigantines were a favorite for Mediterranean pirates in the thirteenth century, when the design was a sail and oar driven set up. The Italian word brigante means rascal and bandit. The designs evolved, as did intrigue, wickedness, and defense! Brigantines became popular among British colonies of North America before the War of Independence. They evolved to become the perfect choice for privateering, piracy, smuggling and attending to protect fleets of larger merchant vessels.

The vessel Eye of the Wind pictured in this blog is an excellent example of later designs, with a taller foremast fully square rigged and the mainmast fore and aft rigged. Eye of the Wind is a movie star that appeared in Tai-Pan, White Squall, and The Blue Lagoon.

Which brings me to one of my favorite movies—White Squall, starring Jeff Bridges and Caroline Goodall on a school sailing voyage. Eye of the Wind plays the ill-fated brigantine school sailing ship Albatross which sank in 1961, allegedly from an encounter with a white squall. While this 1996 movie, directed by Ridley Scott, was not a big box office success, I can assure you that it is a fabulous nautical adventure and human drama that you will want to see again and again.


Here are stamps with old ports of call… Enjoy!

On This Day in 1789, Pirate Rachel Wall Was Hanged at Boston Common

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On this day October 8, 1789, 229 years ago Rachel Wall was hanged at Boston Common near the corner of Tremont and Boylston street.

Rachel and her husband George moved from Boston to Essex near Gloucester, Massachusetts to launch their plan to raid vessels off the North Shore. She was actually arrested and convicted of highway robbery, for stealing a bonnet! Rachel’s execution took place on under an order signed by the Governor of Massachusetts, John Hancock, yes, the same man who signed his name on the Declaration of Independence.

Rachel Wall was the last woman hanged in America’s oldest park, Boston Common. and believed to be the only female pirate born in America. Was she hung for piracy and stealing from sailors and captains along Boston’s waterfront or for a petty crime?

Cindy Vallar has a great article on Rachel at the fabulous Pirates and Privateers: The History of Maritme Piracy. Check it out and decide for yourself!

In the first chapter of Beyond Beauport, Shannon Clarke, our main character dramatizes the story of Rachel Wall with her drinking friends:

“Pirate Rachel Wall, a thief who ran away from her strict religious family in Pennsylvania at sixteen and married sherman George Wall. They came to Boston. She worked as a servant on Beacon Hill, but George had a get-rich-quick scheme. They moved up this way to Essex to become pirates.”
Shannon held her friends in rapt attention. “Here’s the thing,” she continued. “Rachel was a seductress and thief. George was a murderous thug. He’d borrow a schooner and head north
for the Isles of Shoals as a storm passed. George and his men would hide below deck while Rachel pretended to be alone and adrift, calling out for help with a torn blouse. When another vessel came to her rescue, George and his men would ascend on deck to plunder the other vessel, scuttle it, and drown the crew.”

You can begin reading now with your own copy HERE!

The Versatile Grand Banks Dory

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Fishing schooners from the mid-1800s were like mother ships, with dories stacked like cups on deck and dispatched with one or two men each morning with hand lines, and bait, to catch and haul up to 1200 pounds of fish from the Grand Banks of Newfoundland.

With ten to twelve dories returning multiple times to the schooner, tons of fish would be landed in a day. The most common size dory, we still row in America’s Oldest Seaport, Gloucester, Ma., is 17 feet with two rowing stations, weighing just under 400 pounds. It is amazing how such a heavy boat with 9+foot oars can plow through the waves.

A great read, by  Captain Barry Fisher, A Doryman’s  Day,  is an engaging adventure of a young boy in Gloucester that became a dory fisherman. Our maritime culture is preserved by many fine organizations: Gloucester Maritime, Gloucester International Dory Racing Committee, Cape Ann Historical Museum, and Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association.

Any day spent with my son Jason, and friends in Gloucester Harbor is a great day, Rowing is a super workout–on kayaks, dories, skiffs and at the gym. Your posture will be better for it.