Pirate

The older man grabbed them and ordered the two crewmen to their oars. In seconds, the boat had turned and was moving fast toward our ship. I leaned back toward the older man and pointed to a route that would take us out of sight of the Navy boat.

We reached the schooner a few tense minutes later and I yelled to the men, who were leaning over the starboard rail staring at the frigate as it approached. They ran across the deck and tossed the rope ladder down to me. I grabbed for the rungs and yelled orders as I climbed. After jumping the rail, I joined them to help load the cargo. We threw lines and loaded the water casks, reluctantly leaving the turtle and fish behind. I hadn’t wanted to waste the time, but we would at least need the water if we had to stay at sea or hide among the small keys to avoid the frigate, and we had offloaded our stores at the island thinking we could provision here. Before the last keg hit the deck, the fishing boat was moving away, the grunts of the men working the oars audible as they strained to put distance between us.

I looked to the frigate, which had anchored and was dropping longboats to the water. “Slowly now, bring us tight on the anchor and ready the sails,” I called to the men, and continued to watch the frigate as it prepared to drop the boats and secure the ship. I could feel us moving now, as Syd and Swift had the chain around the winch and pulled us close to perpendicular above the anchor, ready to tie the line off and ready the sails. In this position, the anchor would pull at our first movement.

I was about to call for it to be raised when I realized that a little patience would work to our advantage. We had the element of surprise. They may have suspected us as pirates, but with the frigate anchored in the entrance to the harbor and the longboats in the water, they were confident all the boats were trapped. The men looked at me for direction, the expression on their faces clearly distressed.

“Easy. As soon as their men are in the longboats and the rest of the crew is in the rigging stowing the sails, we make our move.”

They acknowledged my subterfuge. We would have to pass the frigate within cannon range to make our escape, but with a good part of their crew in the rigging, stowing and lashing the sails for the night, and the men in the longboats too slow to give us chase, I expected we could sail right by with minimal damage. The time was right, as the longboats were loaded and ready to move. At least a dozen figures were visible in the rigging of the ship.

“Raise the sails,” I called, as I ran to the anchor. I had thought we might have time to pull it, but a glance at the longboats moving toward us forced my hand. It would be costly to lose, but might save our lives. I reached for a sea ax mounted to the foremast, raised the ax over my head and slammed the chain just as the sails filled. The link held, and I wound up again. Syd and Swift were still working the sails and the boat was straining against the weight of the anchor and chain. I closed my eyes and brought the ax high overhead. As hard as I could, I brought the iron blade down onto the chain and cringed as it hit, the shock of metal hitting metal reverberating through my body. I glanced down in dismay, as the ax head lay in two pieces, but the chain had split, and I ran to the helm as it rattled overboard.

“Full sail,” I called to the men as I corrected our course. It was dangerous to have that much canvas out in these close quarters, but we needed all the speed the boat could muster. The sails snapped as they filled, and the boat lurched forward. The men were out of the rigging standing near me, and we exchanged a quick grin as we picked up speed.

“Best set the jibs as well,” I ordered, as I set course to run by the frigate.

We were less than a quarter mile away when I heard the whistle blow aboard the Navy boat. The men scrambled out of the rigging, and the remaining crew moved to the guns. I needed five minutes to get past them and out of range of their cannon and knew it would be close. Suddenly, I heard a shot off our stern and looked back at the longboats as they fired their small guns at us. The projectiles fell well short and I refocused on the frigate.

Time seemed to stand still as we moved slowly by the frigate. We were close enough to hear every order, and I clenched my jaw, waiting for the call to fire. With a burst, we gained a little speed as the jibs caught the breeze one at a time, and we were by them just as a whistle blew and the cannon fired. I didn’t want to look behind at our potential demise, but couldn’t resist. There was nothing to be done, as we were moving away at our maximum speed, with every inch of sail raised. I heard water splash and saw several balls hit the water, not ten feet from us. I breathed in relief as we pulled away.