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March 2007
After being turned away from the river in Feburary, a determined bunch of pirates ventured out to the
lonesome atoll on the mighty Delaware river. Covered in snow, the Island offered little to the weekend travelers. A constant
howling wind of up to 30 mph streamed across the center of the Island all weekend long. Driftwood lie frozen to the encrusted
normally sandy beach. We gathered our furniture from our storage area on site and were greeted by a few dozen rats , who had
been wintering under the metal table top.I'm sure they were not happy to be disrupted from their shelter. Using logic and
damning bad juju, we decided to move the traditional fire site to a downwind position as well as relocate our usual kitchen
set up. It worked out very well. A feast of Colby steak burgers, pork shoulders, cabbage,potatoes,and carrots filled up the
crew as they set out to consume a strong portion of drink. The evening sky was intermittenly brightened by huge explosions
of dazzeling fireworks. Where did they come from? Speaking of where did they come from.....The Coast Guard also made a cameo
appearance and questioned us as to our reason for being on the Island.We should have wheeled out the wheelchairs to the beach
when they demanded our presence in their sight. "What the hell is going on with those wheelchairs?" Are those guys handicapped?
"
Star's End began on time and me and Captn Mitchell sat out till 4:00am enjoying Guiness with the music. Chuck V.Z. checked
in with us via the broadcast. The wind never stopped.
Sunday morning saw a beautiful sunrise and on this weekend no sound of arriving aircraft from Phila Interntl airport.
An overnight snow storm had the Ramp shutdown for de-icing. We reviled in the morning silence. Another nice weekend
on the Island.
Nov 2007
PIRATES TURNED BACK YET AGAIN ON THEIR QUEST TO SECURE THE ISLAND. The pirate crew was again this year denied
their birthright to venture out to the island and raise hell for a weekend. This time it was not the doing of Mother Nature,
but man-made problems as the engine of our boat failed to perform. Captn Mitch and boatsman Death set out for the first shuttle , the boat heavily laden with gear,furniture, and construction girder-like structures, into
the Delaware. We watched from the river's edge as they quickly began to drift with the current up stream. The Captn tried
repeatedly to get the outboard to run, but alas, it would only idle and then stall when set under power. Boatsman Death, in
his most worthless manner, sat back and watched without manning an oar, or even a thought of dropping anchor, as the craft
drifted out of sight and into the water's of Camden. A rescue team was dispatched up the beach to acess the situation.
Following the team's action, we attempted to make repairs on the beach, (after retrailering the boat back to the beach
and re-launching) Replacement fuel, 15 gallons,replacemant fuel tank, fuel line, even a back up engine, our old 15 horse johnson
seahorse, proved ineffective. Finally Captn Mitch and myself announced a "time of death" to the trip, as
we concurred that we have "lost our patient on the operating table, (or in our case the operating tailgate) After further
review, we likely concurred that rowing to Island would not be practical with the number of crew beachside,and the amount
of gear.(15+ people and 1000+ lbs of gear) The new boat, while extremely seaworthy, is not designed to row as a primary
source of power. Unlike the original "Pirate boat" it only has 1 set of oarlocks, requires 2 people to man them and we do not have a back-up set of oars. A shuttle operation
of this size of crew and equipment would require somewhere between 24-30 trips,in darkness,against the current, and into an
unknown scenario approaching with the coming of Sunday morning weather. I take full responsibility for the engine failure
and I am working on it's repair process as of this writing. I apologize for the inconvience that I may have imposed
on our crew.
warren
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