The day was a mess. Must get ready for a guest. The deck was swabbed, the mainsail was cleaned, boots and swords were polished. The crew had to be on their best behavior. We even flogged a few for not having their boots polished. (They did not own boots .. we just needed to make an example of how committed we were to impressing our guest). Cannons were all loaded for an eighteen gun salute (only have 18 cannons). Then the word came that our guest was going to be a no-show. (Something about a mermaid and her two large....) Well, it was a no-show.

Why all the effort to impress a guest? We are pirates. If someone wants to visit us and share a jug or two they can just stop by . If we are ready or not it does not matter. Is not the life of a pirate all about just doing nothing you don't want to anyway?