We have finally made it to land after many hard days at sea. The winds have not been kind to us and we have found the going very slow. The Pirate Pixies have been working hard to fix all they could whilst we were still at sea and although they have repaired lots of the smaller damage cause by the storm we still have two damaged masts and the bilge pump is still not working.
We have anchored just off shore around the coast from a small fishing harbour. I know the locals realise we are here, but so far we have had no trouble. We are keeping a low profile whilst I try to work out how to 'acquire' the tools and materials needed for the repair work. The pixies are busying themselves with removing all the broken decking, railings and debris on the Galleon. There are a team of them that have hauled each sail into a row boat and taken them, one at a time, to the beach to lay them out and patch them. We now have sails with multicoloured patches on, as they have fixed and reinforced them with any strong fabric they could find. From stripy canvas hammocks to heavy duty food sacks, the pixies have cut, fitted and sewn the sails back together.
The good news is that all the Pixies with damaged wings are healing so fast that they are now out of bandages and they are gently exercising them to gain back their strength. Wilful's eye is a little better too. The eye patch I made him has allowed the wound to dry out. Sadly for him, he does not seem to be regaining any sight in it. I think we will have to rename him as One Eye Wilful.
Once I can find us a tall straight tree and a big enough axe to fell it we will be able to make a new main mast. I have calculated that in the undamaged part of the main mast we have now is a long enough solid piece of wood to make a new mizzen-mast from, so tomorrow I will set the Pixies to work on that. I will have to raid some of the workshops in the harbour for tools tonight, whilst the villagers sleep. I hope they have some well stocked carpentry workshops! The mast steps are both in good condition so we still have strong bases to fix the new masts to. Thank the Sea-lords!
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Hippos
Monday hippos
I will keep this brief, as I've had so little sleep I believe I am starting to hallucinate. The voyage back to land has run anything but smoothly. The Pirate Pixie Crew have been arguing and fighting amongst themselves about whether they should have turned back. There are a few very vocal pixies that are adamant that it was a mistake. Then there are the others that agree with me that the galleon would never make it anywhere without repairs. These ones aren't so vocal though and they keep disappearing off to whisper to each other. I think they fear the others hearing them.
We have another 2-3 days to go before we are back ashore. With masts that are so damaged, we cannot risk putting up all the sails for fear of snapping them, so we are running up only half of what sail we have. The poor Pixies that are keeping the bilge clear are exhausted. They are covered in sludge and muck. I will need to get the pump fixed somehow or I feel they may just work themselves to death.
The good news is that the pixies that had injured their wings seem to be getting better. I took some matchsticks and strapped them along the broken sections to hold them still whist they healed and it seems to be helping. I'm not sure if it is magic or if these little imps just have super fast healing skills, but their cuts and bruises are repairing much faster than mine or Doubloon's.
The lack of sleep is making me as crazy as if I had cabin fever. I could have sworn I saw hippos dancing on the main deck in green and blue tutu's at noon. I know they weren't there because Doubloon was sleeping by my feet and I feel sure if they had been real he would have been hiding under an upturned barrel somewhere, shaking like the cowardly scurvy dog he is. Why I keep him, I'll never know.
I'm going to have to risk sleeping a bit tonight and hope that the pixies don't notice, or if they do I just have to pray they don't turn the ship around. Maybe I should paint eyeballs on my eyelids so they won't know.
Tomorrow I must make an eye patch for the Pixie known as Wilful. His eye is sadly no better and I fear the bandage will just keep the wound wet. It needs to dry out, so I need to create him a cover that allow the air to circulate.
Less of this writing. Where did I put the old war paint. I think it's time to paint my eyelids.
We have another 2-3 days to go before we are back ashore. With masts that are so damaged, we cannot risk putting up all the sails for fear of snapping them, so we are running up only half of what sail we have. The poor Pixies that are keeping the bilge clear are exhausted. They are covered in sludge and muck. I will need to get the pump fixed somehow or I feel they may just work themselves to death.
The good news is that the pixies that had injured their wings seem to be getting better. I took some matchsticks and strapped them along the broken sections to hold them still whist they healed and it seems to be helping. I'm not sure if it is magic or if these little imps just have super fast healing skills, but their cuts and bruises are repairing much faster than mine or Doubloon's.
The lack of sleep is making me as crazy as if I had cabin fever. I could have sworn I saw hippos dancing on the main deck in green and blue tutu's at noon. I know they weren't there because Doubloon was sleeping by my feet and I feel sure if they had been real he would have been hiding under an upturned barrel somewhere, shaking like the cowardly scurvy dog he is. Why I keep him, I'll never know.
I'm going to have to risk sleeping a bit tonight and hope that the pixies don't notice, or if they do I just have to pray they don't turn the ship around. Maybe I should paint eyeballs on my eyelids so they won't know.
Tomorrow I must make an eye patch for the Pixie known as Wilful. His eye is sadly no better and I fear the bandage will just keep the wound wet. It needs to dry out, so I need to create him a cover that allow the air to circulate.
Less of this writing. Where did I put the old war paint. I think it's time to paint my eyelids.
Return to land
Saturday return to land
Yesterday and today have been such hard times. I spent all yesterday trying to convince the Pirate Pixie Crew that we had to go to the nearest land possible, which is back the way we came. There was almost a mutiny when I first told them but after sometime of explaining to them that the Galleon would not get us anywhere in the state it is in they calmed down a little and stopped threatening me with being thrown overboard, but they still wouldn't turn the ship about.
I don't know why I didn't just order them and wave a sabre around to scare them. After all they are so tiny you would think it would be easy to scare the pants off them, but there is something about their demeanour that tells me they are more scared of not making it to the island circled on the charts than the wrath of Captain Skulduggery Dug. No matter how many times I ask them they will not tell me why we must got there, but they are insistent that we will go.
I'm beginning to feel like I have lost control of my own ship, but I know that they must need me for something or else they would have just thrown me to the sharks by now. They follow all my orders as long as they believe we are going in the right direction and they watch me most carefully as I chart our voyage on the maps. You can almost see them memorizing the reference points and I am utterly sure that they check all day long that we are on the right heading.
By the end of the day after demonstrating to them that most of the sails cannot be hoisted and that the bilge is constantly filling with water, which they are having to bail out by hand, I convinced them that going back and fixing the galleon and setting out again will be faster than trying to limp along as we are.
So late last night, by the light of a waning moon we about ship and slowly sailed back toward land. All day today I have had to keep coaxing them into staying on this heading, with promises of fixing the ship up so well that she will be able to sail at a faster pace than she already does. How that will ever happen I don't know, because this beauty, when in full sail, is one of the fastest ships on the seven seas.
It has been a most tiring couple of days and I fear I cannot sleep or they may change heading again. I need a tankard of rum and a good nights sleep, but I fear that will not happen for some days yet. For now all I can do is stay on the poop deck and keep an eye on the helmspixie.
I don't know why I didn't just order them and wave a sabre around to scare them. After all they are so tiny you would think it would be easy to scare the pants off them, but there is something about their demeanour that tells me they are more scared of not making it to the island circled on the charts than the wrath of Captain Skulduggery Dug. No matter how many times I ask them they will not tell me why we must got there, but they are insistent that we will go.
I'm beginning to feel like I have lost control of my own ship, but I know that they must need me for something or else they would have just thrown me to the sharks by now. They follow all my orders as long as they believe we are going in the right direction and they watch me most carefully as I chart our voyage on the maps. You can almost see them memorizing the reference points and I am utterly sure that they check all day long that we are on the right heading.
By the end of the day after demonstrating to them that most of the sails cannot be hoisted and that the bilge is constantly filling with water, which they are having to bail out by hand, I convinced them that going back and fixing the galleon and setting out again will be faster than trying to limp along as we are.
So late last night, by the light of a waning moon we about ship and slowly sailed back toward land. All day today I have had to keep coaxing them into staying on this heading, with promises of fixing the ship up so well that she will be able to sail at a faster pace than she already does. How that will ever happen I don't know, because this beauty, when in full sail, is one of the fastest ships on the seven seas.
It has been a most tiring couple of days and I fear I cannot sleep or they may change heading again. I need a tankard of rum and a good nights sleep, but I fear that will not happen for some days yet. For now all I can do is stay on the poop deck and keep an eye on the helmspixie.
Damages
Thursday damages
Oh dear. The list of damages is far longer than I had hoped for. The Pirate Pixie Crew did the best they could to protect as much of the galleon as they could but the sea was in a foul mood and the skies were even angrier. Between them both they managed to rip, shred and snap pieces off of my beloved ship. It will take a lot of work and probably much gold to put all this right again. The only option we have is to limp back into the coast and find timber and tools to repair what has been ruined.
Worse than the ship being damaged is that many of the beautiful little pixies have been injured. Most have cuts and bruises from being thrown about in the galleon and sadly 4 have broken wings. One poor soul had a rope snap on him and the end flick in his eye! I doubt he will ever regain any sight in it. They have all been cleaned up and bandaged, but to see them in such a bad way has me sadder than I ever could have imagined.
These little Pixies appeared from nowhere the night Doubloon ran us aground on that sandbank and ever since they have toiled like work horses and had transformed my old dirty smelly ship into a shining beauty. She probably hadn't looked that good since the day she first sailed from the harbour on her maiden voyage. She certainly hasn't look that good since I... since... since I repossessed her from that Spanish Armada. And although these wee folk have made it plain that their assistance with this ship depends on me taking them to the island circled on the map, they have been amazing. The scurvy crew I left in Davy's locker were useless in comparison.
Damn! I'm getting soft in my old age.
I don't think it will take much to convince them that we need to go to a port now. The Galleon won't take us far in this condition. I just hope we can plunder enough gold or timber to do the work with.
Worse than the ship being damaged is that many of the beautiful little pixies have been injured. Most have cuts and bruises from being thrown about in the galleon and sadly 4 have broken wings. One poor soul had a rope snap on him and the end flick in his eye! I doubt he will ever regain any sight in it. They have all been cleaned up and bandaged, but to see them in such a bad way has me sadder than I ever could have imagined.
These little Pixies appeared from nowhere the night Doubloon ran us aground on that sandbank and ever since they have toiled like work horses and had transformed my old dirty smelly ship into a shining beauty. She probably hadn't looked that good since the day she first sailed from the harbour on her maiden voyage. She certainly hasn't look that good since I... since... since I repossessed her from that Spanish Armada. And although these wee folk have made it plain that their assistance with this ship depends on me taking them to the island circled on the map, they have been amazing. The scurvy crew I left in Davy's locker were useless in comparison.
Damn! I'm getting soft in my old age.
I don't think it will take much to convince them that we need to go to a port now. The Galleon won't take us far in this condition. I just hope we can plunder enough gold or timber to do the work with.
Stormy Sleepless Night
Wednesday Storm
Due to very rough seas in the night, I only managed a few hours sleep in my bunk last night. The roaring wind and the heaving waves threw our wee galleon around like a baby throws its' ship in the bath tub. Even this old sea dog couldn't sleep through that.
My Pirate Pixie Crew spent all night bailing out the bilge, as the pump has broken, or trying to lash down anything that moves. Doubloon spent the whole night hiding under the galley table with a saucepan on his head. His sad howl could be heard all over the ship. It did nothing for moral. Scurvy Dog!
Thankfully this morning the storm has blown itself out and the waters are very calm. Most of the pixies are sleeping. They are exhausted from their efforts. We need to make our way into land sometime soon and fix up all the damage the storm caused. I hope the pixies will agree to do this. They so hate going ashore on unscheduled stops. They are in such a hurry to get to the island they have ringed on the map, but they won't tell me why. I have no choice but to go there or they will go on strike and I'll have no crew and we all know what happens when the Galleon has no sailors and Doubloon at the helm!
Little Pirate Pixie Effie managed to save the mainsail with some quick thinking and strong hauling. She dragged it off the mast and down below into the hold. Where she found the strength to do it with the wind tugging it over the port side railing, I'll never know. These Pixies definitely have some magical powers and thank heaven for it, because if she hadn't have saved the sail we would be scuppered. Left drifting at the mercy of the sea.
I better get up on deck and start making a list of losses and damages. So for now dear Journal I will leave you.
My Pirate Pixie Crew spent all night bailing out the bilge, as the pump has broken, or trying to lash down anything that moves. Doubloon spent the whole night hiding under the galley table with a saucepan on his head. His sad howl could be heard all over the ship. It did nothing for moral. Scurvy Dog!
Thankfully this morning the storm has blown itself out and the waters are very calm. Most of the pixies are sleeping. They are exhausted from their efforts. We need to make our way into land sometime soon and fix up all the damage the storm caused. I hope the pixies will agree to do this. They so hate going ashore on unscheduled stops. They are in such a hurry to get to the island they have ringed on the map, but they won't tell me why. I have no choice but to go there or they will go on strike and I'll have no crew and we all know what happens when the Galleon has no sailors and Doubloon at the helm!
Little Pirate Pixie Effie managed to save the mainsail with some quick thinking and strong hauling. She dragged it off the mast and down below into the hold. Where she found the strength to do it with the wind tugging it over the port side railing, I'll never know. These Pixies definitely have some magical powers and thank heaven for it, because if she hadn't have saved the sail we would be scuppered. Left drifting at the mercy of the sea.
I better get up on deck and start making a list of losses and damages. So for now dear Journal I will leave you.
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