Captain Morgan Had Many Crumsters

     One of the things I treasure most about studying pirates and their ilk is the rich language they left behind.  Sailing has a language all its own and crumster (also crompster or cromster) is an archaic word in that language.  A crumster was a type of ship.  Specifically, it is a dutch-made coastal vessel whose full name is a cromsteven, which means bent stem, referring to something in its construction, no doubt.  A more English name for a crumster is a hoy.  From the 16th to the early 19th century, the crumster was one of the most common types of ships sailing the seas.

     A crumster was built to be a coastal vessel.  They have 2 (or 2½) masts, carry about 60 to 80 men, 12 to 16 cannons, and were often used as armed-merchantmen. They are square-rigged on the fore-mast, spritsail-rigged on the main mast, with either a boom-rig from the main mast or a small lateen-sail at the aft of the ship.  These sleek and low-slung ships were favored by buccaneers and Caribbean merchants alike.

The Black Shark Swims Free

Above is the logo for my new business, Black Shark Enterprises.  I'm done with fear of what might happen if I do not put myself out there.  I'm done with cowering in the dark always believing "Hey, I could do that" while I watch others succeed.  I have decided to seize life with both of my hands and shake it until something good comes out of its ugly head.  I have created a publishing house on drivethrurpg.com and today I will start work on creating the first product for the gaming side of the publishing house ~ The Pirate GM's Fist : A Collection of Tables for Navigating the Tricky Shoals of Gaming with Buccaneers.

I have also been working on a large project with the temporary title of The Treasure Fleet.  It is an RPG supplement detailing a 20 ship treasure fleet during the age of piracy.  It is my intention to do a Kickstarter campaign to get the money to publish this book.  I have plans for gaming other projects as well, but I am most excited about the series of books that I will publish under the BSE banner.

I feel as if an enormous burden has been lifted off my shoulders.  I cannot explain why I feel this way. Perhaps it is the public declaration of intentions that makes me feel so free.  I don't know, but I have to get to work.