Pirates had their own unique ways of celebrating certain holidays, but keep in mind: no holiday compares to the adrenaline spike of plunder and the risk of death. That rush—the wild dopamine surge of surviving something no human reasonably should—was probably the real glue that bonded pirate crews together. Camaraderie, strength, survival…nothing may have built it faster. The Plunder High: A Holiday of Its Own When pirates successfully plundered ships, towns, or villages, the

My great uncle Rawlan ‘Tank’ Nelson, was a six foot four, 240 pound longshoreman. No surprise they called him Tank. What would you expect a giant dockworker who’d worked in the port since 1951 to do in his ‘spare’ time? Brawl in bars? Play football with his buddies or break people’s legs who didn’t pay their loansharks back? Our family might’ve expected shenanigans like that from his father, my great great grandpa Ludwig, but not Tank. When Tank wasn’t longshoring, he was rev

My maternal grandfather was a ship’s captain, eventually becoming a port pilot for the Los Angeles and Long Beach harbors. A port pilot is a very specialized job that requires them to take control of commercial vessels entering the harbors, and bring them safely into their assigned berths. These pilots not only have to be familiar with the specific dangers and conditions of the harbors they work in, they need to know how to operate all the different commercial vessels they ta