Picture this: the horizon bristles with the tattered sails of a rebuilt shipwreck. At its fore drifts a massive, square-rig. This ship is oak-planked, creaking in the swell, and laden with treasure. These were carracks — the giants of the sea in the 15th and early 16th centuries. Whether you’re imagining the haunting silhouette of the Pirate Queens’  Big Bertha, or the obsidian hull of a Portuguese India Armadas vessel, carracks deserve their place in maritime legend.

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

When the pirate voyage starts, things start out great: Fresh meat, breads and cheeses. In the beginning, it’s yum yum time, but as the voyage continues, things change. Remember, pirates didn’t have refrigerators back in the day, and so they had to be creative…and that’s where the fun begins…for us anyway…because we don’t have to eat these things (unless we want to). As the voyage dragged out at sea, the food stores progressed to dried meats, pickled vegetables, and yes fowl.