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By Edwin Ali |
March 2004: If you are planning a visit to the Islands of the Bahamas, then a tour of the Pirates of Nassau Museum is an absolute necessity, a tour
which
will bring you facto face with swords, swasbucklers, skulls and
crossbones, drunkers swearing at each othere and screams that
sound so real that you may think they are emanating from across
the vessel on which you are standing.It is an attractive and innovative attempt to trace the history of piracy as it relates to the Islands of the Bahamas and present it in a form that is both appealing and educational.
The history is well defined and drawn together in three historic buildings in the heart of downtown Nassau, on the corner of George and Marlborough Streets, a short distance from the palatial Sandals Royal Bahamanian Resort and Spa, chosen by Conde Nast Traveler as one of the top ten spa resorts in the world, and the famous Nassau Straw Market.
Actually the museum is a world class, interactive, innovative experience which continues to thrill, enteretain and educate visitors of all ages.
Developed by an international team of experts, the Museum experience is traced in three historical buildings,the slave kitchen, approximately 200 years old, the Lofthouse, approximately 150 years old and the Marlborough Arms, approximately 100 years old.
Described as "The Best Pirate Exhibition in the World" by Dr. David Cordingly, Author of "Under the Black Flag", the developers had their interest aroused when they learnt that Nassau had once been a piratical haven. They learnt that Nassau was a base for the infamous Black Beard, and that there was a colorful history of the extra ordinary struggle between Captain Woodes Rovers, sent by the Crown and the "Marooners" who had infested the islands.
The seed of an idea was planted and the concept of Pirates of Nassau was developed into a full blown design, a site was then leased and the necessasry finance raised.
It was decided to build the exhibits in Vancouver, Canada, utilizing the collective talents of designers, carpenters, smiths and shipwrights who were used to building creatively for a blossoming movie industry.
The finest crew ever was assembled in Vancouver and thus began work to build dockside buildings, barrels, crates, hardware, decking and a 75 foot three-mased corvette called "Revenge".
A wharfside was conceived and implemented and a basement became the lower deck of the piratre ship Cycletramas were designed using limestone from Exuma in the Bahamas.
Dr. Cordingly, former head of Exhibitions at Greenwich Maritime Museum and a renowned contemporary authority on pirates, played a useful part in the project, pointing out historical errors and offering insightful suggestions.
Pirates of Nassau opened in the summer of 1998 and provides the only museum quality experience which relates to the true dramatic story of the golden age of piracy,from 1690 to 1720, when Nassau was at its epicenter, a base for the greatest concentraion of pirates ever seen in the New World.
Not only is Pirates of Nassau a world class interactive experience but it provides an authentic record of Bahamian history and is the first serious attempt to document an important era, one that played a crucial role in the Islands of the Bahamas.
Among swinging hammocks, stowed cannon, cargo, clucking chickens and the ships' goat, there are many lifelike forms and sounds that will make your heart skip a beat or two. There are also life like figures of the ships surgeon performing a surgery on one of the crew.
Captain Teach and his fearsome crew are depicted as well as the women pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read in such a world class environment that a tour of Pirates of Nassau is becoming a priority among many visitors to the Islands of the Bahamas.