Happy International Talk Like a Pirate Day

(and other pirate celebrations)

May your wind always blow fair and may your bottom never have barnacles. Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day and as such it is a good day to explain why I am a pirate and how Piratesmas came to be an annual celebration of pirate shenanigans and grogventures.

International Talk Like a Pirate Day was first conceived by two friends in June 1995 during a game of racquetball and is now celebrated each year on 19th September with growing participation around the world. It can be a gateway holiday to serious pirate activity or simply a day to say Arrrrh! and Yo Ho! to your mateys. I have been celebrating it every year since 2003.

Moving forward to 2005, Bobby Henderson, a physics student at Oregon State University, sent a letter to the Kansas State Board of Education protesting the decision to teach intelligent design alongside evolution as a scientific theory of equal status. He believed that other religions based on scientific facts such as Pastafarianism and its deity the Flying Spaghetti Monster must therefore also be taught. In his letter, Henderson argued that Pastafarianism was based on scientific principles as it was demonstrably true that global warming was caused by the reduction in the number of pirates (see https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PiratesVsTemp(en).svg ) and therefore required to be taught alongside other scientific subjects. Pastafarianism and the Church of The Flying Spaghetti Monster have since attracted members around the world. I became a Pastafarian in 2005 and was ordained as a minister in the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster in 2012.

Like ITLaP Day, Piratesmas was brought into existence by two friends – although over lunch not racquetball. During lunch the conversation turned to both Talk Like a Pirate Day and the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. It was agreed that holidays were a great idea and therefore a church should have dedicated holidays to celebrate certain events. Pastafarianism rightly celebrates the ecological necessity for pirates so a dedicated day for pirates to get together to celebrate all things piratey should be added to the calendar. Piratesmas, a sort of Christmas for pirates (but in the summer), was therefore created. The first annual Piratesmas was held on 11 July 2009 on board Cap’n Darcy’s ship, The Rambunctious Boy. Since Piratesmas 11: Turning It Up to Eleven on 13 July 2019 we have been unable to gather together but next year Piratesmas 12.3: Third Time Lucky or The One after the Ones that wasn’t will, Quob* willing, go ahead on 2 July 2022.

Piratesmas is a floating festival and can occur anytime in July or August. Cap’n Darcy hosts the original shenanigans but anyone anywhere can celebrate. All that is required is that two pirates or more gather together to spread The Word (The Word is Yo Ho!) and are ready for some grogventures. Be there or be somewhere else less interesting!

*Quob – a non gendered term for the Flying Spaghetti Monster