Buccaneer’s Den to Jhelom, Trammel, Chesapeake (PaxLair Times) – April 16, 2011 – by Winfield – On Friday’s eve, April 15, 2011, Judge from Nidaros hosted the Second Annual Blackfoot Regatta event. This year’s annual race went from Buccaneer’s Den on Trammel to Jhelom. Three ships entered the race on the high seas: 1) The PaxLair Statehood Flagship captained by Winfield with crewmate Winmere, 2) The infamous and dangerous orc ship -=WaRz DuUb =- captained by NANOC, and 3) the Nicole captained by Robin Hood. Winfield and Winmere took home the first prize with Robin Hood in close second. NANOC was third. The first place prize purse contained 1 million gold and a chest full of loot. Second and third place had similar prize purses. Judge organized the event and was assisted by Alentar Sylvanus. Enterprise also hosted a Pirate Run after the event.
The End of the 2nd Annual Blackfoot Regatta
At the starting point outside Buccaneer’s Den, the captains registered their ships. They took on necessary supplies for the long voyage and then received special instructions from Judge. After reading their first book with coordinates, they were off to their first checkpoint. All three made a fast start and unfurled sails to Moonglow. The seas were calm between Buc’s Den and Moonglow with all three ships making good time. They were neck and neck most of the way with Robin Hood in the lead. Captain’s Robin Hood and NANOC jumped off their ships to get their next books with coordinates. Captain Winfield sent his crewmate Winmere onto land to get the book saving a little time to prepare the ship for the next race leg.
The second checkpoint was south at Fire Isle, directly past the Floating Emporium. Some ships struggled with traffic in and around the Emporium, ramming a few at high speeds to clear the way. No one was injured and the race continued. A crabbing rowboat capsized in the wake of one ship–the fisherman vowed to report high speed in a no wake zone to the authorities. Robin Hood and Winfield made good time through the Emporium while NANOC started to fall behind. Some bystanders later reported they saw NANOC stop at the Emporium pub briefly to refill his hold with a case of ale–this could not be immediately confirmed. Finally reaching Fire Isle, the three ships were off to the third checkpoint.
The ships raced to the west side of the New Haven harbor. Robin Hood and Winfield & Winmere were again side by side as they crossed the south sea through deteriorating weather. At times their ships nearly touched as the waves rocked the ships. NANOC must have been taking on water as his ship slowed a bit coming out of Fire Isle. Robin Hood made it to the checkpoint first, with Winfield and Winmere closing in. As the ships were departing, Robin Hood executed a bump-and-sail maneuver causing Winfield to slow a bit and received some damage to his port bow.
The fourth checkpoint was on the south side of Serpents Hold. Coming from the northeast, that meant circling the isle. But, Robin Hood and Winfield bumped each other several times as they maneuvered to dock on the east side. Robin Hood and Winmere jumped out and ran a short distance on foot to the checkpoint. They both returned to their respective ships. Robin Hood took off quickly while Winfield got caught in a strange coastal tide pushing his ship against the rocks. Robin Hood continued to extend his lead. NANOC could not be seen as the two lead ships sailed out of Serpents Hold. Soon though, he showed up and collected his next destination book.
Honor Isle was a short sail to the west from Serpents Hold. The fifth checkpoint was an easy one and allowed the ships to quickly stop and go. In fact, the Winfield & Winmere team did better than that–they did not stop. When nearing the shore, Winmere jumped overboard and landed on the jungle ground… ran to get the next book… and then ran along the shore to catch up to Winfield in the ship. Winfield threw her a line and she swung up onto the deck. They were now in first place ahead of Robin Hood. As for Robin Hood, virtue seekers at the Honor Shrine said they saw a huge lag monster attack the Nicole just after leaving the Isle. Again, NANOC was a bit behind the other two. He was singing and dropping ale bottles in his wake.
The finish line was at the south dock in Jhelom, right through Pirates’ Sea. Both lead ships’ captains kept a watchful eye for Blackfoot and his companions. Fortunately, he was not seen. Winfield and Winmere were in the lead, with Robin Hood close behind.
Winfield reached the dock and moored his ship. Winmere jumped to the dock with checkpoint statuettes in a bag; they were picked up at each checkpoint. She ran the last few yards and handed the bag to Judge, just as Robin Hood’s ship came in. Robin Hood ran up to Judge with his statuettes and claimed the second place victory. Winfield finally got off his ship, baited his fishing pole, and started fishing off the dock. Ale and food were aplenty while everyone waited for NANOC. All became nervous as time went by, wondering if NANOC encountered Blackfoot in Pirates’ Sea. Then they saw the orc ship -=WaRz DuUb =- in the distance and everyone let out a sigh of relief. Soon NANOC moored his ship and stumbled a bit up to Judge to claim the third prize.
It was a good day to sail and a good day to race in the Second Annual Blackfoot Regatta. Thanks go to Judge and Alentar Sylvanus for creating this historic event.