Sailing under the Jolly Roger is a rite of passage for many aboard the Pirate Ship at John’s Pass.
\nAdventuring along the Florida coast aboard a real pirate ship is as close one can get without actually
\nbeing one. With names as big as the sunshine state, the legacy of pirates who sailed the Florida
\ncoast live on. From the iconic Gasparilla Pirate Festival to Blackbeard, these are the real pirates of
\nFlorida.<\/p>\n
Boat Tours at John’s Pass operates out of Madeira Beach, Florida, adjacent to St. Petersburg. Taking
\na cruise on the Royal Conquest through Boca Ciega Bay is as scenic as it is legendary.<\/p>\n
Many an attempt has been made to romanticize the life of a pirate. The swashbuckling adventures
\nand tales of treasure chests erupting with booty make it an easy endeavor. The Golden Age of
\nPiracy is referred to as being the time between the 1650s and 1730s, when maritime piracy reached
\nits peak. Names that saturate folklore to this day rose to fame during this period: Calico Jack
\nRackham, Bartholomew “Black Bart” Roberts, and Edward “Blackbeard” Teach, to name a few.
\nWhile most spent time plundering the Caribbean, many plotted course up the Florida coast, and in
\ndoing so, left their mark.<\/p>\n
Pirate infamy didn’t stop in the 18th century. Pirate attacks upon private vessels occurred in the Gulf
\nof Mexico up through the 1980s. Pirates continue to make their mark in the Caribbean and along the
\nMexican coast. While pirates whose tales riddle modern entertainment are long gone, their legacies
\nremain.<\/p>\n
Long after the Golden Age of Piracy, a French peasant by the name of John LeVique was given a
\nchoice: death or a pirate's life. LeVique’s hand as a pirate was gentler than most, refusing to force
\ncaptives to walk the plank or otherwise. His meagre earnings as an adventurer would lead him to a
\ndifferent kind of entrepreneur as the namesake of John’s Pass.<\/p>\n
After a short-lived plundering career, LeVique buried his small but respectable treasure on what
\nwould become Madeira Beach. Retired as a pirate, LeVique naturally became a turtle farmer. On a
\nbusiness trip to New Orleans to sell his beloved turtles, a storm ravaged the Florida coast. Upon his
\nreturn, LeVique found that the beach had been split in two, his treasure lost to the tides.<\/p>\n
The new entrance to Boca Ciega Bay was named John’s Pass in honor of the former pirate. LeVique
\nwould live out the rest of his days in the area until his death in 1873. Formerly, John LeVique Pirate
\nDays at John’s Pass Village hosted a hunt in search of LeVique’s lost treasure. Up until the most
\nrecent event held in 2020, the whereabouts of the treasure remains a mystery.<\/p>\n
Of the real pirates of Florida to have made an impact on the Tampa Bay scene, Jose Gaspar stands head and above.
\nGaspar was feared, fierce and a true terror for those unlucky enough to have encountered him in the
\nGulf of Mexico. The namesake Gasparilla Pirate Festival has been held in Tampa every January
\nsince 1904 in celebration of the Spanish pirate. Only, Gaspar may never have existed.<\/p>\n
The earliest mention of Gaspar is in a brochure by the Gasparilla Inn, located
\nto the south of Tampa Bay on the island of Boca Grande. Coincidentally, the brochure was
\npublished in the early 1900s, around the time of the very first Gasparilla Pirate Festival. The
\nbrochure paints a larger-than-life portrayal of Gaspar, claiming that his body is buried nearby. Other
\nsources claim that Gaspar is said to have met his end in the Tampa Bay, submerged in a watery
\ngrave.
\nRegardless of origin, the yearly celebration of the man, or at least the myth, is symbolic of the spirit
\nof the Florida coast. Whether or not Gaspar existed, locals raise a mug of ale in celebration of a
\npirate's life at the century-old festival.<\/p>\n
Englishman John Rackham, known for his flamboyant attire which earned him the nickname
\n\u201cCalico Jack,\u201d was a pirate captain in the early 18th century. Serving alongside him were two
\npersonalities equally as infamous as he: Anne Bonny and Mary Read. The trio captured ships
\ntraversing the Caribbean for the better part of several years. Fans of the series Black Sails will
\nrecognize Jack and Anne, pivotal characters in the fictionalized television program.
\nCalico Jack’s legacy reaches far beyond his Caribbean influence. As ubiquitous as the skull and
\ncrossbones has become, Calico Jack can take credit for making it so. As it’s designer, the Jolly
\nRoger is the symbol of pirates worldwide. While Rackham and his crew may never have made their
\nway up the Florida coast far enough to have seen John’s Pass, his Jolly Roger has left an undeniable
\nmark on the region as the symbol of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers.<\/p>\n
Sensationalizing and exaggerating is typical of a pirate’s life. After all, the life of a pirate must be
\nlarger than life to live up to the real or imagined personalities involved. A visit to the Tampa Bay
\nHistory Center can sort fact from fiction and is a quick jaunt from John’s Pass Village. Followed up
\nby a cruise aboard the Royal Conquest, crewmembers will regale guests with tales and legends of
\nfamed pirates of Florida.<\/p>\n
Whether or not they’re all true is simply a part of a pirates life of grand adventure. REAL PIRATES OF FLORIDA Sailing under the Jolly Roger is a rite of passage for many aboard the Pirate Ship at John’s Pass. Adventuring along the Florida coast aboard a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1677,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[34,16],"class_list":["post-1676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pirate-ship-blog","tag-historical-pirates","tag-johns-pass-pirate-ship"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/belltechwebtools.com\/STAGING\/johnspass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/belltechwebtools.com\/STAGING\/johnspass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/belltechwebtools.com\/STAGING\/johnspass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/belltechwebtools.com\/STAGING\/johnspass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/belltechwebtools.com\/STAGING\/johnspass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1676"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/belltechwebtools.com\/STAGING\/johnspass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1676\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/belltechwebtools.com\/STAGING\/johnspass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/belltechwebtools.com\/STAGING\/johnspass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/belltechwebtools.com\/STAGING\/johnspass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/belltechwebtools.com\/STAGING\/johnspass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nSunshine Scenic Tours operates out of John’s Pass Village at Madeira Beach, Florida. Excursions
\naboard the Pirate Ship Royal Conquest depart daily and include a fully immersive pirate experience
\nfor all ages. For more information, visit www.boattoursjohnspass.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"