Ye Old Outer Banks

Sailing

Captain's Tips

• Mind the wind. The dial shows where it blows toward. Fastest with it on your beam, dead slow straight into it.
• Watch your soundings. The Banks are a maze of moving sandbars. The Revenge rides over them, but Navy ships and traders stick fast on them.
• Let the sand fight for you. Navy ships chasing you across a bar run aground, and so does anything following a false light. A stranded ship is helpless: sail alongside and press F to plunder her.
• False lights. Lantern posts mark old wreckers' beaches. After dark (or in a storm) anchor close and press F: a nag with a lantern paces the dunes, and strangers steer for the "harbor".
• Cannons fire out the sides. Put your prey on your beam. Reloading takes time, so kite and circle.
• Haul it home. Prizes spill coin (your purse) and cargo crates (your hold). A laden ship is slow and turns badly. Dock at Teach’s Hole and the crew buries the plunder; at least two hands stay ashore to guard it, and a big hoard needs more.
• Food and water. Every hand eats and drinks. Fill the casks free at the well in Teach’s Hole, buy them in a colonial port, or take them from prizes. Run dry and men die.
• Colonial ports are risky. Refits, maps, stores and a fence, but the harbor watch may send for the Navy when you leave. A bribe keeps them quiet. Pirate hunters also lie in wait near Ocracoke: tavern gossip can tell you where.