That was one of the challenges presented to the two main characters in my book. So, it’s very hard to say why Bannister did this. If a pirate captain was caught, he was going to hang. The Royal Navy had become adept at hunting them. We don’t and it’s especially vexing because at the time he did it, in 1684, pirates were in great jeopardy, especially in that part of the world. One day, for reasons lost to history, Bannister stole The Golden Fleece and went “on the account,” as turning pirate was known. In the 1680s when Bannister was sailing The Golden Fleece, Port Royal was known as the most lawless place on earth. It’s very unusual because he began his career as an upstanding English merchant captain, in charge of a ship called The Golden Fleece, a beautiful merchant ship Bannister captained to move cargoes like sugar, hides and indigo dyes between London and Port Royal Jamaica.
At the center of the story is a British pirate named Joseph Bannister. So, the idea of going to look for a Golden Age pirate ship was irresistible. I knew that only one pirate ship had ever been found and positively identified: The Whydah, which was discovered in 1984 off Cape Cod. He was with a friend and his friend proceeded to tell me a singular story about going to hunt for a pirate ship from the Golden Age of Piracy, which ran from about 1650 to 1730. I drove all the way from Chicago and met him at this steakhouse. But I had learned from Chatterton in the past that when there’s an opportunity to go, you go.Īnd that’s what I did.
But it was not a good time to go to New Jersey. He’s got this distinctive, baritone kind voice. He just said something to the effect, “If you like pirates, meet me in New Jersey.” Years later, I got a call at home in Chicago. I knew one of the primary characters, John Chatterton from writing my first book, Shadow Divers.
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