 |
| The Mekka II |
.
Inspiration - the process of being mentally stimulated to do, or accomplish, something; especially, something creative.
.
Inspiration is a powerful thing because, with it, most anything is possible. Vital as it may be, it isn't easily found. The chance to be inspired is often a fleeting one; it may come from crossing paths with a free spirited individual with his own sense of purpose. In a world rife with conformity, having the guts to follow your own compass is a rare and admirable thing.
.
That's how it all started...
 |
| Beaufort, North Carolina Pirate central of the North American continent |
A man who fancies himself born two and a half centuries too late, the captain scoffs at modern convention preferring to live, and define, life his own way. He has, literally, written his own story. I can't begin to describe his many
.
 |
| . "At some point we'll all be history"
Caesar aka Me
.. |
 |
| The Battle of Hampton (circa 2000) Hampton, Virginia |
 |
| Chaos in the creek Hampton, Virginia |
.
.
.
.
 |
| Pirate shoes Not very good while climbing high in the rigging |
.
There's much to be gleaned from the old world traditions of survival, warfare, and seamanship. Before meeting Sinbad, I was unaware there were folks living in the modern age building tall ships by hand and living their lives off the grid as the men of yore had. I'd found the captain's commitment to living with his own sense of purpose inspirational.
.
.
 |
The simplicity of pirate life |
.
The darker side of pirating helped me to better understand the behavioral contortions people are capable of twisting themselves into in their eternal pursuit of loot. Prior to pirating, I'd worked in the cutthroat arenas of media sales and federal contracting but the time I spent at sea in "Acquisitions and Scheming" helped me balance out my resume. A master's in "Back Stabbing" is also considered a desirable credential among pirates.
.
 |
| .Lieutenant Brown loads a cannon It was during this phase of loading, in the heat of battle, at the Battle of Norfolk (VA) that I earned the dubious distinction of becoming the only known combatant to fire a projectile and become a casualty simultaneously. |
 |
| .Exhausted swordsmen after the Battle of Hampton, VA (2001) |
 |
| .Another boatload of SOBs goes on to meet their makers I think the pirates enjoyed the explosions more than the crowd did. The cannons, guns, and swords were real. When it came to destruction we were dead serious . . .. ..  During sea battles we gunners wore waist satchels packed with five pounds of gunpowder filled charges. When we fired the cannons sparks flew all over the place. Every few years or so a gunner would have a "mishap" . . .  . 1) wash laundry.................... ..2) pick-up groceries .............. ..3) bombard coastal village.....
Oops...
a tale of ambition, grog, & air to surface capabilities
.
|
 |
| .After thumbing through Jane's Fighting ships and feeling his oats, the captain spots a target |
 |
| .Blinded by ambition, and a couple pints of grog, he's selected an Iwo Jima-class amphibious assault ship |
 |
| Unwittingly, overlooking the gross tonnage mismatch, the captain gives the order "put a two pounder over her bow!" |
.
 |
| .Unfazed, the carrier dispatches a chopper to deal with the pest |
 |
| The captain realizes he's written a check he can't cash |
.
 |
| Then, the captain orders a U - turn |
 |
| .The Crow's nest
I dreaded going up there... I had a fear of heights at that time
. . |
 |
| .The view from the crow's nest during gunnery practice on the Meka II . |
.
.
....
.
.
.
.
.
.
as an Environmental Consultant.
N.C. ACTOR FINDS HIS NICHE PLAYING INFAMOUS PIRATE
By SAM MCDONALD Daily Press
June 12, 2000
And, don't forget, criminal history. After all, Blackbeard
the pirate was an original American gangster - one who went down in a blaze of
glory, gunfire and gore.
"On Nov. 22, 1718, as my sloop neared the island of
Ocracoke (N.C.), we spotted the masts of two ships," said Cherry, dressed
like the famous buccaneer in a crimson coat and tall black boots. "We
thought them to be friendly, so we continued towards the island. As we drew
alongside they hoisted the Union Jack and began firing small arms. We fired a
broadside that sank one of the ships and killed most of the crewmen ... or so
we thought."
As the legend goes, an armed task force sent by Virginia
Gov. Alexander Spotswood eventually cornered and killed the famous pirate. His
severed head was hauled to Hampton's harbor, where it was reportedly displayed
on the end of a pike. "My men fought nobly, but it was hopeless,"
Cherry told the students at Spratley Middle School in Hampton last week.
"The sea grew red with our own blood."
But even with noisy props and a violent story to tell,
Cherry - a North Carolina-based actor who makes his living by portraying
Blackbeard - didn't have it exactly easy at Spratley. The students were
generally polite, but many slumped in their seats and snoozed or squirmed uncomfortably
during Cherry's one-man show. Eventually, Cherry won them over with intensity,
gunpowder - and humor.
During a question-and-answer session after his show, a
student asked if the gruff British accent he uses in performance was his real
voice. "Actually, it's one I ordered from Sears about 11 years ago,"
he said, to a chorus of snickers. "I'm from a little town in eastern North
Carolina - so that makes me a redneck," Cherry said, slipping into a deep
Tar Heel drawl.
Another student asked if his beard and long black hair are
real. "Yes, it's my hair," he answered as he yanked a handful of
strands on both sides of his head. "But not the color. That comes from a
jug that says, 'Lady Clairol No. 122.' "
Cherry arrives in Hampton on Friday as the star of the
first-ever Hampton Blackbeard Festival. The free event will strive to celebrate
the historical facts of the outlaw's life and also provide entertainment for
kids and the general public who don't give a yo, ho, ho about piracy. The
Blackbeard Festival is being launched in conjunction with the Hampton Roads
visit by OpSail 2000 - the spectacular rendezvous of tall sailing ships. And
the festival takes place in downtown Hampton and along the town's historic
waterfront.
Cherry is a lucky man. Growing up the son of an appliance
dealer in the small town of Plymouth, N.C., he dreamed of becoming a
professional actor. As it turned out, one of the world's most famous miscreants
once lived just 30 miles away in the town of Bath, N.C. About 250 years before Cherry
struggled to fake his way through high school, a man known as Edward Teach (aka
Blackbeard) tried to retire from a career of piracy and build a new and decent
life as a proper citizen of North Carolina. But Cherry's intersection with the
infamous pirate would come about much later in life. As a kid, he wouldn't have
given Blackbeard a second thought.
"I hated history in school - loathed it," Cherry
said. "I offered to give the teacher a free refrigerator if she would pass
me. Every history class I took, I took twice. "But you know, history from
textbooks is pretty damn boring," Cherry said, defending himself.
"It's only when you start researching and you learn more about these
people's lives that it gets fun."
After high school, Cherry attended community college and
graduated from East Carolina University in 1970. From there, he moved to New
York City where he hoped to get his acting career off the ground. He tried out
for plays, studied at the Actors Training Center with teacher Zara Shakow and
worked as a page and tour guide at NBC Studios for very little pay. "Mostly,
I went to auditions," Cherry recalled. "But you know, there were
30,000 other jerks up there who thought they were actors, too."
On a visit home in 1973, he learned that his mother was
suffering from terminal cancer. So he moved home to be near her and help in his
father's business selling and repairing TVs and washing machines. A post at
Cherry's Roanoke Electric wasn't the sort of job that the young man fantasized
about. But it kept him close to his family at a time when they needed him. And
Cherry had become frustrated and impatient with the pace of his career in New
York. "I had pretty much decided I would get theater out of my life,"
Cherry said.
But theater came crawling back to him. A few years after he
moved home, an outdoor drama began down the road in Bath. It was called
"Blackbeard: Knight of the Black Flag." It was planned simply to run
for one year as part of the community's Bicentennial celebration in 1976. But
the show was popular, Cherry said, and it continued season after season for a
full 10 years. For years, Cherry wasn't at all interested. "I had worked
with the 'Lost Colony' back in the '60s. After two seasons, I'd had enough of
that."
But Cherry had some friends in the production. And slowly he
was drawn in. He was eventually cast as Israel Hands, Blackbeard's second in
command. Cherry played that part for four years and then was promoted to the
lead role. "It was just for fun," Cherry said of his time with the
outdoor drama. "We did it three times a week - for not much money." After
the production folded in 1986, Cherry thought about taking his show on the
road.
Looking at the historical facts of Blackbeard's life, he
managed to write a script with an anti-drug message. His presentation was
highly entertaining, educational and carried a stern warning about the risks of
drug use. Blackbeard, Cherry believes, was addicted to rum and laudanum, an
opiate.
His presentations argued that Blackbeard's addictions lead
to his downfall. "They affected his mental abilities," Cherry would
say. "And poor decisions led to his death on Nov. 22, 1718." It was a
message that schools were eager to hear. "That key unlocked a number of
doors for me," Cherry said. Some 13 years later, the actor has made over
1,000 presentations, most of them in schools and museums. He has benefited from
the fact that students at schools in North Carolina and Virginia learn about
Blackbeard as part of their curriculums.
Cherry has crossed the state line to appear at schools in
Virginia Beach, Newport News and, now, Hampton. And his pirate shtick has taken
him much farther from home as well. He's performed in Seattle three times. And
the Pirates Week festival in the Cayman Islands flies him in each year for 10
days of swashbuckling.
In 1998, he helped Busch Gardens promote its attraction
"Pirates." And he's done some corporate entertaining and education as
well. All in all, Cherry has managed to carve out a respectable living by
portraying a disreputable character. While he still spends time with his
83-year-old father at the family business between gigs, his full-time job is being
Blackbeard.
"I make more money than most actors in America,"
Cherry said. "I'm not being egotistical here. Most actors have day jobs
that keep them alive. Acting does pay my bills. I just found my little
niche." Cherry's household income is also helped out by his wife's job as
a fourth-grade teacher. Dee Gee Cherry accompanies her husband in costume
whenever her schedule allows.
Are they celebrities in the town of Plymouth?
"People from this little town probably think of me only
as Bubba the Maytag repairman. They don't think that much about Blackbeard. I'm
just the guy down the street who sells appliances. A few of them will
compliment me, but not often."
Ben Cherry
* Job: Portraying Edward Teach, aka Blackbeard the pirate.
* Age: 55
* Home: Plymouth, NC
* Family: Wife, Dee Gee Cherry; father, W.B. Cherry; cat,
Rackham, named after pirate John Rackham, better known as Calico Jack.
* Education: Associate's degree from College of the
Albermarle, Elizabeth City, NC; fine arts degree from East Carolina
University, Greenville, NC
* Interests: Sailing, travel, good restaurants.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The ship's crews and re-enactors each, more or less, demonstrate the need for some people to evolve beyond living exclusively as "workers." Though most of the re-enactors and crew I met seemed content with their lives, many seemed to come alive and actually become who they portrayed, some more so than others, Sinbad being at the far end of the scale.
 |
| .The Meka II - Beaufort, NC |
 |
| .Aboard the American Rover Norfolk, Virginia |
 |
| Always biting off more than she can chew, the Meka II engages the HMS Bounty . .. .  Unfortunately, lives were lost . . |
 |
| The Meka II - Outer Banks, North Carolina |
.
.
 |
| In 1619 the first enslaved Africans to arrive in Colonial North America were landed at Point Comfort, Virginia (Fort Monroe) by Dutch privateers and were destined for Jamestown near modern day Williamsburg (VA). The slaves had been forcibly taken from a rival slave ship while out at sea. Apparently, anything goes out on the open sea. In some cases pirates recruited captured or freed African slaves to join their crews. |
 |
| Edward Teach AKA Blackbeard 1680 - 1718 Thrice nominated "Entrepreneur of the year" in the mid-Atlantic region of North America He notoriously "played both sides of the fence" and made rules up as he went; a precursor of modern day politicians. |
 |
| Hampton Blackbeard Festival - Hampton, Virginia (2000) |
.
Local history (continued)
 |
| Alexander Spotswood re-enactor (2001) |
.
 |
| . Pirate's corpses were often left hanging in public to rot as a deterrent |
 |
| .One of the cannons from Black Beard's Queen Anne's Revenge being lifted from the seafloor near the Outer Banks, North Carolina. The notorious ship was sunk in 1718 |
 |
| Hampton (VA) Black Beard Festival (circa 2001) After the mock trial, instead of getting hung in public, we were given a ride home in a pick-up truck. (I'm leaning against the cab wearing a black bandana) |
