I always like when we take on new crew members. Entertaining, it is. First they has to acclimate to the ship. You know, a sailing ship is never still but pitches and yaws on the waves. A pirate can walk on a heaving deck as easy as a baron’s daughter on a ballroom floor, but the new ones, most of them have more than a little trouble. Then once they’re thinking they might be able to stand, the first mate sends ‘em up the rat lines to set the sails. If you think the deck is moving, imagine yourself forty feet up in the air on the mast, pitching like someone stuck on the top of tree. Most of ‘em just cling. A few of them sob. Them’s my favorites, if you know what I mean.

I’ll stick close to this new batch.