Pirates of the Treasure Coast

As I have mentioned in an earlier post, the Treasure Coast of Florida is the graveyard for the 1715 Spanish treasure fleet. Eleven Spanish galleons had crashed on the shallow reefs along the beaches of what is now Indian River, St. Lucie and Martin Counties, depositing millions in gold and silver on the ocean floor. "Plata" is the Spanish word for silver, and over the years the sunken ships became known as the "1715 Plate Fleet," when Englishmen confused the Spanish word as "plate."

But it wasn't about plates, even though there was a shipment of fine porcelain from China aboard one of the ships. It was all about salvaging as much of the gold and silver as could possibly be found. The Spanish made an alliance with local Indians, called the Ais tribe, who assisted in the recovery. The Spanish and their Indian allies were fortunate and found a vast amount of the sunken treasure, hoping to send it on to King Felipe, who desperately needed the treasure to pay off a huge debt.

But, as we know, good news travels fast. Word of the catastrophe along the central coast of Florida spread like wildfire throughout the Caribbean. The Spanish got busy putting together a salvage fleet to go to Florida to recover what they could and continue on to Spain. Before they could get there, a fast-acting pirate named Henry Jennings sailed to the salvage site and raided the camp.

Jennings and his crew of buccaneers swarmed the camp and overpowered the men protecting the treasure. They made off with 87,000 British pounds in recovered silver and gold. That amount today is worth millions of dollars. On board Jenning's ship was another pirate named Charles Vane, who would go on to become one of the most infamous of the lot, gaining a reputation as one of the cruelest pirates ever. Vane was one of the last of the "Privateers," since many before him had accepted a pardon from the King Of England and had returned to a normal life.

In my book, Serpent's Curse, pirates are feared by the Spanish captains who sail the Caribbean. They are constantly on the lookout for roving pirate ships, known to fly a Spanish flag until they got close enough to attack, when they raised the Jolly Roger and set their cannons blazing. And we worry about "Road Rage?"

Step back in time to when men made their life on the seas, whether for good or bad. Check out the link below for a FREE look at Serpent's Curse:

                           https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/1456c9f6ce6cc2b2


For more information on Serpent's Curse, go to:

http://littlepondpublishing.com/book-titles/serpents-curse-by-mark-t-bradbury/ 

Have a great day and thanks for reading!



Mark