Choptank River Trip - Pirate’s Treasure

No trace is left of the Chesapeake Bay pirate, Roger Makeele.

But relics from the life of the more famous pirate, Blackbeard, have been found. In 1996, archeologists and divers discovered a shipwreck in Ocracoke Inlet, near Beaufort, North Carolina, which is probably the remains of Blackbeard’s flagship, Queen Anne’s Revenge.  You can learn more about the recovery effort by visiting the Queen Anne’s Revenge Shipwreck Project web site.

In Watt’s Creek, another shipwreck was discovered back in 1964. The Watts Creek vessel was built and sank long after the last pirate was hanged.  And it has no known connection to piracy or privateering.  Nevertheless, it is an interesting specimen of a merchant sailing vessel known as the “pungy”, that was peculiar to the Chesapeake Bay in the mid-1800s. It was a fast cargo vessel that was used in the “pineapple trade” and for cargo runs to the Bahamas. If the Watts Creek pungy had sailed in the days of Blackbeard, it could have raced out of reach of Blackbeard and his Queen Anne’s Revenge.

Next. find out more about Chesapeake Bay pungies and the Watts Creek shipwreck.