Igohigh, really outstanding links and lot's of information ... though I knew of the Scarlett site ... :biggrin:

Everytime I'm really impressed by people doing much effort to have most accurate rebuilds of old tmes ... each summer we have medieval marketenders, knights and the rest of people from that era in town, a really spectacular event for sure ...

But for me, I'm good enough to do exact replicas. There better talented people out there. So I'm glad to have visualized my fantasies, being aware that it's not exactly the old reality.

But in that correct sense most of the beautyful outfits sold or freely distributed for the poser ladies are more fantasy than reality ... though not only from pirate era's as also from the day's round the corner. And the complete scifi stuff is than undefined if ever will exist ...

But I think it's legal to play with fantasies also ... life may be otherwise sad enough ...

Regarding to the boots, as far as I know boots and also shoe's was not very cheap in that day's and also later. So right, most common sailor's went barefeet and this was up to the later times of the iron men on wooden boats ... the tea clipper races as also to the times of the salpetre curses to the chile coast.

B.t.w. often pirates was not only pirate by accident cause captured with their ships on sea. They in total often being sailors by accident going to sea to avoid prison or worse. And later on also normal men found themselfes being a sailor on the next morning cause being shanghaied.
A interesting theme ... think you go to the pub with some friends in the evening and awake with a thick head in the morning being on sea without any knowledge or interest in sailing ... very strange ...

So this thingie of changing captains, though true, is interesting cause there might be also been the need of some navigational knowledge. And that for sure was not common knowledge in that times. How did they solve this problem