April | 2010 | Through An Artist's Eye

rear view of the tall ship bounty when she was docked at peanut island in florida.

The HMS Bounty

She’s sailed away. The HMS Bounty is heading toward Baltimore now, on to Greenport, and Newburgh, NY then to Portland, ME. Check out the schedule if you’d like to see her, and if you’re lucky, the Bounty will be under the control of pirates. (If there’s a Pirate Fest where you are.) The ship’s position on the schedule is currently 9 days out of date according to their website. http://www.tallshipbounty.org/schedule/

a photo of some of the pirates aboard the bounty at the peanut island pirate festival.

Pirate sightings near the HMS Bounty.

The HMS Bounty and the Privateer Lynx docked on Peanut Island Palm Beach Florida.

When the HMS Bounty docked at Peanut Island in Palm Beach Florida, we went for a visit, of course I had my camera in tow. I brought my 100-400mm Canon L series zoom, and my 24-105mm Canon L series zoom along with me.
We not only saw the Bounty we also got to see the tall ship, Privateer Lynx of Portsmouth, NH, a square top sail schooner which is an interpretation of a privateer or naval schooner from the War of 1812, we saw the entrance to the Kennedy Bunker, and the historic Coast Guard Station.

You see the Lynx was in Florida to offer the crew of the Bounty a pardon if the ship was returned to her home port by April 5th. The crews of the two ships got friendly and decided to party! You can see more info on the Peanut Island Pirate Festival theme here http://www.peanutislandpiratefest.com/eventtheme.html

You can only get to Peanut Island by boat. We rode over on a ferry which picked us up at the Riviera Beach Marina. While we were waiting for the ferry, this hard-working sea turtle swam by us busily paddling against the current. It was not an easy task, the wind was fierce that day. He gave us a look that said, hey can you help me!

The hard working sea turtle fighting the current and wind near Riviera Beach Marina.

For those that don’t know, this Bounty is a replica of the original ship that was used by the British Admiralty for a special mission in 1787. That special mission was to sail to Tahiti, halfway around the world, collect sapling breadfruit trees and bring them to the West Indies so that the British plantation owners would have a cheap source of food for their workers. Lt. William Bligh led the mission, and after much difficulty in traveling they arrived in Tahiti in October of 1788. During the five months that the crew stayed, they gathered more than a thousand breadfruit trees. The crew lived onshore to take care of the trees, and became quite attached to the Tahitians while they were there.

After five months in Tahiti, the Bounty set sail with its load of breadfruit trees on April 4th 1789. Nearly 24 days later mutiny broke out. (Acting Lieutenant) Fletcher Christian, totally fed up with the continual abuse from Capt. Bligh took the ship and sailed it to the island of Tubuai. Three months later, after a failed effort to settle on the island, they sailed back to Tahiti, and left sixteen of the crew on the island, some of the crew were loyal to Bligh, some were mutineers.

Then Christian with eight Bounty crew members, six Tahitian men, twelve women and one baby, sailed off in an effort to hide from the Royal Navy. They sailed through the Fiji and Cook Islands, but didn’t feel safe there. On January 15th 1790 they came upon Pitcairn Island, an island in the middle of nowhere in the Pacific, which had been misplaced on the Royal Navy’s charts. They decided to stay on the island, they took the livestock and other provisions from the Bounty, and they burned the ship on January 23rd 1790, in the hope that they wouldn’t be found, and to keep anyone from escaping the island. The ship sits in what is now called Bounty Bay. No one found out about their dirty deed for 18 years.

approaching the hms bounty and privateer lynx at Peanut Island.

Approaching the HMS Bounty and Privateer Lynx on the ferry to Peanut Island.

The replica was built in 1960 for MGM studios’ Mutiny on the Bounty, starring that hunk, Marlon Brando. The movie studio execs had a new Bounty built from scratch, and they built her just the way she would have been built in 1760. They used the original ship’s drawings to construct the replica. The Bounty replica has starred in many productions since then, and in 1986 Ted Turner purchased the MGM film library and he got the Bounty with it. He used it in the movie Treasure Island with Charlton Heston in 1989, she also played many other roles along the way. In 1993 she was donated to the Fall River Chamber Foundation, in Fall River, Massachusetts. They began the Tall Ship Bounty Foundation, and used the ship for educational purposes.

a privateer lynx crew member sitting on her ship as we went by on the ferry.

A Lynx crew member aboard her ship.

In February of 2001, when the Bounty was in serious need of repairs she was purchased by HMS Bounty Organization LLC. They took her to the shipyard in Boothbay Harbor Maine for work. Once the Bounty was ready to go again, her first stop was to go back home to the United Kingdom. The organization keeps the Bounty sailing and uses her to teach square rigged sailing and seamanship.

The HMS Bounty as we approached on the ferry.

You can almost feel the history as you wander around the Bounty. You find yourself wondering what life was like then. I wouldn’t have been surprised if Captain Jack Sparrow showed up and took control. Of course if you visit during a Pirate Fest, he just might!