Bruce Northam: Hi, I’m Bruce Northam. Welcome to American Detour in Honduras. We’re on the Island of Roatan. We’re here to investigate the origins of Pirate Chic.
I’m tranquil in the Caribbean Island of Roatan, Honduras’s bootleg of paradise where the first innovators entrust Pirate Chic. Clashing outfits and lifestyles patched together from different parts of the world as if the ensemble had washed ashore with mixed driftwood or was looted from wooden chest that you can sleep in, wake up and get up.
So what would be a modern day pirate fashion statement?
Male: You are looking at it.
Bruce Northam: Relaxed Roatan (or Roatán technically) is the largest of Honduras' three Bay Islands. 40 miles long and five miles at its widest, it's surrounded by the Mesoamerican Barrier reef, the largest in the Caribbean Sea––which is the second largest worldwide after Australia's Great Barrier Reef. An aquamarine dream: idyllic beaches teem with inviting accommodations, tempting beach bars, and magical snorkeling or dive spots.
You know, one problem with being half Irish is that I just can’t seem to stay away from places like this.
European colonialism delivered an array of DNA–ready characters to the Bay of Honduras, whose flair still paints the region. Settlers–at–large, pirates, castaways, traders and militarists stimulated an economy, and political tensions between Spain and Britain. This established Roatan as a popular sea traveler landfall.
Britain, keen to block Spain's Caribbean takeover and continues sending biscuits, tea, cricket, bizarre humor upon the global menu, strategically set up shop here between 1550 and 1700. Meanwhile, British, French and Dutch pirates nested the same harbors, intent on looting Spanish cargo vessels bulky with New World gold and treasures.
Iconic Henry Morgan, the Welsh privateer sea captain cum Caribbean pirate/king also chose Roatán in the mid 1600s when as many as 5,000 similar self–styled businessmen thrived here. Morgan, the Captain Morgan Rum global spokes model, continues inspiring party animals worldwide with his slogan "Got a little Captain in You?" Today, a few wayward captain types still lurk about.
An encyclopedic rendering of a waterway outlaw declares: Piracy is a war–like act committed by a nonstate actor, especially robbery or criminal violence committed at sea, on a river, or sometimes on shore, either from a vessel flying no national flag, or one flying a national flag but without authorization from a national authority.
1700–1730, before America ditched foreign rule, were also considerable pirate years on Roatan, when romanticized felons ran free. Their descendants still don't worry silly trends, and at least one feminine glass ceiling has shattered––open–toed sandals and skimpy T–shirts showcase hot. They’re cute but never pay for women’s drinks or their own. Female expatriate on dive shop pirates
Pirate lingo and accents link to Scots–English, with songlike rings evoking Old English—the Germanic version of English before the Norman Invasion. It seems that pirates seized globalization long ago. Honduran swashbuckling suave is colorblind to racism and enjoys a signature personality ease. It combines gypsy styling, inspiration from rogue expat grunge, gut–level Rasta mons, luxury travelers, and the cruise ship day–tripper's blaze.
Local needn't hijack somebody else's idea of style. I spotted brightly–dressed cruiser day–trippers in search of a tortilla; lucky for them, there's not a chumbucket in sight here.
Arriving late for breakfast at a posh resort aside, my closest mimic of pirate style menace was zip lining. A solo flight over and through Mountain side jungle canopy using cables and pulleys to migrate between 12 excellent tree house platforms.
Hard to look cool since you resemble a helplessly dangling kitten being carried by the back of its neck in mommy's mouth. It is fun though. When a bug flew into my eye, in mid–flight approaching the ninth tree house platform, I arrived with one eye closed—a metaphoric eye patch. Aye.
While most of us board flights home after an adventure, sailing scripts a pirate's destiny. Self–righteous pirate chic aligns your ship—and outfit—with nothing earthly, steering by nonphysical markers and going with instinct, go ahead, unleash your inner pirate…on a majestic, wandering ship that's built to last.
Bootleg Styling isn't about flags, fabrics, vacuum toilets, or labels, it's about what you do with them.
“It is, it is a glorious thing. To be a Pirate King" – Roatan nonstate actor and bartender, emulating W.S. Gilbert, 1879
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