The real pirate life was exciting and dangerous, but also democratic and egalitarian. These four people-the Dutch-African sailor, the little boy, the ship’s captain, and the Miskito Indian helmsman-lived aboard the Whydah, a slave ship overtaken and turned into a pirate ship in the early 18th century. The Whydah Pirate Museum tells the untold story of the Whydah and reveals the true story behind this vessel and those who lived aboard.
The Whydah left Africa in 1716, bearing the weight of human cargo. Reaching Caribbean waters, the ship was seized by Samuel Bellamy, commander of a growing fleet of pirate ships. Shipwrecked in a nor’easter in 1717, the Whydah sank deep into Cape Cod waters, only to be discovered by intrepid diver Barry Clifford and his team, who dedicated years of their lives to recovering the artifacts of the Whydah, from cannons and pistols to buttons and buckles-and, of course, pirate treasure: gold, silver, and pieces of eight.
The Whydah Pirate Museum combines artifacts of the slave trade and the pirate’s life, early maps of the Atlantic and the Caribbean, and imagery of the 18th-century world. The results are a rich and interesting tapestry that echoes and extends the experience of the exhibition itself and reveals a historically accurate portrait of real pirates in the Caribbean.