Thread: Pirate Hunt - Tortuga Wharf / Port Royal Help Requested

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I am trying to organize a pirate hunt for my nephew next month and I have the game set. I’m struggling with setting the scene in two areas. I have been scouring the internet for ideas and prop houses that have reasonable rentals and availability in my area (New Jersey) for what i think im looking for, and im coming up empty.

Would anyone have any suggestions to offer me on how to make to sets – Specifically Tortuga’s Wharf and secondly Port Royal Cannon platform that would use black balloons for the cannonballs.

Other than raiding the docks for some wooden pallets and attaching poles and draping fisherman’s ropes, to corral the area, I’m out of ideas. I think barrels and crates would be a great look but unbelievably hard to get my hands on . I may have found some old barrels in Indiana I can have shipped to me for 100.00 each, although I haven’t ruled that out yet, but time is ticking away and the pirate hunt is set for August 6th.

Thanks for any help

I'm not familiar with those locations. Are they from POTC? Not sure what else might fit prop-wise.

One thing that I think always helps set the scene is sound. You could run warf/ship sounds on a loop on a cheap MP3 player and some speakers. Maybe some "pirate murmurs" or something.

I think there's a crate tutorial on here. People have done some really great lookinf stuff by just adding some styrofoam blocks to a cardboard box and painting them to look like crates.

I wish I had an uncle who was willing to spend $100 a barrel just to decorate a party. With just about 2 weeks to go it would seem you would need mostly finished props.

The way I hear it from my 4 yr old nephew, all pirates go to Tortuga LOL! .... so take that with a grain of salt. What does it look like? I have no idea.

Sound is a great suggestion, I already have the treasure chest sand, etc and the sound is a chopped version of Disney dead men tell no tales on a 20 second loop. playing behind the pirate skeletons.

And Port Royal.. well that's a combination of me reading to him pirate stories from a book I bought him in Jamaica. lets all remember he's 4 yrs old, so I want to go with what he knows... I have 7 other kids from 5-11 who will be playing as well.

Thanks for the crate ideas, I found the thread, I want to skip to home depot and shop shop shop.

And- you're right. 2 weeks left. I completed the other 4 areas, moved a half of ton of sand to my fathers front lawn and turtle bay is almost complete. Finished the treasure boxes, bought the Lego loot ( Pirate of the carribean sets) to stuff them .. Im just wrestling with these two areas now.

Thanks for the replies.

I know what Tortuga is and check out the Pirates of the Carribean if you aren't familiar. Think of a seedy dark bar down with drunks, cut throats, and wenches. Oh, and pirates. lol You can make the walls with old lumber if you go dumpster driving around town. Put an add of freecycle.org for any free stuff you need. You can do two posts a week so think wisely of things you think others will have and are willing to get rid of. Check out Lowe's Home Depot for missmatched paints to get them cheaply. Put an add out for free rainbarrels. They don't have to hold water anymore. See if you can get cracked or broken ones. Then paint those for wine/ale casks. Also, check out party city to see what they have. Might have some inflating palm trees. I know they are carrying halloween stuff year round and I know ours has some pirate stuff. Hope this gives you some ideas. You can make your own barrels by picking up some old wood and screwing it into pvc that you bend into a circle. Since they are so young, it might pass.

Thank you.

I might need to tame that down some for a 4yr old lol but you painted a great picture.
I love the pvc wood barrel idea.

Just one question, will you be my uncle too? Sounds awesome. I made a barrel out of an old trash can, I just made slats of "wood" with foam and hot glued them on.

That looks amazing!

For the record, I am a GIRL LOL

Celine...... celipops as the nick.

Thank you for replying

I made 4 barrels yest, and im making the hubby stain them today while I go and pick up a few items i got from freecycle.org. I am getting a 14' skiff that was used in a garden as a planter and an old wooden scroll top desk to use for the captains quarters...

less then 2 weeks and im going out of my mind LOL

Sorry, someone up above said uncle so I went with it. Anyway, auntie, then LOL Also, can I come to the party,I have a 4 year old little girl? Just kidding. Have fun and remember to breath

Auntie, I will drink to that!

I hear ya, I saw it, i ignored it. How Celine can be considered a boys name is beyond me- and its not just here, so I let it go.

I would open the invite to others usually, but this time I have 8 kids, 1 toy box treasure chest 4 complete sets of all 8 set boxes of legos for them to share. Since its 2 kids per household, the split is perfect! no fighting no duplicates. They are going to loose their minds.