From last week...

Two days later the ships of Commander Heyn's squadron were assembled and ready for their intended mission - hove to and bobbing in the darkness a little over a mile off Ostend's strand in a heavy fog on a high tide. The Dolfjin was moored closely to the side of the Hollandia. Heyn turned to face his men before departing. He shook hands with Jacobi and Van Dorn.

“Good Luck Sir”, Luitenant Van Dorn interjected.

“Indeed Sir, God's blessings upon you Pieter”, Jacobi added.

“Thank you Gentlemen”, Heyn responded. Goodbyes said, Captain Heyn climbed down into the much smaller Dolfjin and joined Evertsen on the little quarter-deck. Evertsen saluted and shook Heyn's hand. “Your man Frans just signaled from the little hoy that he is ready. He only left fifteen minutes past and stated that we have a perfect wind. We will be able to sail reaching both going in and out and will not be against it at any time. He said to signal four lanterns to the fleet.” Heyn knodded his head, “Forty minutes then.....God help us.”

(And now Part 9...)

The minutes seemed like hours as the ships moved through the heavy fog in line. A single small lantern in the stern windows of each ship - only viewable from the rear – allowed the group to barely keep close enough to one another that they stayed on course together in line east by south east. As they started into the De Geul channel it was clear that they were not alone. Lantern lights could be seen close-by coming from the southern gun batteries embrasures. In addition, the clear noises of ships working in the darkness towards them from the opposite direction was unmistakeable.

The Hollandia and Isaiah had hove-to as planned at approximate positions forward of Ostend's strand in the darkness and quietly turned their already previously run out guns upon the shore batteries to support the raid – silently awaiting. As the Dolfjin and Hermes turned south, closing upon the opening into Ostend's outermost wall entering the Nieuw Poort inlet, Heyn continued to look closely into the darkness towards the noises of the ships moving northwest out of the De Geul channel. The fog had cleared ever so slightly now and he could make out shapes against the lights of the southern shore batteries - distinct dark sillouettes of two small rakish galleons heading towards the open sea. He wanted to curse because he knew there were probably more enemy ships behind them making for the ocean. All he could do was snicker quietly to himself. Evertsen was aware of the situation as well and his expression was grim as Heyn looked upon his concerned subordinate in the foggy dimness. He whispered to Evertsen, “They are in for a surprise I think, with the blockade now twice its size and twice as close as it was just last evening. Let us pray that they don't run straight into Hollandia or Isaiah.” Evertsen nodded in agreement, “Indeed Sir.”

As Frans's little hoy pushed into the harbor, guards on the wall called out a challenge, “Ahoy there - what ship are you?”

Frans answered, “It is good King Phillip's ship Delilah and I Frans Hecht her captain. I have two vessels with the King's cargo following me.”

The guards yelled back in answer, “Hallo Frans, God's safety upon you and welcome home brother.”

Back in 2008, the US salvage company Odyssey Marine Exploration discovered the 1744 wreck of the HMS Victory. She was the direct predecessor and inspiration behind Nelson's iconic flagship. She was lost in a storm off the Channel Islands, on her way back to England, all 1,150 hands aboard were lost. According to the BBC article, she was believed to be carrying a large amount of gold, a payment received for Dutch merchants, and also a smaller amount from some prize ships she had taken. Two cannons were raised by Odyssey Marine from the site in a primarily site survey back in 2009, a 12-pounder and a 42-pounder. If you follow the above link to Odyssey Marines site, you can see some fanastic pictures of the wreck site and a video of underwater footage. There are no details as to when the salvage operation and recovery will take place.

The 300ft (90m) ship was discovered by the Florida-based firm in May 2008, nearly 65 miles (100km) from where it was historically believed to have sunk. At the time, the company's chief executive, Greg Stemm, said: "

HMS Victory was the mightiest vessel of the 18th Century and the eclectic mix of guns we found on the site will prove essential in further refining our understanding of naval weaponry used during the era."

The Dutch financial publication, Amsterdamsche Courant, reported on 18 November 1744, a month after the ship sank: "People will have it that on board of The Victory was a sum of 400,000 pounds sterling that it had brought from Lisbon for our merchants."

It was also thought that large quantities of silver and gold coins would have been on board HMS Victory from enemy prize ships captured by Balchin, worth £120,000 at the time.

From Synqua Games comes a brand new action-packed thriller of a game where Vikings and Pirates go head-to-head in a visually stunning and addicting axe-wielding title!

The Vikings are trying to get their filthy hands on Captain Goodthrow’s booty, and it is your task to prevent those nasty sons of Odin from succeeding! In this awesome game with incredibly intuitive controls, you use your finger to draw a path on the screen to release your trusty battle axe to bring’ em’ down! Protect your treasure, and reclaim what is yours by tapping barrels of beer to freeze the onslaught of enemies! Points are awarded for every kill and multiple kills trigger additional bonus points. Treasure can be collected by tapping on treasure chests when the Vikings are not looking, allowing you to snatch the loot inside by guiding it to your ship! But your battle axe is not your only weapon of choice in your quest to destroy the Vikings as cannons also become available, enabling you to take down entire ships! Some Vikings can only be killed by tracing your path through nasty green venom, guaranteed to create a stinker of a weapon! As the game becomes progressively harder, obstacles such as falling spikes need to be cleverly and cunningly avoided by ingenious path navigation!

‘Save Yer Booty’ features not only crisp and colorful cartoonish graphics and highly intuitive controls. The game has an incredible 48 awesome levels spread across 4 stages, and two unique modes of play – ‘Save Yer Booty’, and ‘Do or Die’. A new gameplay mode, Booty Steal, is currently in development and will be made available soon. The game is FREE to play (1 stage, 12 levels) with in-app purchases for 3 additional levels and includes more than 6 different enemies, all with varied an brilliantly implemented behaviors.

‘Save Yer Booty’ is now available for the Apple iPhone® and Apple iPod touch®, and a version for the Apple iPad® will be available as a separate download very soon

Download ‘Save Yer Booty!’ for the Apple iPhone® & Apple iPod touch®:

http://itunes.apple.com/in/app/draw-war-save-your-booty/id490569894?mt=8

From Part 7...

Heyn smiled respectfully and bowed slightly again. He thought a short moment and answered, “My Lords, I am certain of the outcome and assure you that I will bring these privateering mongrels of Oostend to heel.”

“How can you be so confident and so sure of this outcome where so many others have failed Sir?” Van Noort querried.

Heyn answered confidently with a widening smile, “Its simple really My Lord. You see your Honors, its a matter of knowing their tricks and how turn them back upon themselves. In short Mijn Heren, it takes a hopelessly damned wretched pirate, to catch a hopelessly damned wretched pirate.” The aged Admirals all laughed in unison in answer – their laughter echoing throughout the gothic hall with a pitch and noise that outshone the ghosts haunting the ancient place.

(And now Part 8 of Reale Ocho: Silvern at Bahia de Matanzas)

“Captain Evertsen, Please inform Captain Heyn of the current situation.” Admiral Van Noort commanded.

“Very Well Sir”, young Captain Evertsen complied. “The Oostenders have been more aggressive than ever before in recent weeks. I am very surprised you were spared their attacks Captain Heyn. The convoy arriving just before yours lost nearly half their numbers to a lightning fast, well organized Privateer fleet. The pirates were so bold indeed that they seized the escort flagship Neptunus and took her a prize. The reports from the returning convoy captains was that the Ostender devils have built a new, specialized vessel. They say she came from nowhere and appeared to be some sort of a large fregatte-galleon combination. This hybrid warship was apparently the secret of their fleet's success, and why they were able to so handily take the flagship. It is said that she is as large as any two decker, but with a single, long, low main gun-deck, with smaller half gun-decks above on each side of her waist. With this configuration, she mounts nearly as many guns as a two decker, and for short range raiding she can be manned with double a two decker's numbers. But she is swift and low in the water as craft half her size. She is also shallower of draft and much faster than any equivalent ship of her size. Several of our agents lost their lives trying to find out who was in command of this fleet and this new ship. We have learned that she is named the Iris.”

Admiral Van Noort spoke, “Word of this attack and this new fleeting ghost ship has spread like wild-fire. Insurance rates have spiraled upwards in undue excess. The subsequent panic among investors has caused the Hereen XVII to call for more warships to be built immediately and for larger naval escorts to be provided for all merchant fleets. Many inland towns have come forward with promises to fund new warships. Both the VOC along with the smaller merchant companies - and even the Sea Beggar captains have all pledged their support in doubling the blockading squadrons around Dunkirk and Oostend.”

Joystiq is reporting that Age of Booty, originally released for XboxLive and PC, will be released soon for iOS and Android devices. This game was a bit of a disappointment a couple of years ago, but it did have some serious potential. It was actually quite fun to play, but it started to get repetitive after you had played it for a while, there was simply not enough variety of things to do and the maps were very repetitive as well. This reincarnation is supposed to feature some improvements over the original game. The new version will include a single-player campaign and real-time multiplayer and cross-platform support. The developer, Certain Affinity, have partnered with Chaotic Moon and have listened to the criticisms of the game by players over the past couple of years and is trying to incorporate those changes into this new version. Hopefully they will get it right this time! No release date has been set yet. You can read the full article over at Joystiq, and you can find out more over at the developers web page HERE!