< PreviousBy Sue Mayfield GeigerDocumentary filmmakers Richard Coberly and Ve-ronica Veerkamp, of Wind-ward Media in Kemah, know a thing or two about piracy on the high seas. For nearly two decades, they have made countless expeditions to the Turks and Caicos Islands, gathering information about Trouvadore, a slave ship that wrecked just off the coast of East Caicos in 1841. The ship, captained by De Bonita Velasea, was bound for Cuba from Africa with 300 slaves onboard. But the ship got off course and landed on a reef in this British territory where slavery had been abolished. African slave trading was illegal, but the smug-gling of slaves was big business with thousands of ships crossing the Atlantic in a steady stream, continuing until the 1860s. By 1865, some 12 million Africans had been shipped from their homelands to the Americas and outly-ing islands; more than 1 million of them dying from mistreatment and illness.When Velasea’s 135-foot wooden Balti-more clipper got stuck on the reef, he and his crew were close enough to land to row the 193 remaining slaves, who had Piracy foiledKemah filmmakers’ study of shipwreck tells story of illegal slave tradePhoto courtesy of Search for TrouvadoreThe hull remains of the Trouvadore were measured and compared to the dimensions of known shipwrecks off East Caicos by diver James Hunter.40 COASTMONTHLY.COM / OCTOBER 2015Find more available homes at GaryGreene.com409.938.1121101 Tiki Drive, Suite 100Tiki Island, Texas 77554Available HomesOmega Bay | $285,0003/2, Great Waterfront home! 40 N. 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Contact us today!409.938.1121Featuressurvived disease and illness on the voyage, ashore. Velasea sought the help of a nearby plantation owner and offered him $3,000 for a boat that would take them to Cuba. The plantation owner pretended to comply, but sent a messenger to Grand Turk to alert the authorities, who arrested Velasea and the crew. They were tried and sent to jail, while the 193 slaves were free to live their lives as citizens of the Turks and Caicos.The Trouvadore project initially started with archaeologists Donald Keith and Toni Carroll, a husband-and-wife team Coberly and Veerkamp met while working on a pre-vious documentary, “In Search of La Salle.” The foursome became friends and like minds began looking for a new project.Keith told Coberly he’d found a refer-ence to a slave shipwreck that no one had ever heard of. They began to do the re-search and knew the story had to be told.“I knew right away it would make a good documentary because it was so unique,” Coberly said. “We presented it to PBS, who gave us the go-ahead, organized the fund-raising and we were on our way.” Unfortu-nately, a corporate reorganization occurred at PBS and the project went by the wayside. “We found a distributor, Looking Glass International, based in Australia, who will be presenting the project to various media outlets for broadcast rights,” Coberly said. The rest of the program will be shot as funding becomes available and ultimately will become a two-hour special documentary.“The best part about this story is that Photos courtesy of Search for TrouvadoreExpedition team members take a moment to have a group photo made before leaving the Trouvadore excavation area. Members include archaeologists, documentary filmmakers and the ship’s crew, which assisted in the expedition.(Above) Diver propulsion vehicles were used to in-spect large areas of the reef for hull remains. (Below) Trouvadore Project Team member James Hunter docu-ments a timber from Trouvadore called a “cathead,” part of the ship’s anchoring mechanism.“The best part about this story is that those 193 slaves survived. They were emancipated immediately, given plots of land and went on to gain apprenticeships in local trades.”– Veronica Veerkampthose 193 slaves survived,” Veerkamp said. “They were emancipated immediate-ly, given plots of land and went on to gain apprenticeships in local trades.”The worst part of the expedition is the foul weather and living aboard the dive vessel, Coberly said. “The area is very remote, uninhabited, and the shipwreck area is surrounded by acacia bushes full of stickers,” he said. “Subsequent storms have pushed the ship inward, but it is surrounded by coral reefs, so the project is precarious.”Coberly has worked the underwater camera, but mainly acts as producer and director of photography, while Veerkamp is the writer and researcher.The biggest artifact of the Trouvadore is the ship itself. It is in several major pieces: A section of the hull that didn’t rot because it was covered in sand; a section above the keel; and multiple pieces of timber. “We anticipate taking a few more trips to Turks and Caicos, and eventually going to Cuba to film where the slaves were bound,” Veerkamp said. C42 COASTMONTHLY.COM / OCTOBER 2015 COASTMONTHLY.COM / OCTOBER 2015 43Karen Flowers (409) 789-7377Eric Tucker(214) 500-4310David Bridgwater(409) 392-5655Robert Frank(512) 922-5225Joe Tramonte Realty409-765-9837Treasures Await On Galveston IslandWE HAVE THE KEY TO YOUR NEW DREAM HOME!62 Island Passage$344,90039 Willow Lane$149,0001309 Harbor View$675,00013 Mariner Pass$735,0009 Evia Main$342,0002214 Postoffice #3A$454,900FeaturesPhoto by Jennifer ReynoldsGene Geiger’s arms, chest and leg are adorned with naval tattoos done in Hong Kong while he served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War.The U.S. Navy sailor remembers his arm bleeding profusely in a Hong Kong apartment. He drank beer, and children dashed about the room as a tattoo artist dug needles — “big, dull and dirty” — into his arm. Tattered design books lay scattered in the apartment. The needles pierced deeply, injecting dark ink. Blood dripped constantly, requiring mopping throughout the surgical craftwork. A ship took shape on Gene Geiger’s arm. The young sailor joined the Navy a day after high school graduation. He served on a supply ship running routes between Japan and Vietnam, where the war was underway in 1964. Halfway through the trip, vessels moored in Hong Kong for a week, plenty of time for military men to spend Sailor inkNautical-themed tattoos as popular as ever on Texas CoastBy Chacour Koop44 COASTMONTHLY.COM / OCTOBER 2015Featurestheir pay on booze and primitive tattoos, which scabbed for days. “It was painful — if a guy told you it didn’t hurt, they were ly-ing to you,” Geiger said. Half a century later, the ink remains deep in the body of the 71-year-old San Leon resident.Traditional sailor tattoo artistry continues in the region, espe-cially among international vessel crew members passing through the Port of Galveston or avid Texas anglers who may sport a Texas slam, the trifecta of speckled trout, flounder and redfish. While at sea, sailors from as far as Sweden contact Chauncey Kochel, co-owner of Aasylum Tattoo in Galveston, with requests for body ink.“Usually, sailors get something involving their family or to signify family, such as roses, because they’re gone for so long, especially the guys from farther overseas,” Kochel said. Sailors also still ink a chicken and a pig on their feet, part of a superstitious custom, Kochel said. The images are believed to bring good fortune because crates carrying chickens or pigs floated after shipwrecks, providing stranded swimmers a lifeline. But the tide has shifted. Images from nautical life have gone mainstream, no longer just the pursuit of sailors. There’s a bevy of pages on Pinterest, the popular social media platform, devoted to the anchor. The symmetrical image is appealing to a broad spec-trum of customers, said Brandon Hernandez, an artist at True Love Tattoo Studio in Kemah. “If you don’t know how to draw an anchor, you shouldn’t be do-ing tattoos,” Hernandez said.Other nautical-themed tattoos hark back to Norman Collins, the artist widely known as Sailor Jerry and credited with popular-izing the bold, bright styles of American Traditional tattoos while working in Hawaii. After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, a steady flow of military personnel passed through the island — soldiers and sailors who desired tattoos. The same images are popular in the region today, even if slightly tweaked, artists say. “The sailor-style tattoos on the coast have always been here,” Kochel said. “I don’t think it’s ever going to change. Islanders and anybody on the coast — this is what they do.” CPhotos by Stuart Villanueva(Clockwise from top left) U.S. Coast guard member Andi Webster shows off her traditional anchor tattoo. Tattoo artist Chauncey Kochel works from a picture of a tar-pon while tattooing Robert Rathkamp, a competitive fisherman, at Aasylum Tattoo in Galveston. Suzy Bradford has work done on her large lighthouse tattoo at Aasylum. COASTMONTHLY.COM / OCTOBER 2015 45FeaturesKevin Brown, 60, owner of Pirate Brand, works on a silk-screen machine in Nassau Bay. Brown supplies custom T-shirt and logo design to local businesses.Story and photos by Zach TateSomewhere in a U.S. Coast Guard log book from the early 1970s, there’s a line that reads: “Kevin Bruce Brown — detained for piracy.”Brown, 60, owner of the Pirate Brand, a supplier of custom T-shirt and logo design to area businesses, was then a teenager sailing around Galveston Bay in his homemade cata-maran when he came upon a partially sunken yacht and decided to remove some of its deck hardware. Accord-ing to maritime law, an abandoned vessel in peril may be salvaged, or so Brown thought. The finer details that distinguish acts of salvage from acts of piracy in Brown’s case might be some-what murky.Brown removed a few cleats and blocks and put them in his sail bags and tied them under the netting of his catamaran and went on his way. It wasn’t long before Coast Guard offi-cials were signaling him to tie off next to their cutter. Fortunately for Brown, his vessel was too small and low in the water for the authorities to board imme-diately. Brown took the opportunity to “straighten up” his boat and undid the ties that were holding the sail bags, qui-etly letting his booty sink to the bottom of the Gulf. When Coast Guard officials came up empty, they let Brown go.His own brand of pirateCreator of famous Texas sandal company finds adventure in every business turn46 COASTMONTHLY.COM / OCTOBER 2015Operated by Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc.GALVESTONPalm Cove Court | $560s3-4/3.5 - ±3,669 sfchic Mediterranean-style custom home in gated enclave | superb epicurean kitchen | stellar bay vistas | media room | Brazilian cherry hardwoodsJROSENFELD@MARTHATURNER.COM | 713.854.1303I WANT TO BE YOUR REALTOR!JIM ROSENFELDGALVESTONSchaper Drive | $90s±5,749 sf lotoutstanding lake & golf course vistas in EviaGALVESTONPorch Street | $980s4-5/3.5 - ±3,942 sfexquisite waterfront manor on expansive double lotMEMORIAL PARKLogan Lane | $560s3/3.5 - ±2,535 sfdivine townhome | chef’s kitchen | marvelous terrace GALVESTONIsland Passage | $340s3/2.5 - ±2,072 sfexceptional downstairs master | fabulous vistasGALVESTONIsland Passage | $340s3/2.5 - ±2,188 sfmarvelous open oor plan | captivating verandasGALVESTONChurch Street | $250s4/2 - ±1,800 sfsuperb chef’s kitchen | historic home with upgradesFEATURED IN TOWN PROPERTYFeaturesIt was the first of two times Brown, a Nassau Bay resident, has been accused of piracy and consequently the reason he named his company Pirate Brand. The second was in 1996, for trademark infringement on a company he created in 1973 called Tiddies. The legendary Gulf Coast company made millions of dollars through-out the 1970s manufacturing and selling Brown’s unique design of sandals. The sandals had become a household name in Texas. Brown named the company after a colorful quote by a merchant mariner friend who tried on one of the first-ever “very soft and comfortable” prototypes of the sandal. After selling the company in the late 1980s to a family member and acquiring it back in the 1990s, Brown was accused of trade-mark piracy, at which point he immediately changed the name to Pirate Brand. After 40 successful years in business, Brown in 2012 buried the last pair of sandals he would ever make in his backyard in Nassau Bay in favor of focusing on his first passion in life — drawing. Long before the success of Tiddies, Brown was an artist, draw-ing with mostly pen and ink. His father, a prominent Pasadena doctor, once told him in typical 1950s dad-speak, “You can’t eat art.” He wanted his son to go to medical school. Brown, inspired by the likes of world famous cartoonist and illustrator Robert Crumb, wanted to be an artist, but acknowledged the practicality in his father’s advice. Brown has created his own path, applying his artistic skills to various business ventures, designing logos and marketing materi-als for Tiddies and Pirate Brand among others. Familiarity with the beach apparel retail industry naturally led to creating T-shirt designs, which is the mainstay of Pirate Brand, along with custom cold beverage coolers, better known by their trademark name, Koozie. Although Brown doesn’t hold the Koozie trademark, he isn’t being accused of piracy.His vibrant illustrations have adorned the fronts and backs of T-shirts around the Bay Area. His customers include restaurants such as T-Bone Tom’s in Kemah; Gilhooley’s famous oyster hang-out in San Leon; Tookie’s, a popular burger joint in Seabrook; and a few surf shops from Galveston to Port Aransas.“I’ve been to at least three funerals where the person wanted to be buried with their favorite Pirate Brand beverage cooler,” Brown said. These days, he enjoys working on his art. “I love it when someone comes up to me and says they love my work,” he said.Though, technically speaking, Brown isn’t a pirate, he has lived something of a pirate life, letting his passions take him where they will. His next big idea takes him back to the ocean and back to an-other one of the loves of his life — making boats. He’s developing a business plan to build and sell 50-foot custom day-cruiser catama-rans out of a facility in Bacliff. 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