About Pirates Of The North Pacific, home of The Criminal Dawn.

Organizer
Capt. Kat has loved all things pirate for years. She was spurred to create this group after attending a pirate themed festival in Oregon. Upon discovering there was more than just the one festival, she invited everyone she knew to share in the fun thus forming the pirate ship The Criminal Dawn. In the years that followed, the crew of the ship needed better communication and meetup.com provided the perfect venue. Capt. Kat now not only drags her crew to events across two states but uses meetup.com to help pirates without the benefit of a ship to stay current on local pirate related events.

A.O.
The current Assistant Organizers for this group are:
Jubei
The Criminal Dawn (Ghost account)

• Jubei (pronounced Joo-bay), one of the founding members of this group, has been the A.O. since the groups formation. His superior internet searching skills (a.k.a. “Google-fu”) helps to keep us all up to date on the latest happenings within the greater pirate community. He also helps keep the organizer from going overboard on ideas which may be too ambitious. Jubei is instrumental in keeping the board alive when ideas for new meets or topics start to run short. He also serves as First Mate on the pirate ship The Criminal Dawn.
  His pirate persona pays homage to Japanese folk hero Yagyū Jūbei Mitsuyoshi.
  
  
• The Criminal Dawn Ghost account is not a real person. (Actually, the account is connected to a communal email address shared by both the Organizer and the A.O.) We use this account to act as “host” for events which our group is attending but are in reality being organized/hosted by persons not part of this meetup group.
  

What do we do?
Lots. Ice skating, movies, dinner, laser tag, paint ball, crafts, bowling, karaoke, camping, pick-nicking, local festivals, far away festivals, parades, dancing (yes, we have gone dancing!), parties, shopping, Etc. You name it, we’ve probably done it –or at least we would consider it-. Why is all of this interesting you ask? Well, because we do all of these things dressed as pirates! How cool is that?

The Criminal Dawn.
This meetup group is home to a pirate ship. Scratch that. Its home to the BEST pirate ship, The Criminal Dawn. We, her crew, use the meetup group as our online base of operation. Crewmembers pay dues every six months to keep the meetup group online and to support our activities both within the meetup group and aside. If you attend any of the camping events, more than likely you will be camping with us. The Criminal Dawn currently consists of 18 crewmembers. Crew are identified in the ‘Members’ section with their ship affiliation and title. While not all members of the meetup group are part of the ship, all crewmembers are part of the meetup group. If you have any questions regarding the ship or her crew, please feel free to ask or swing by our little piece of the internet here. On our site you will find answers regarding what we do and how you can become involved.

Are there fees?
This group is free to its members.
Only the crew of the pirate ship The Criminal Dawn, are required to pay dues.
Some events we attend require payment either at the entrance or by advance ticket sales/pre-registration. Visit the individual event listing to see if this is the case.

Participation.
We of course want as many as possible to attend every meet we host and event we attend. When this is not possible, we request that members try to at least remain active on the message board. Those members who are not active (who have not logged in) for six months or more will be removed from the group. A warning message is sent via email to all members before a purge.

Are children welcome?
Children are welcome to most events. Check an individual event listing to be sure. A word of caution for guardians, pirates were known for debauchery, modern-day pirates are almost as shocking. Children will very likely be exposed to adult language. We try to keep in mind when we are around “smalls” but being caught up in an event can cause forgetfulness. The camping events we attend always have many happenings designed specifically for children. However, here you will also find: alcohol consumption, adult language, and (occasionally) some nudity. Again, we try to keep things age appropriate but if you go to watch a boffer (padded sword) tournament with your child, there is a chance that a traditionally worn kilt may be lifted. Aside from this, pirates love innuendo in song and conversation. If your children understand what is being suggested, we assume: (1) You will fit in nicely with our group and (2) Your children are precocious, free thinking, and probably smarter than most adults.
Basically, think of pirates in history. Now, remove the raping, and murdering. What you are left with is pretty much what this group is about (the stealing we do is only part of a game…but it still requires underhanded behavior).
In short, we don’t mind children being with us…but you might. Use your discretion when bringing your babes.

Why don’t you have a regularly scheduled meetup?
Time constraints…mostly. The ship that keeps this group running has a very tight schedule. We are committed to multiple large events throughout the summer which require a large amount of time, money, and coordination to attend. Much of our energy is put toward these events and requires that we occasionally “wing it” when it comes to meetings. We try to schedule a get-together of sorts once a month. During the winter, we meet frequently out of sheer boredom but during the summer almost all focus is on the festivals. Attend one of these mega-events with us and you will see why it’s worth the wait (and why we’re too exhausted to do much else).

What is everyone talking about on the message board?
Many members of this group have been together for years (even prior to meetup) and have quite a few inside jokes. If something interesting comes up and you don’t get it, just ask. We love to tell and re-tell our stories of long ago. Many of the stories and jokes originate from our events. Join us, face to face, and you may very well be in the next story.

Capt. Kat
Organizer, The Pirates of the North Pacific Meetup group.
Captain, The Criminal Dawn