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Let’s begin at the beginning and then go on toward the end, to loosely paraphrase the King in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, since this is loosely about sailing ships, and perhaps a bit of sealing wax. Oh, don’t forget the pelicans and the bait shops. The names should all fall into place as we go toward the end. Day began as Nina welcomed Henrietta into the Bait Shop on the Pier. The Bait Shop is one of those unusual buildings that dates from about the time the Million Dollar Pier was built in 1926. It's the only relic left from that lovely old pier. |
 Photo from Joe and Nina Piacenza | Nina had just told me about how she and her husband Joe were married aboard the Bounty. The ship was tied up at its usual location on the Pier. Tantalizing visions of a romance at sea swirled through my head of Capt. Robin helping them tie the knot. However, contrary to how people may fantasize, ships’ captains do not officiate at marriages. Not today anyhow. |
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Henrietta muttered something that Nina could only try to guess. It was phrased so only a pelican would understand, perhaps, "Good Morning" or more likely, "I’d like a fish now, please." Nina did not have any fish ready to hand out, so Henrietta kept waddling around bobbing and nodding, mumbling in pelican-speak. |  This is Henrietta Photograph by Susan Alderson, Northeast Journal |
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Nina and Joe Piacenza own the Bait Shop on the St Petersburg Pier. Robin Walbridge is Captain of HMS Bounty, which has made its home at the Pier since the mid-sixties, after MGM used it for the 1962 motion picture, Mutiny on the Bounty. Henrietta is . . . well . . . resident elder pelican who clearly understands that the early bird gets the . . . uh . . . fish. Pelicans naturally go with the Pier. Just look at any old postcard from St. Pete of the 1940’s or 1950’s — just like the tourists. They‘ve been here, I guess, forever. |
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And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by . . . — From the poem Sea Fever by John Masefield On a perfect winter day in Florida, a Sunday in January, the sky was so blue it seemed to melt into Tampa Bay, the southerly breeze balmy as we gently rocked to and fro. Robin Walbridge explained some facts about the Bounty. He has been master of the ship for over fifteen years and now lives in St. Pete — a Florida guy from the Keys, he seems a natural fit in command of this sea-going legend. Bounty had been built strictly as a movie prop in 1960 when MGM Studios started planning the 1962 version of Mutiny on the Bounty. She is a full-sized replica, some 180 feet, stem to stern. Completely seaworthy, she was built in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, in exactly the way ships were constructed over two hundred years ago. They used the original ship's drawings from British Admiralty archives. The original Bounty was made famous — or infamous — because of the mutiny against Capt. William Bligh. Bligh, a competent seaman, trained under one of the most famous English explorers, Capt. James Cook, of the late 18th Century. | 
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The Bounty’s mutineers set Capt. Bligh adrift with 18 loyal crewmen thousands of miles from land. Fletcher Christian led the mutineers as they returned to Tahiti. where they hoped to hide forever from the long arm of British Admiralty law. The mutineers eventually settled on Pitcairn Island. They burned the ship in what is now called Bounty Bay, and settled into a strict moralistic community. They were not discovered for 18 years. Their descendants still live on the island.
Bligh, with his faithful remaining crew, navigated the small 23-foot launch 3600 nautical miles to safety in 41 days with no charts, using only a sextant and a pocket watch. Only one man was lost. That was only because natives on an island where they had sought refuge stoned him to death.
Said the Duchess, "Everything's got a moral, if only you can find it." — Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. | 
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| When Henrietta the pelican had first come waddling into the Bait House, Nina was explaining the facts of life about pelicans on the Pier. Fishermen have tossed tasty tidbits of whole fish to them for as long as fishermen have come to the Pier. Nina and Joe keep a supply of healthy fish frozen, and will sometimes throw a few to the lucky pelicans who happen to be in the neighborhood.
She figures Henrietta is about 30 years old because that’s how long Joe has been associated with The Pier. He has run the Bait House for 20 years. Henrietta has been a fixture all those years. Nina is the newcomer. She came to St. Pete on vacation from California 10 years ago, fell in love with the area, met Joe — and really fell in love. The rest is history, as the saying goes. When they decided to marry, they insisted the wedding should take place on board the Bounty. Probably Henrietta was one of the feathered guests — but we’re not completely certain about that. |
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During the 1962 production of the movie, the script called for the Bounty to be burned, in keeping with known facts about the mutiny. Marlon Brando, who portrayed Mr. Christian, felt this to be a senseless end to a beautiful ship. He insisted he would not finish his last scenes unless MGM changed its plans. They did so; built a small model of the ship for the burning scene, and the new Bounty was saved.
After filming and a promotional tour was completed, MGM berthed the ship at the Pier as a permanent tourist attraction. She stayed in St. Pete until the mid-1980’s when Ted Turner, of CNN and Turner Broadcasting fame, acquired the MGM film library along with the Bounty. In 1993, Turner donated the ship to the Fall River Chamber Foundation. In 2001, HMS Bounty Organization LLC purchased the ship, by then in desperate need of repairs. That is why Bounty was absent from St. Petersburg for several months, while being almost completely rebuilt at Boothbay Harbor Shipyard in Maine. She recently returned from a whirlwind world tour. She traveled to Ireland, Britain — returning to her "roots" in a sense, although 200 years removed — then on to France, Portugal, Spain, Gibraltar, the Mediterranean, back to Florida, over to the Bahamas, back to Florida again, then through the Panama Canal, to British Columbia, west coast of the U.S., Guatemala, Costa Rica, over to Galapagos for a six weeks chartered cruise, back through the Panama Canal, finally returning to St. Pete. She also starred as one of the pirate vessels in the 2006 Johnny Depp movie, Pirates of the Caribbean – Dead Man's Chest. | 
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 Joe and Nina Photograph by Susan Alderson, Northeast Journal |
While Robin recounted these adventures, pelicans and tourists swirled around Nina and Joe as they tossed fish to the hungry pelicans — great entertainment for the crowd of tourists, including one delightful couple from Canada. This was their first visit to Florida, made all the more memorable with the activity of the pelicans.
Joe warned a little girl to be careful of one particularly aggressive pelican. "That one bites," he called out, as Nina quickly corralled the miscreant, grabbing his wings and feet. She quickly escorted the unhappy pelican out of harms way to a nearby cage for safety until the crowd dispersed. |
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Nina and Joe are both experts on pelican behavior, handling and rescue. Pelicans may be smart about some things, but they occasionally try to snatch a bait fish and wind up being caught on some fisherman’s hook. Many fishermen simply cut the line. It can be a death sentence if not freed, and so either Joe or Nina will close the Bait House doors if needed, to rescue the snagged bird. In most cases, they succeed and the pelican — or heron or egret — flies away to fish another day.
Both know their limitations. If they can’t remove the hook without injuring the bird, they call for a volunteer from Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary. Then the bird is moved into one of those cages surrounding the Bait House until skilled help arrives. | 
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They even keep a log of all birds treated, what the injury involved, what was done and identity of the bird if it is one that is known by identifying marks or scars. Although Nina has a soft spot for these pelicans, particularly the ones they have named, such as Henrietta, she sees each one as the wild creature that it is. They are not treated as pets. Wild they must remain, for their very survival. This is one reason free handouts are limited. These birds must retain their natural instincts to fend for themselves.
While posing for the camera with fish in hand, Joe and Nina only gave out a few and were happy to see the photography session ended so the pelicans would return to the air or to a piling on the lookout for their own meal. | 
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| Our Photographer, Susan Alderson, then asked Robin to pose by the ship’s wheel, which happens to be the actual wheel used in the 1935 movie version of Mutiny on the Bounty. Everyone envisions the perfect photograph of the captain holding one of the wheel’s spokes, a stereotypical image, while gazing toward the horizon. You can find this "perfect photograph" on the HMS Bounty website, listed below. Robin notes that a Captain would never be steering the ship — he uses the term "driving the ship." |
| The reality is that the Captain has a helmsman "drive" the ship. Captains have other things to do on board a ship. Other things such as watching the helmsman steer from a perch on the rail. The sun began to slip past the yardarm on the Bounty. It’s a time honored reminder that the day is waning — a symbolic way of saying that it’s time to party. Robin strolls down the gangplank toward the Bait House. "We’re planning a little food and drink over by the ship so when you close up, come on by." |  Photograph by Susan Alderson, Northeast Journal |
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"The time has come, the walrus said, to talk of many things. Of sailing ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings." — Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. |
| The era of sailing ships and sealing wax, of course, is long gone. The lore of tall masts, square rigged with foresails and top gallants is almost like ancient history in today’s world of cruise ships that carry thousands of passengers in luxury. The Bounty continues with its own legacy — a reminder of the days when 40 or 50 brave souls would set out to sail thousands of miles to another land or a tiny dot in the vast sea, braving the elements and trusting in their own strength and knowledge of winds and waters — of the wooden beams below their feet and the sails above their heads. Before Bounty has to sail away later this spring, come and visit the Pier. Spend a few minutes or couple of hours on board before she embarks on another cruise to train the newest of the crew, as they learn about the nearly lost arts of square rigged sailing and seamanship. You can find more information at www.tallshipbounty.org. Spend a few minutes with Joe and Nina at the Bait House and learn about how their world involves so much more than selling a bucket of bait or a Coke and sandwich to fishermen. Learn about pelicans and other birds of the sea. Get more information at www.thepierbaithouse.com. | 
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John L. Bailey is an Emmy-award-winning video producer/writer with over 45 years experience, producing informational films. Now he specializes in using your video and photographs to help you create DVD memories of family histories, events, birthdays and more. Contact him at 727-798-2846 or e-mail: jlbwriter@earthlink.net. |
| Copyright © 2009 – 2010, John L. Bailey Back to Northeast Journal Stories |