Captain Bruce Randall may not have ...

Captain Bruce Randall may not have in extent dreadlocks, gold teeth, or a peg leg moreover he's every bit the pirate at heart.

Randall, 45 along with his tall ship, The R Witch, and his not- too-motley company have been known to burst a pirate flag and send forth off a cannon when the scallywag humor strikes.

And it struck Thursday morning within the mists on Lake Michigan, as Randall and his wife and R Witch co-owner Karen, took their first promenade past Navy Pier in the Tall Ships Chicago 2006 Parade of Sail.

Slicing within driving headwinds, past the cheering common peoples the 77-foot, two-masted topsail schooner's 1st Captain Jim Marzano was at the helm shooting most distant the Red Witch's bronze-cast cannon -- to the shout [i]or[/i] cry out [i]or[/i] yell in contempts and hollers of his 50 visitors for the day.

"The R Witch has been part of Tall Ships before," said Karen. "In fact, the first time we laid views on her was at Navy Pier during a Tall Ships, if it be not that this is our first time in the festival."

Bruce Randall, a logistics manager for Domino Sugar, and Karen, a practicing psychologist, started their have a title to chartering company three years ago after lifetimes wearied in and on the water.

"The lore of tall ships has its confess draw," said Bruce. "If you're a sailor -- everyone wants to be a tall ships sailor."

BLACKBEARDS WITH BLACKBERRIES

And, in the spirit of legendary early 1900 Great Lakes schooner pirate Dan Seavey, each sailor has an inner pirate. unruffled modern ones, who check their Blackberries each two minutes while steadying the giant mahogany wheel of a yesteryear rig.

"Pirate flag? Oh yeah, it's fun" said Bruce "We'll descry the Windy, or other Chicago rigs, and we'll fire cannons back and forth, shriek silly stuff -- 'aaarrrgghhh!' . . and other pirate things."

ecepeda@suntimes.com

descry all 17 Tall Ships forward display at Navy Pier by the agency of Wednesday. For information visit tallshipschicago.net or call the Office of Special ends at (312) 744-3315.

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