Watermark Cruises Publishes a Children's Book about Chesapeake Pirates

For Immediate Release

April 9, 2004

Media Contact: Wendy Thomas, Watermark Director of Marketing
Phone: 410-268-7601 x 111, Email: wendy@watermarkjourney.com
Web Site: www.watermarkjourney.com

"Broadside Ben and the Big Brass Cannon" to debut at Maryland Maritime Heritage Festival

Wide-eyed and spellbound, a group of Eastport Elementary School eight-year-olds sit in a circle around the engaging Captain Billy Baye as he tells a colorful tale about a make believe pirate who lived in Colonial Annapolis. The art of story telling is not lost when performed in an imaginative and animated style that surpasses passively watching cartoons on televisions. Cliff Long, a.k.a. Captain Billy Baye, is a veteran actor and historian who brings his fictional characters so vividly to life that the listener loses himself in the tale and can picture the action as the story unfolds. While watching Cliff perform onboard Harbor Queen as he totally captivated a group of elementary school students with the tale of "Broadside Ben and the Big Brass Cannon", Debbie Gosselin who owns Watermark Cruises, was inspired to turn the story into a children's book. And so our story begins...

Inspiration becomes reality as the children's book "Broadside Ben and the Big Brass Cannon", written by Cliff Long and illustrated by Marcy Ramsey, debuts at the Maryland Maritime Heritage Festival May 1 and 2. Author Cliff Long in the persona of pirate Captain Billy Baye will do a reading of the book during the Festival. Festival hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. both days. Schedule of readings will soon be available on www.piratesofthechesapeake.com and www.mdmaritimefestival.org. The book will be sold in Annapolis at The Museum Store (which has already started a waiting list) on Main Street and at the Annapolis Visitor Center and Art FX Art Galley on West Street and, of course, onboard Watermark Cruises' tour boats. The first 100 books sold will contain a child's ticket to Watermark's Pirates of the Chesapeake cruise. When asked about her new venture into the publishing world, Ms. Gosselin remarked, "Watermark is excited about being the publishing partner in this new children's book, which is the first in a series. The story developed from our Pirates of the Chesapeake cruise, and Mr. Long and Ms. Ramsey have put the story to paper brilliantly."

Cliff created the characters Broadside Ben, Grumpy Stumpy the Pirate Crab and Headless Bill as part of the Pirates of the Chesapeake program he developed for Watermark Cruises last year. Building on a two-hour pirate program Watermark has been offering as a school field trip since 2000, Cliff added dimension, color and fun to the program by incorporating the storytelling pirate he portrays in full costume. In the one-hour Pirates of the Chesapeake public cruise, Captain Baye tells the spirited story about pirate Broadside Ben and his comical comrades that inspired the publication of the book "Broadside Ben and the Big Brass Cannon". Although written on a reading level for eight to ten-year-olds, the story is perfect for reading aloud to younger children and will amuse and entertain all ages. Mr. Long says, "It has been very exciting and very gratifying to write this story for Watermark Cruises. By drawing on my own experiences in history, folklore, archaeology, clowning and theatre, I sincerely hope I have crafted a tale that will bring a smile to the face of anyone who might read it." This imaginative tale is sure to do just that. And who doesn't love a good pirate story? Especially one set in Colonial Annapolis Harbor and on our very own Chesapeake Bay.

Click for downloadable pirate pictures (available 4/09/04)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cliff Long holds a B.A. in Anthropology and a M.A. in Public History. For almost twenty years he has performed as a historical interpreter and musician for groups of all ages. Mr. Long served as a character interpreter, musician and chantyman onboard HMS Bounty during her West Coast, East Coast, and Great Lakes tours. He has also portrayed Master Richard Rowe of the Maryland Dove currently on display at Historic Saint Mary's City and has provided tours, lectures and character interpretation for Historic Annapolis Foundation. At the French Canadian Isle a la Cache Museum in Illinois, he provided nearly six years of sold out performances portraying an 18th century French fur trader. Mr. Long joined Watermark Cruises last year where he performs as Captain Billy Baye for Watermark's two-hour pirate school field trip and the new one-hour public cruise, Pirates of the Chesapeake as well as for pirate-theme birthday party cruises and in-school performances. In addition to the pirate programs, Mr. Long has developed adult group programs for Watermark such as the Licentious Liberties progressive dinner and the Pirates Rum and Reggae cruise. Bookings for Cliff Long are handled through Watermark Cruises at 410-268-7601 x 104. Visit www.piratesofthechesapeake.com for the tour schedules and book signing dates.

ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR

Marcy Dunn Ramsey has been perfecting her art since a child. "I was the little kid in grammar school who always got my hand whacked by the nun when caught drawing in the margins of my math notebook," Ms Ramsey confides as she explains her passion for drawing. Marcy Ramsey's illustrations have enlivened dozens of chapter books, picture books and books for young readers, including "A Gardener's Notebook" and "Mary Bridget's Surprise". She came to children's book illustrations about 18 years ago and spent many years doing textbook art and educational materials and has written and illustrated her own children's book "Rosie's Posie's". When asked about her experience illustrating "Broadside Ben and the Big Brass Cannon" Ms Ramsey quipped, " Broadside Ben is my first pirate book, however, I am amazed at how much the characters seem to resemble the people in my life, especially my husband John's buddies." "Her wonderful sense of humor, appreciation for the whimsical and wonderful talent made her the ideal illustrator for this project," said Debbie Gosselin. Ms. Ramsey lives in Chestertown, MD with her husband, one dog, and twelve chickens. Two daughters have flown the coop, off on adventures of their own. Contact information: 410-778-4042 or http://www.childrensbookguild.org/ramsey.htm

Click for more about Marcy Ramsey

ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

Watermark Cruises was founded by Ed Hartman in 1972 as Chesapeake Marine Tours and offered 7 ½ Day on the Bay Cruises to St. Michaels and tours of Annapolis Harbor on Harbor Queen. Over the last 30 years new tours, water taxi service and private charters on luxury yachts have been added. In 1999 Debbie Gosselin purchased the company from her father and changed the name to Watermark Cruises to encompass the upscale private charter aspect of the growing business. Ever mindful of the changing trends in the marketplace, Ms Gosselin has introduced several new tours and enhanced old favorites since taking over four years ago. She astutely took advantage of the coincidental timing of the hit movie Pirates of the Caribbean and the availability of the talented historical interpreter Cliff Long to introduce the new public tour Pirates of the Chesapeake and to embellish a pirates' school field trip Watermark had offered for several years. The book was a natural progression of her efforts to enrich the Watermark Cruises experience. You can take the one-hour Pirates of the Chesapeake cruise at 10:45 a.m. on Fridays from April 23 through October 1 and Thursday through Monday during Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day holidays. Boarding is at 10:30 a.m. at Annapolis City Dock.