TREASURE ISLAND THE OFFICIAL HOMEPAGE MOVIE SCRIPTS & GRAPHIC NOVELS ALL ABOUT THINGS

Blackbeard's Curse & Pirate's Gold

The most swashbuckling adventure in the John Storm ocean adventure franchise, 'Treasure Island,' is to be developed as a (1st draft) screenplay, and full graphic novel series, starting in June of 2023.

The privateer, Captain Henry Morgan, died in August, 1688 at Lawrencefield in Jamaica. He was entombed in Port Royal. Then on June 7, 1692, a massive earthquake followed by a tsunami submerged the city of Port Royal. Morgan along with it.

In 1716 the veteran mercenary, English Teach (Blackbeard) was declared a pirate again, having once been pardoned. He was famous for his thick black beard and fearsome features which terrified sailors when they were being boarded. He lay in wait for ships plying passage to the east coast of the American colonies, North Carolina, blockading Charlestown, thus caught in a trap he mercilessly sacked those merchants for their cargoes rich in gold, jewels and other priceless artifacts.

Teach soon amassed a fortune in treasure aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge, a 40 cannon French built merchant ship, stashing his booty secretly in the Caribbean Islands, and grounding the 'Revenge' off Beaufort. Then on the 22nd of November 1718 a British naval taskforce led by Lieutenant Robert Maynard of HMS Pearl, captured and beheaded the troublesome pirate after a bloody swordfight onboard the 'Adventure,' but his treasure trove was never found, just £2,200 worth of sugar, cocoa and cotton. It was though known that he had plundered royal transports and acquired many chests full of gold and the rarest gemstones: diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds. The US and UK governors were baffled - but they'd killed the only man who could tell them where his fortune was hidden. As he died, Blackbeard cursed the naval officer and his crew, and their generations to come. Telling that his nobody but himself and the Devil knew the whereabouts of his hidden stash, but that even if they did decipher the codes to locate it, they'd not live to enjoy their treasure trove for very long. For dead men tell no tales.

STORM BY NAME, STORMY BY NATURE - Only two people knew where Henry Morgan's golden hoard was hidden, and both of them are in Davy Jones Locker. Blackbeard was tortured by a British naval officer, who killed the pirate, trying to extract his secret. While Captain Morgan died of a heart attack, in a drunken stupor, on his plantation in Jamaica. John Storm finds the location, but refuses to reveal where it is, even in the International Court, where prosecutors try every trick in the book to make him talk. But John knows he has done nothing wrong, assisted by George Franks, an experienced legal eagle. The duo tie the prosecutors in knots.

Gold has long been viewed as the ultimate financial asset, and never more so than during times of uncertainty and financial crisis. While nations no longer use the "gold standard" to determine the value of currencies, the precious metal is still incredibly useful. It's held by many central banks due to its immunity to political changes and economic shocks while being a "liquid asset", which means it can be converted to cash if needed.

Some three-hundred and twenty years later, give or take, another Caribbean quake shakes loose clues as to the submerging of Port Royal, with Blue Shield and UNESCO keen to protect any recoverable artifacts.

John Storm is called in to survey, with additional behind the scenes effort from Lord Huntington, of the British Geographical Society, all adding to the request for his underwater archaeological expertise to assist at Jamaica. With the discovery of Henry Morgan's coffin, clues surface as to the possible whereabouts of Teach's buried treasure.

Meanwhile, a former US Navy Captain, William Gray, learns of the subsea expedition, and discovers that Huntington is more than a little interested, so introduced John Long and his band of cutthroats to deal themselves into the game, set against a background of military patrols, as tensions between Columbia, Brazil, Mexico and Cuba, to add to the intrigue.

The hunt is on for the long lost treasure. New technology taking on an old pirate puzzle, but the game remains the same. No matter the clock has fast-forwarded 300 years. There is still foul play afoot to gratify many a Robert Louis Stevenson fan. Yo, ho, ho, and a bottle of rum.

John Storm has heard many a sailor's yarn of Blackbeard's treasure, said to have been buried on Londoner's Island, the Virginia Beach sand dunes, and Plum Point and Blackbeard Island, among many other supposed locations, without any facts to support such theories. But, who does not enjoy a spooky sea tale? Imagine then his surprise, when confronted by the bones of Henry Morgan, he finds a secret compartment in the old sea dog's coffin, containing genuine clues in the form of a wooden carving. Analysis aboard the good ship Elizabeth Swann, confirms authenticity, and reveals much more.

One man has been guarding the existence of a parchment that contains clues to the location of Edward Teach's secret treasure trove on an Island in the Caribbean, said to be guarded by a macabre human spirit manifesting itself with a golden human skull. News of Storm's find triggers a treasure hunt.

APRIL 2023 - The Cleaner Ocean Foundation started building a 2.4 meter special effects model - to double for exhibitions and events from November 2023 - and for giving technology demonstrations at suitable events, for those who may never have seen a fast solar powered boat in action. You can see some of the main components and radio control transmitter in the picture above - and follow the build of this ground breaking technology, leading to launch, open water trials, and (eventually) water tank testing.

B l a c k b e a r d ' s C u r s e and P i r a t e ' s G o l d

Shipmates, feel free to use our A - Z to search for treasure. Yo, ho, ho me hearties

BLACKBEARD'S CURSE & PIRATES GOLD - THE ADVENTURES OF JOHN STORM - OCEAN AND CLIMATE ADVENTURE FRANCHISE - TREASURE ISLAND