pirate with swords

What Was It Like To Live on a Pirate Ship? 

November 6, 2024

Despite what popular culture, television shows, and movies may have you believe, the life of a pirate was not an easy one. There was danger from other pirates, difficult living conditions and storms at sea that made for uncomfortable surroundings. This doesn’t even consider the sanitation and hygiene situation that existed on vessels with little access to clean water and places to “clean up.” 

Let’s step into the world of pirates and explore what it may have been like to live on a pirate vessel during the Golden Age of Piracy. It was during this time when the seas were ripe with pirates looking to find treasure and commandeer other pirate ships that they came across. 

Food & Drink 

Unlike modern cruise ships that offer a 24/7 buffet of food from spreads of fresh fruits and veggies to hot main dishes individually prepared to your liking, the food on a pirate ship left a lot to be desired. 

Since many pirate vessels spent months at sea not always knowing when they would reach a port to find fresh food, the pirates needed to find a way to preserve their food so that it would not go bad, get moldy or rot during the time on the sea. To account for this, pirates often ate cured meat, fermented vegetables, and sea biscuits. 

Clean water was not often available for consumption and was often saved for cooking, pirates would drink liquor as their choice of drink during “meals.” 

Living & Sleeping Conditions 

Living and sleeping on a pirate ship were not much better than the meal menu options. However, it is true that the higher your rank on the ship, the better your sleeping quarters, it was still hard to catch some zzzs, especially during storms. 

Captains often had private quarters for sleeping, allowing them much-needed alone time and quiet from the sometimes raucousness of a pirate ship. However, most sailors slept below deck in a common room, either in hammocks or on the wooden floor. Many sailors preferred the hammock for sleeping as it would sway as the boat moved during storms or high tides. Beds were not a common sight on pirate ships as it was common to fall out during times of rough seas. Living conditions were fairly basic as pirates had little to no privacy. Depending on the region, pirates would deal with heavy rains, sweltering heat and humidity that made it hard to work. 

Sanitation 

Being surrounded by water on the open ocean, one would think that pirates had access to clean themselves fairly regularly. Sadly, this is not the case for most pirate vessels. As mentioned before, clean water was a scarce resource that was saved for cooking and not used for hygiene or consumption purposes. 

To clean themselves, crew members would occasionally lower themselves to water level to “freshen up” not with soap but rather just seawater and a little elbow grease. This also meant that areas of the body, like teeth, were not always cared for causing hygiene issues and some unpleasant smells onboard. 

As for bathrooms, you guessed it, not much privacy or cleanliness in their methods as well. Captains had the luxury of using a chamber pot in their cabin and then throwing the contents into the sea after. Commonly, crew members used platforms with holes in it or the bow of the ship to relieve themselves. 

The lack of hygiene caused some serious issues on board vessels like lice, rats, dysentery and diseases that often spread throughout the crew. Reaching a port was a time to find a place to clean up, eat a warm meal and enjoy the luxuries not found on the ship. 

Life wasn’t all bad on pirate ships as many crew members found the shared responsibilities, democratic methods and brotherhood a comfort. To learn more about what it may have been like on board a pirate ship during the Golden Age of Piracy, visit Real PIrates Salem and get started on your journey to learn more about this unique world.