Not at least till the end of the pirate era, poorly maintained and supplied maybe, but usually not so crappy, or at least until it broke down. Where do you think the bastards got their ships from? Sure, they’d paddle over on a dingy, but then they’d take that big ship and make off with it after slittin’ the crews throats…(Aaargh 
)
I’ve always wanted to believe the myth that the eye patch was because the pirate had his eye pecked out by the parrot on his shoulder or he was protecting his eye from being pecked out by the parrot on his shoulder. (All pirate movies should show the parrot on the same shoulder as the side of the eye with the eye patch.)
Now can we discuss Santa Claus and how the reindeer landed on pitched roofs? Easter Bunny? Cummon guys, throw me a bone.
That’s straight out of Treasure Island. Long John has a parrot named Captain Flint that sits on his shoulder.
There are a couple reasons why pirates might have slightly more missing eyes than usual, even for a violent life. First of all, the old-old-fashioned version of the sextant was called a backstaff, and did involve looking at the sun, so navigators of a certain time were a little more likely to be blind in one eye. Of course, there were only one or two navigators per ship.
Second, when you fire a solid-shot cannon at a wooden ship, you get a lot of splinters flying around. I imagine, though without any real evidence to back it up, that a lot of these splinters flying around might be just enough to take an eye out, while not being very deadly if they hit you somewhere else. Which would mean more one-eyed sailors than, say, one-eyed soldiers who were in the same amount of fights.
Of course, I agree that it’s mostly a big stereotype, and there weren’t really all that many one-eyed pirates.
I would like to say that in the near future I will have only one eye and have led a more or less exemplary life.
And according to Stevenson’s lost diary, Long John HAD to get that treasure because of that parrot…
He owed his dry cleaner many doubloons.
I’ve gotten along fine with one functional eye (other one works, but it’s 20/1600 or so).
I can see patches of light and dark with it, but that’s about it.
I’ve worked as a photographer, an artist, a teacher and a scientist (and I’m one hell of a parallel parker) with no loss of skill because of my cyclops-ness. I don’t have that sensation of 3D, but I’m saving money by sticking to 2D movies!
I’ve often thought I could wear a patch with almost no decrease in my vision, but I’m just not colorful enough to pull it off.
But I am sorry for your upcoming loss.
A pirate walks into a bar, or rather, limps. He has a peg-leg, a hook where his left hand should be, an eyepatch and the parrot.
The bartender pours the pirate a beer, and watches as the pirates hook smoothly curls into the mug’s handle, He then lifts the mug using his hook and quaffs.
The bartender said “that’s amazing, how long have you had the hook!?”
The pirate says “Blown off by a cannon ball some 15 years ago. Twas terrible indeed!”
“How’d you lose your eye?” the bartender asks?
“The first few days with the hook were hell… arrr, ya see my eye started to itch…”
Not really. As **Lust4Life **has said the Royal Navy used a lot of volunteers and Captains had to work to recruit them. See this posterfor recruits to the Pallas, Captain Lord Cochrane commanding.
Yes, old and disabled sailors could either receive a pension from the “Chatham Chest” or become Naval Pensioners at one of the naval hospitals such as Greenwich. Disabled seaman could also stay at sea as a ship’s cookwhere a missing leg was less of a handicap (Long John Silver is the cook on the Hispaniola in Treasure Island!).
The flag signal for a ship carrying contagion is I believe, a double hoist of Yellow flags.
The hoist for a ship under quarantine is called the Yellow Jack, and is divided into four quarters two of them Yellow diagonally opposite and two of them Black, also diagonally opposite.
The Black Flag, with or without a S&Cs or other skeletal motif, signified that the Pirates crew would kill all on board the target vessel if they showed any resistance whatsoever.
The idea being to use fear to secure prizes without having to fight for them.
ie. You run up the B.F., the target ship heaves to, and you board the victim.
Yea, AAar, this be after the bloody navy scally wags caught on to the idea that we be lyin’ ‘bout the illnesses, Aaargh. I be talkin’ more 'bout the plague, matey, that twas over earlier in the medieval pirate era…AAaargh.
Well all I can say to that is ARRRRRRRRRRRGH !AR AR , and shiver me timbers !
What’s a pirate’s favorite vegetable?
AspAaaarghagus.
As an additional point of speculation, I’ll add that plenty of wood splinters were generated when cannonballs struck wooden ships. Although the larger, higher-velocity ones could amputate a limb or kill, even the small ones could put out an eye.
OY!
Watch where you’re pointing that cannon !
You could put somebodys eye out with that !
You’ll shoot your eye out, Kidd.