Day 573

The "haunted" boat tour began at midnight and ended at dawn.
A small group of tourists huddled around the harbour awaiting their host's arrival.
As the town's clock struck midnight he walked towards them,wading through the sea-mist.
Dressed-to-the-nines, he ushered them onto a grey boat with a tip of his top hat.

As they set off they seemed to graze several underwater structures, shipwrecks the host said.
Nothing to worry about though, their boat was built to outlast them all.
Carrying on in a large circle of the bay he stood under a large light attached to the mast and spoke.
The town had once been a bustling port for illegal imports back in the 1600s - the Pirate Years.

Anything that could be smuggled in would be through dozens of caves littered around the harbour.
This tour in particular took them through one rumoured to be haunted by an entire ship's crew.
Apparently they'd been cornered by British soldiers and hung from their own mast, every last one.
Legends said that they still sailed this coast, still hanging and still alive.

As they approached the cave the host spoke of, the mist seemed to thicken rapidly.
Lights had been strung up at intervals along the high walls, making them seem narrower and taller.
The small boat took turn after turn, heading deeper into the cave to the host's narration.
He told them about several of the pirate crew as if he knew them personally.

Around 02:00AM they found themselves wearily approaching the "heart of the caves".
This central chamber was where the crew had been cornered and where they still roamed.
As they turned the final corner they found themselves in a vast cave-bound cavern.
right at the centre, just as the host had described was an impossibly large ship.

Decomposing bodies were strung up along almost every inch of the sails.
Some were practically skeletal and others looked like they were fresh, wearing modern clothing.
One tourist piped up, asking what kind of sick joke this was.
The sound of disembodied laughter filled the chamber as the mist swallowed the little boat.

And thus the tour ended for the week.