Contact Info

Phone -
(541)765-4373
(fax) 765-4363

E-mail - Pirates@treasuredepoebay.com

Mailing Address - P.O.Box 335
Depoe Bay, Oregon
97341
UPS can be shipped to -
Pirate Coffee Co.
10 Vista St. Depoe Bay, Oregon 97341 With this - we'd like to leave you with a bit o' seaworthy trivia
The saying, "It's so cold it could freeze the balls off a brass monkey," comes from the High Seas. In the heyday of pirates, tis rumored that most ships (both Pirate and suppliers of Piratical treasures) carried iron cannons. Those cannons fired round iron cannon balls. After a battle or two it was quickly figured out that it made sense to keep a good supply of balls within easy reach of the cannon. Word spread and everybody agreed. Keep the balls close to the cannon. But how to stop them from rolling about the deck? The best storage method seemed to be a square based pyramid with one ball on top, resting on four resting on nine which rested on sixteen. Thus, a supply of thirty cannon balls could be stacked in a small area right next to the cannon. At least while they were at the dock. There was still the problem of how to prevent the bottom layer from rolling out from under the other. The solution was a metal plate called a "Monkey" with sixteen round indentations. But, if this plate was made of iron, the iron balls would quickly rust to it. (Those of us that live in Depoe Bay can attest to that). The solution to the rusting problem was to make "Brass Monkeys." Few Pirates realized that brass contracts much more and much faster than iron when chilled. Consequently, when the temperature dropped too far, the brass indentations would shrink so much that the iron cannon balls would come right off the monkey. Thus, it was quite literally, "Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey!"