A ‘Pirates’ tribute in Ariz. man’s backyarrrrd

CASA GRANDE - An Arizona man has become the neighborhood pirate with his replica of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” Black Pearl.

While Steven Hill’s three-story ship did not escape from Davy Jones’ locker, a giant squid can be seen attacking the ship standing in his backyard, the Casa Grande Dispatch reported Thursday.

Hill’s and his wife’s love for the Disney franchise inspired him to construct the ship a year ago, Hill said.

He used the pine trees in his backyard to support the ship’s tree house design. Although Hill has never worked on a movie set, he said the ship was not too hard to make. He found that the most difficult part of the project was ensuring safety.

“A tree is a living thing,” he said. “They do move and change. I built the ship so it could rock forward on a hinge off the side of the guest house as the tree grows, without tearing the ship apart.”

The hull of the ship is about 80 square feet, and its upper deck is about 300 square feet. Hill thinks it can support about 20 playing children. Already, some neighbor kids have come to act out their own pirate adventures on the ship.

Hill added rudders, anchor chains, sails, captain’s quarters with a bed and desk, and faux cannons to make his ship as close the Black Pearl as possible. It also has a crow’s nest at the top of the ship, and Hill can see Eloy from it.

“It took a lot of trips to Salvation Army and Goodwill to get the details right,” he said.