Sea Beggar

The Sea Beggar: An Apprentice is the first of a series of a historical novels about Ephraim Bogardus who was a Hudson River mariner. He was a Dutch American who lived in the Hudson Valley and operated Hudson River Sloops. Ephraim Bogardus lived between 1687 and 1770. In this novel Ephraim tells his story of how he learned to be privateer during early days Queen Anne’s War (1702-1713). The term sea beggar or in Dutch watergeuzen means a sea robber and was applied to Dutch privateers. Ephraim Bogardus considered himself to be a watergeuzen or sea beggar. Ephraim begins his story telling how he became a privateer or sea beggar learning from his cousin Cornelius Bogardus and later another other Dutch sea beggar. Ephraim finds his first love and learns to be no only a privateer but also merchant trader. From the Gulf of St Lawrence to the Caribbean Islands Ephraim was involved in trading goods in the Caribbean, taking French and Spanish prizes. Ephraim learns about prize courts and the value of prize cargo as well as trading in commodities and working with merchant traders in the Caribbean.