Southport Magazine

The old trope about running away and joining the circus changes a bit here by the sea. Our coastal version, I think, is to drop it all and become a pirate. Anthony Benson and wife Nikki Benson did just that and founded the Black Sails Adventure Co. not only to offer pirates for hire, but a wide variety of ways to get your family enjoying our beautiful outdoors together. You’ve probably seen Anthony around. He’s the guy dressed as a pirate, he kind of sticks out. We spoke to our local pirate and are happy to share his story here. 

For those who don’t know yet, what does Black Sails Adventure Co. do? 

We offer Scavenger Hunts, Pirate Tales on the beach, Private Pirate Entertainment, Astronomy Nights, Movie Nights, Paddle Boarding tours, and soon, Boat Tours. We offer ways to get families and friends to have fun outdoors. 

How did you come up with the idea for you this business?   

Interesting question! We found out through research that my wife was related to Blackbeard by marriage and that stuck to us. When we learned about the rich history of pirates here on the coast, my wife’s connection lit the fire to do something that could spawn into many things.

When was Black Sails Adventure Co. founded? How big a crew do you have? 

We opened up around September/October of 2021…just my wife and myself. Our good friend Eugene Foster joins in as well as a fellow pirate at events. He is an awesome friend and loves to pirate. 

What is your background? Do you have acting experience? 

I get this question a lot! I honestly have no acting experience, well…I don’t include plays in elementary school, lol! My background includes working in things such as a dishwasher, a cook, an electrician, a dent repair guy, musician and now a pirate in an adventure company…Wow. That’s many hats! My wife comes from a background of business management, nursing, vet care and marine biology, just to name a few. She is the brains behind the business hands down! 

Where does your love of history, and pirates in particular, come from?

I’ve always been interested in history from all ages of time. My interest came around the time of junior high. The things and places and time periods that they taught us made me so interested that I honestly dove head first into any subjects they taught. It’s good to know and learn what humans have done in history so we can learn how not to repeat things and at the same time learn true stories. 

What brought you to the Southport-Oak Island area? 

We bought a home here in Oak Island in 2019 as vacation home for the whole family to come to. We lived in Cary, and after our kids moved on to college and out of the house, my wife and I talked it over we decided to move to Oak Island and say goodbye to Cary, a move that we don’t regret as it’s been an adventure and fun still to this day. 

Let’s get into some of your offerings. Will the summer Pirates at the Point continue into the fall?

Ahhhh…. Good question! We do things a bit more different but still fun in the fall. Around November we change up the pirate tales. We do it by campfire. We do all the permits and legwork, and let everyone come out, have a warm seat by the fire, and enjoy tales by a local legend in first person…Captain Stede Bonnet. 

Can you talk a little about the Scavenger Hunts? Without giving anything away that might spoil the fun, what can people expect? 

This was the creation of my wife’s awesome brain at work! She always thinks of ways for families to do more things together outside. We offer two types of Scavenger Hunts, a walking one and an island-wide driving one. We drop off the first clue in a bottle at the home with a bag that has a key. The participants must find and collect all clues on their journey and at the end…a treasure chest filled with goodies that they get to keep! We do give out help if needed and let families know they can call us as we will help them out. We want the fun to be the important thing, and a lot of families have had fun. 

You offer private Pirate Entertainment. What does that involve and who might be interested on booking their very own pirates?

We offer the private pirate events for families to have their own intimate and fun event. We offer this for people who want special fun for birthday parties, anniversaries, party fun. We have done it all! We offer families their choice from two pirates, Captain Jack Sparrow or Captain Stede Bonnet. Both bring true stories from our area and beyond. 

But you’re more than just piracy — you also offer backyard movie nights and astronomy nights. Can you tell us a bit about each of those?

Movie Nights are a new addition. We supply seating for 8, a 122-inch screen and a very awesome HD projector where families can plug in their device and watch a movie of their choice. Astronomy Nights are new as well. We have an amazing telescope that can be set up to view the night sky and has attachments to allow people to set their phones up onto the telescope and take video or pictures of what’s being looked at through the eyepiece. This setup blows my mind as the moon and planets can be seen amazingly! We also can attach a small projector to show images on a screen which I find so cool!

We’ve seen you all over at local events, from the Oak Island Farmers Market to the recent Film Fest and the children’s games day at the Fourth of July Festival. Can you speak to the importance of community involvement and what that means to you?

Doing things and giving back to our community means a lot. We enjoy every minute giving back to our community. When you can spend time with children and adults and make them smile, giving time one-on-one with each of them at an event….that is worth more to us than any amount of money, period. We are always open to work with our community and others — always. 

Pirates are always chasing the next prize. What does the future hold for Black Sails? Both in the immediate future and your long-term goals and blue-sky ambitions? 

Well, we will continue to bring the fun here on Oak Island and in Southport in many ways. Honestly we are just blessed and happy to be able to make the friendships we have made and be able to do things in both areas and even beyond. From the Brunswick Arts Council to Oak Island Parks and Rec, to the owners of the Amuzu Theatre, Ocean Isle’s Museum of Coastal Carolinas and all our fellow pirates on the Wilmington Harbor Enhancement Trust, and friends who are local business owners…being able to meet and do things with these outstanding people is just amazing. 

Please feel free to add anything you’d like to share that we may not have touched on. 

We can’t thank everyone enough. Come out and have fun with us Sept. 17 in Bellville as The Wilmington Harbor Enhancement Trust brings ye all….Feast of the Pirates! Pirates, cannons, food, and vendors from all sorts will be there. We are honored to be a part of this and hope everyone comes out for some outstanding pirate fun!