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Ahoy, ladies

Two members of a female Krewe say being a pirate wench at Gasparilla is addictive fun. But they could do without the flashers.

By JAY CRIDLIN
Published January 26, 2006

	[Times photo: Chris Zuppa]
	Tracy Cannon, left, and Leann Leslie, both of Ruskin, are members of Ye Royal Krewe of Charlotte DeBerry.
	Plotting a course The annual Gasparilla invasion in Tampa on Saturday is a fun time, to be sure. But let's face it: It can be a big pain, too, with crowds, parking and those dreaded portable toilets. With that in mind, we've compiled a survival guide that can help keep your inner pirate from going arrrggghhhh!!! She sews for swashbucklers As the costume designer for three Gasparilla parade krewes, Lauren Whitman has created hundreds of Spanish-inspired outfits since the Mystic Krewe of Santa Margarita first commissioned her four years ago.

Most of the half-million spectators who'll beg for beads along Bayshore Boulevard on Saturday have only witnessed Tampa's biggest party from the outside.

So what's it actually like to be on a float as a krewe member? To be a mom who dresses up like a pirate wench three or four times a year?

Leann Leslie and Tracy Cannon know. Both are 35, with two young kids apiece. And both are devoted members of Ye Royal Krewe of Charlotte DeBerry, an all-female krewe in Ruskin. This is Leslie's third year, Cannon's fourth.

Decked in full parade gear, Leslie and Cannon chatted about life as a pirate wench during Gasparilla.

L.L.: I was born and raised in Ruskin. It started out as a very hometown krewe for me. There are women on this krewe that range in age from 26 to 76. There are women on this krewe that carted me around when I was a kid, to school. Now we throw beads together.

TC: Always wanted to do it, ever since I was a kid. Wanted to be a pirate. Yep.

TC: It's not so much that. It's people falling off floats, breaking arms. Being clumsy enough to walk between a vehicle and a float.

LL: At the night parade, when you're down in the middle of Ybor City and it's very late, we all stay together as a group. Guys are there to walk us through, because if you've still got beads left, you're a moving target.

TC: I'm really a bead-monger. I'll go through a case and a half during the day parade. I probably have in excess of 2,000 beads at my house right now. And that's not including the ones that I keep.

LL: I've got four cases at the house right now.

TC: (holding up a strand with a cherry pendant) We're known for our cherries. We take big maraschino cherries and soak them in Goldschlager. . . . I brought a little thing to one of the parades, a little jar.

LL: And this year you have how many?

TC: This year I have 4 gallons.

TC: Of just cherries soaking in Goldschlager. They're really good!

LL: You're getting your fix of alcohol.

TC: So now we have cherry beads, we have cherry pins, we have cherry tattoos. It's gotten to be this huge deal, with everybody wanting them.

LL: There's a time and a place for everything. It's a balance.

TC: We're moms every single day. A couple of days out of the year, we get to go off and be just women.

LL: One of the girls, when they were trying to get me to join, looked at me and said, "It's like being a rock star for a day." It is, in a way. The atmosphere is what you make it. I start the parade, and I finish the parade. You don't have to fall down drunk to have a great time.

TC: You can custom-tailor it to your liking. All of mine are very comfortable.

TC: I have five corsets, four skirts, three overlays, I think five undershirts. All in all, I probably have five full costumes.

LL: Like the beads, it becomes an obsession.

TC: Well, it's no secret everybody is flashing for beads. I had a male flasher. . . . It was really gross. I don't need you to flash me for beads. I mean, I have tons of them to give away. Keep your stuff on. I don't really care to see all that.

LL: Keep your clothes on!

[Last modified January 25, 2006, 10:09:06]