After ascertaining if we were friend or foe, a couple of deckhands stopped swabbing the decks and allowed us to cross the gangplank onto The Golden Hinde where they explained its circumnavigational history, made us salute a statue of their missing captain, Sir Francis Drake, and provided us with appropriate corsair headwear. We – Team Ghostbuster – were now ready to face pirates and ghosts and even death by drowning, writes Michael Holland.
The mission was to find and rescue the captain, plus locate a magic ring that would stop the ship from sinking, taking the lives of all those aboard. We had one hour so had to act fast.
We were ushered down a steep flight of stairs where we found two locked treasure chests and a thousand keys. Hanging from the low ceiling was a mysterious disc with linked signs of the Zodiac emblazoned on it. The signs matched the sets of the keys so we were able to follow the links to find the right keys to open the chests where more clues were discovered, and a diagram that explained how to open the next trapdoor to delve down even further below decks.
This was non-stop action. Thoughts of resting were now just a dream. Remote, eerie voices were constantly telling us how much time we had left. In these low, dark spaces our one lantern was hardly enough to find and work out clues, claustrophobia was setting in and the team was beginning to show signs of flagging. Then – AAAH! Ghostbuster Nina screamed and cursed in Anglo-Saxon as she came across Sir Francis in the darkness. He pleaded for help but he was chained to the floor and we could not find the key.
AAAH! A ghost appeared at the other end pleading with us to leave the ‘dastardly, slave-trading Drake’. We had seconds to make up our minds.
AAAH! A spectral hand touched my ankle with another diagram that may help.
And so it went on. No time to stop, just a race against the clock to stop certain death. All the time learning more and more about how the seamen worked and lived in those uncharted days of seafaring yore.
As a team, we got another trapdoor opened and we descended even further. But this time there was light instead of shadow. In fact, it was a disco ball illuminating this space in the ship’s nethermost regions, with two spaced-out groovers chilling around a bottle of rum that they were willing to share with us. They had been down there for years, we found out, and they didn’t seem to mind too much.
Nevertheless, as much as we wanted to stay and enjoy the vibe on the party deck, clues needed to be found and lives had to be saved, so we took a tot of rum and continued. Ghostbuster Haydn found a secret key, and Ghostbuster Nina decoded the map, and we were once again on the move.
Next stop was the Captain’s Table where Ghostbuster Haydn located the magic ring to stop The Golden Hinde from taking on water and sinking. Mission accomplished.
Tired and relieved in equal measure, we got back to the main deck where we raised a flag and had photos taken with the happy crew.
Escape From The Golden Hinde is 90 minutes of fantastic fact-finding fun. Every one of us was able to get involved in the seeking out and working out of the clues, so nobody is left out or left behind.
The crew is a genuine bundle of laughs and always there, somewhere in the shadows to help out. Team Ghostbuster absolutely loved it.
Escape From The Golden Hinde, St Mary Overie’s Dock, Cathedral St, London, SE1 9DE
Tickets: £43 per player.
Further information on this historic ship: www.goldenhinde.co.uk One Ship, Two Histories
Booking: www.escapeintime.co.uk/goldenhinde/