The Razzle Dazzle was Jack’s first boat, of which little is known other than she was a small wooden sloop. It has been described as a “Dago Boat” a style of sailing vessel of Italian origin, used by emigrant fishermen in San Francisco Bay. The more traditional name is “Feluccas” a lateen rigged double-ender, evolved from ancient Egyptian origins.
When Jack was about 14, he bought Razzle Dazzle, from an older oyster pirate named French Frank. Jack became known as “Prince of the Oyster Pirates”, and there were tales that he stole French Frank’s lover and that Frank tried to murder Jack.
Legend has it that he bought the boat with money borrowed from, Virginia Prentiss, a close family friend who had cared for him in his infancy and was influential during his childhood.
The Razzle Dazzle was soon damaged beyond repair and no longer useful for Jack, but it is unclear what happened to the boat. By the time he was 16, Jack was sailing the Reindeer, and working for the Fish Patrol, the forerunner of the California Department of Fish and Game, now enforcing the laws which he had been breaking.
