A replica cargo ship dating from between the 16th and 18th centuries currently docked in St. Augustine is being featured in a new television program starring two-time Academy Award nominee John Malkovich.NBC's new pirate drama Crossbones stars Malkovich as the fearsome and legendary pirate Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard.
The show was shot in part on the deck of the Galleon Andalusia (El Galeón Andalucía), referred to as "El Galeón," one of two Spanish replica ships currently moored at St. Augustine Municipal Marina as part of the city's 450th Commemoration celebration. The Nao Victoria is also docked at the marina.
The 170-foot, 500 ton El Galeón is managed and operated by the Nao Victoria Foundation (la Fundación Nao Victoria), a nonprofit organization based in Sevilla, Spain, with the mission to re-create and exhibit historic Spanish ships for education, tourism, and economic development.
Tours of the ship feature informational placards, and recreations of historic documents. A documentary on how the ship was built is screened in an amphitheater on the lower deck.
Alejandro Mallado is a crew member and a professional photographer aboard El Galeón. He joined the crew in Barcelona in January 2013 on an agreement he would stay for six months. This week he will mark his 19th month on board.
"It's a lot of work, but it's worth it," he said of the job.
Mallado and the other crew members were also involved the the production of Crossbones as extras. While the show is set in the Bahamas, it was filmed earlier this year in Puerto Rico.
He explained that most of the scenes the crew participated in involved them doing work they do on a daily basis, like working with ropes or climbing up and down the rigging.
"The difference is that you are with all this makeup and the costumes, pretending to be a pirate or an English soldier, but it was a lot of fun," he said of the shoot.
El Galeón and the Nao Victoria will depart St. Augustine sometime in mid-July. Depending on the weather and water conditions, Mallado said it takes four to five weeks to sail from St. Augustine to Sevilla.
Crossbones airs Fridays at 10 p.m. on NBC.
WATCH: An informational video about El Galeón from the Nao Victoria Foundation
You can follow Patrick Donges on Twitter @patrickhdonges.
