Rumrunner's Isle

General information
Location	Caribbean Sea
Notable inhabitants	Jack Sparrow Elizabeth Swann Bastien Craven
Societal
Population	Cursed Crabs Cursed Wasps
Affiliation	Black Sam Rumrunners
Behind the scenes
First appearance	The Curse of the Black Pearl
Latest appearance	Pirates of the Caribbean Online

"The situation was grim. The not-very-often heroic Will Turner had handed himself over as Barbossa's prisoner. While I was marooned once again on Rum Island, this time with the lady Elizabeth at me side, which improved the view dramatically. Nevertheless, we've no hope of escape."

―Jack Sparrow

Rumrunner's Isle, also known as Black Sam's Spit, Rumrunner's Island or Rum Island, was a small desert island in the Caribbean Sea. It was located northwest of Tortuga, and in relative proximity to Isla de Muerta. Rumrunners used the spit of land as a cache, and Jack Sparrow was marooned on the island following the first mutiny on the Black Pearl by Captain Hector Barbossa.

History

Early history

"Well, I overheard this one smuggler telling another how he was havin' a spot of trouble getting his rum from Rumrunner's Island to Port Royal. He was always caught, and his barrels seized, no matter what he did. And a fierce battle always ensued—he lost more employees that way, if you take my drift. He even tried dressing as a lady once, all in skirts and finery, but he never could fool the authorities. So I say to him, 'Look here, mate—what you need is a real lady to smuggle in yer rum for you!' He hired me on the spot."

―Laura Smith

Little was known of the early history of this desert island, other than that it was associated with rumrunners, who had a hidden cache of rum on the island. For unknown reasons, the island earned the name "Black Sam's Spit" for a time. Mostly known among sailors and pirates as "Rumrunner's Island" or "Rumrunners Island", "Rum Island", as well as more commonly as "Rumrunner's Isle", the island was located northwest of Tortuga, and in relative proximity to Isla de Muerta. The infamous pirate Left-Foot Louis attempted to smuggle his rum from Rumrunner's Island to Port Royal, but he was always caught and his barrels seized.

Jack Sparrow

Jack Sparrow and Elizabeth Swann marooned.

"Last time I was here a grand total of three days, all right? Last time...the rumrunners used this island as a cache. They came by and I was able to barter passage off. From the looks of things, they've long been out of business. You probably have your bloody friend Norrington to thank for that."

―Jack Sparrow to Elizabeth Swann

Jack Sparrow and several members of his family were very familiar with Rumrunner's Island. One time they organized a barbecue on the island to celebrate Grandmama's seventy-fourth birthday. Their friend Joshamee Gibbs also attended the party.

During their voyage to Isla de Muerta, the First Mate Hector Barbossa led the crew of the Black Pearl in a mutiny against Captain Jack Sparrow. They marooned Jack on the island and left him for dead, but Jack later escaped the island. In order to improve his own mystique and legend, Sparrow fabricated numerous elaborate stories about his escape from the island, most famously that he had roped together two sea turtles (using hair from his back as rope) to fashion an impromptu raft. In actuality, Sparrow had simply resigned himself to his fate, discovered the rumrunners' cache and spent three days lying on the beach drinking rum. The rumrunners then arrived and he was able to barter passage off the island.

Jack after Elizabeth burned his rum supply.

About ten years after his legendary escape, Jack was marooned on Rum Island by Barbossa once more, this time with Elizabeth Swann at his side, following the destruction of the HMS Interceptor. By now, the rumrunners had long abandoned their cache, possibly due to James Norrington's efforts to eradicate piracy in the Caribbean. As the night fell over the island, Elizabeth saw a light in the jungle and went to investigate, but was attacked by a vicious tree spirit. Jack saved her and killed the creature by burning it. Back on the beach, Elizabeth taught Jack a pirate shanty she heard as a child, and got him drunk on rum. The next morning, as Jack had no plan of escape, Elizabeth took matters into her own hands by burning the island's palm trees (their source for food and shade) and the rum supply to create a smoke signal over one thousand feet high for the British Royal Navy to know their location. Elizabeth raced around a patch of palm trees, throwing barrels of rum into an already billowing fire. As they landed in the heat, the barrels exploded, sending splinters of wood flying high into the air. The plume of smoke was spotted by the crew of the HMS Dauntless, and the two were quickly rescued.

At some point prior to the Fourth Brethren Court meeting, a map to the rum locker was drawn amongst the pages of the Pirata Codex.

Behind the scenes

The beach of Rumrunner's Isle as seen in Pirates of the Caribbean Online.

• The island, albeit unnamed, first appeared in the 2003 junior novelization for the film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. For filming, scenes on the abandoned island where Jack Sparrow and Elizabeth Swann were left and marooned on by Captain Hector Barbossa were filmed on Petit Tabac, one of the outer islands of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
• In Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's screenplay draft for The Curse of the Black Pearl, prior to the battle between the Black Pearl and the Interceptor, Joshamee Gibbs scanned the horizon and ordered the Interceptor to steer clear of a tiny island that was in front of them. As the Pearl sailed close behind the Interceptor, the Interceptor headed for the island during the pursuit. In the aftermath of the battle and Will Turner turning himself over to Captain Barbossa's crew, Barbossa himself looks out to the sea, toward the islet, then realizes it was the same island Jack Sparrow was marooned years prior, "When you sail the open sea as long as I, you learn to trust the signs fate sends your way." While it was implied in the screenplay, the scene never occurred onscreen.

"Sam, who works upstairs at Disney, is a huge PIRATES fan, so when we were asked to put a name to the tiny sandy island where Jack and Elizabeth are marooned, we called it 'Black Sam's Spit.' Sam was delighted, and then a year or so later, she sent Susan this sweet e-mail: 'Will you thank you guys for me? You have all made me something of an unknown immortal. In the new Monopoly game, there is a card about the marooning titled 'Black Sam's Spit'. I may just swoon.'"

―Terry Rossio

• While the island was never named onscreen, it was given several names behind the scenes. According to a post made on Wordplay, Terry Rossio revealed that they were asked to put a name to the "tiny sandy island" and named it for Sam, a huge Pirates fan who "works upstairs at Disney." According to Rossio, Sam was delighted, and then a year or so later, she sent this sweet e-mail: "Will you thank you guys for me? You have all made me something of an unknown immortal. In the new Monopoly game, there is a card about the marooning titled 'Black Sam's Spit'. I may just swoon." The name "Black Sam's Spit" was later used for the Pirates of the Caribbean Monopoly game. Jack Sparrow called the island "Rum Island" in the 2006 video game Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow. The name "Rumrunner's Island" was uttered in the 2007 book Jack Sparrow: Silver. The name "Rumrunner's Isle" was mostly used in the 2007 online game Pirates of the Caribbean Online, Pirates of the Caribbean Annual 2008, and used in at least one version of the official Pirates of the Caribbean website updated in 2010.
• The 2006-2007 reference books Pirates of the Caribbean: The Visual Guide and The Complete Visual Guide misuse a promotional image of the island for the background on the first page about Port Royal.
• In the Disney Adventures comic book The Buccaneer's Heart!, Bo'sun leads the cursed crew to commandeer the HMS Dauntless, but they were defeated by the ghostly spirits of Blackbeard, Mary Reade, Henry Morgan, and Bartholomew Roberts. Jack Sparrow later marooned them on the very island they twice left him to die.
• In LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game, the island was called "Smuggler's Den". Also, in the game's level, a ship similar to the Black Pearl lies half sunken off the coast of the island. The rum cellar leads to large caves beneath the island.
• After the closing of Pirates Online in 2013, "Rumrunner's Isle" would continued to be used in the fan-made recreation, The Legend of Pirates Online.

Appearances

• Jack Sparrow: Silver (Mentioned only) (First identified as Rumrunner's Island)
• Jack Sparrow: Sins of the Father (Mentioned only)
• Legends of the Brethren Court: Wild Waters (Mentioned only)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (video game)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003 junior novelization) (First appearance)
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2006 junior novelization)
• A Mysterious Light!
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow (First identified as Rum Island)
• The Buccaneer's Heart! (Non-canonical appearance)
• Pirates of the Caribbean Online (First identified as Rumrunner's Isle)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (video game)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Tides of War (Mentioned only)
• LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game (Non-canonical appearance) (First identified as Smuggler's Den)

Sources

• Wordplay
• Pirates of the Caribbean Monopoly (First identified as Black Sam's Spit)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Visual Guide
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide
• Pirates of the Caribbean Annual 2008