What did pirates do all day, HEY THEY WORKED HARD. When the weather changed, they changed the sails. If the wind died down, the sailors would put out more sail. If the wind got stronger, sailors would take in some sail. If the weather changed directions, sailors would take in these sails and put out those to balance the vessel. This went on all day and all night. Pulling up heavy canvas sails was real work. Buntlines were used to haul up parts of the sail like a curtain. This took the wind pressure out of the sail. Then sailors climbed ratlines (the rope "ladders" at the sides) and shuffled out on foot ropes to pull up the rest of the sails and furl them, tie them to the yards. They could also take up only part of the sail, making a smaller sail for high winds, this was called reefing the sail.
You can't stop at night on the ocean, when the ships were way offshore part of the crew sailed the ship, while part of the crew slept. Sailors slept in hanging cloth beds, hammocks, which rocked to and fro as the ship rolled.
Pirate ships leaked, everyone of them, especially old wooden ones. A part of every pirate's day was spent pumping water out of the bilge, the deepest part of the hull.
Food on a pirate ship was kept in barrels. Pirates ad no refrigerators. Their meat was beef or pork preserved in very salty water. They fished from the boats rail. They hunted sea turtles on the beach. Their bread was a dried brown biscuit called hardtack that kept for years. They ate cheese, oatmeal porridge sweetened with molasses and raisins, and dried peas boiled into a sticky mash.
A favorite dessert was plum duff, made from crumbled biscuits, raisins, sugar, and spices. Salamagundi was the pirates favorite dish, made from several different kinds of meat, fish, and fowl cooked in spiced wine. The cooked meat was simmered with cabbage, olives, pickled vegetables, hard boiled eggs, onions, and mangos. It was seasoned with salt, garlic, red and black pepper, mustard seed, and vinegar. Hard to imagine, but it was considered a treat.
Last but not least, going to the bathroom wasn't difficult for pirates in calm weather. They went to the head, the front of the ship where they sat, perched over the water, on a bench with holes (called the seat of ease). In rough weather, they used buckets.
