Francesco, I like pirate talk. I read your question and something about it didn't make sense. I checked out the youtube video "Under Jolly Roger" by Running Wild and this is what the voice in the video yells out... Ship Ahoy! .....a greeting to a another ship Free mast and bill off the starboard bow! --off the starboard bow....a distance away from the right side of the bow --free mast......a mast that is no longer fastened down -- bill....the billboard, the board on which the raised anchor rests. The bill protects the side of the bow from the sharp heavy anchor. Man the cannons!....station men at the cannons Fire! ... put fire to the cannon wicks. The sailor yells out that he sees a free mast and the bill of a ship off the starboard bow of his ship. You will have to use your imagination to understand exactly what is happening.

Hi all, thank you very much for your help. By the way, do you know anything about the "bill" besides the mast?

The stern is the rear part of a ship. The mast is a verticle pole that comes up from the deck of the ship that the ropes and sails are attached to. The bow is the front part of a ship. So I am guessing the mast has fallen and they are being ordered to get the last off the boat (or out of the way). Man the cannons is said when you want the crew to go to the cannons to prepare for a battle.

Hi, Don't take my word as fact, as my pirate/naval vocabulary is far from complete, but; I believe that 'to free the mast' would mean to let one of the sails down. But, sincerely, I don't know enough about sailing to answer this one 100%. The reason why it is 'man the cannons' and not 'men at the cannons', is that you 'man' a large weapon when you use it or prepare to use it. So, in the same way you would say 'fire the guns', we say 'man the cannons'.