Pirates is a game that is very open to house rules and as such I've created a couple of my own. This list will probably grow.

HOME ISLAND - Ships can only return to their home island for the purpose of unloading treasure, repairs, and loading/unloading crew. After these actions are completed the ship must leave the island the next turn.

REEFS - I find the standard rules for reefs to be needlessly complex. Instead I treat reefs as such: Small ships (1 or 2 masts) may pass through reefs but all L movements get converted to S movements. Larger ships (3+ masts) cannot at anytime move through a reef. Ship/Crew specific abilities may override this rule.

SARAGOSSA SEA - Similar idea as above but reversed. Larger ships (3+ masts) may move through saragossa seas just fine. Small ships (1 or 2 masts) may not at anytime pass through a saragossa sea. Ship/Crew specific abilities may override this rule.

WINNING THE GAME -  I find the standard game winning scenarios to be too simplistic so I developed this scenario: Game is played for 1 hour (or agreed upon time limit), after the time limit is reached players count up the value of all of their treasure and the total point value of their remaining ships, minus 1 point for each missing mast. The player with the highest total wins. Crew only count towards point total if they are on a surviving ship at the end of the game.