A bumboat's crew had told Bonnet, shortly…
July 1718 CE
A bumboat's crew had told Bonnet, shortly after he resumed command, that Teach was moored in Ocracoke Inlet.
Bonnet sets sail at once to hunt down his treacherous ex-confederate, but cannot find him; Bonnet will never meet Teach again.
Although Bonnet apparently never discards his hopes of reaching St. Thomas and getting his letter of marque, two pressing problems now tempt him back into piracy.
First, Blackbeard had stolen the food and supplies he and his men needed to subsist (one pirate will testify at his trial that no more than ten or eleven barrels remained aboard the Revenge).
Second, St. Thomas is now in the midst of the Atlantic hurricane season, which will last until autumn.
However, returning to freebooting means nullifying Bonnet's pardon.
Hoping to preserve his pardon, Bonnet adopts the alias "Captain Thomas" and changes the Revenge's name to the Royal James, presumably a reference to the younger Prince James Stuart, and may suggest that Bonnet or his men had Jacobite sympathies.
One of Bonnet's prisoners will further reported witnessing Bonnet's men drinking to the health of the Old Pretender and wishing to see him king of the English nation.
Bonnet further tries to disguise his return to piracy by engaging in a pretense of trade with the next two vessels he robs.
Soon afterward, Bonnet quits the charade of trading and reverts to naked piracy.
He cruises north in July 1718 to Delaware Bay, pillaging another eleven vessels.
He takes several prisoners, some of whom join his pirate crew.
While Bonnet sets loose most of his prizes after looting them, he retains control of the last two ships he captures: the sloops Francis and Fortune.