Pirates!

Stuck at work waiting to play later, envying you young people and academics who have the summer off...

I saw in the Rarrgh! Barbarians! post a suggestion that barbarians have become a nasty presence on the high seas in the Medieval and Renaissance eras--can anyone confirm that and what level of Barbarian navy we're seeing now? It would be awesome and appropriate if our sea trade routes had to be protected from roving bands of barbarian/pirate privateers instead of the galleys and triremes barbarians seemed limited to in G&K, but it would be nice to know that before I get to the Renaissance era and lose my entire trade network