There should be 7 connectors to plug back in.
Putting notes from my ship removal on next post

I removed my BP the other day and put in the MAP Cliffy.
I think it is posted here about MicSirTuna’s excellent Twitch video on Buffalo Pinball. Here are my notes from his Video.

Pirate Ship Removal and Replacement

1. Flip Playfield.
2. Disconnect 7 cables;
3. Label connectors: 1 and 2 are larger white connectors (9 and 12 Pin). Next is Ethernet lighting R45( J908), 3 is 2 Pin connector power to right, 5,6,7 all go to board on right; J2, J3, J4 (should have colored dots for connectors as they are not keyed connectors) but write J2,J3,J4
4. Feed through so they do not get tangled
5. Lower Playfield
6. Loosen up right ramp wire form at bottoms of wire form Don’t have to remove nuts
7. Remove right wire form and set aside
8. Loosen right ramp; screw on right by short side. Don’t remove screw
9. Remove screws at bottoms of ramp by flaps.
10. Ship Removal: 1) Allen Bolt behind BP,- Loosen Screw and then use hand to twist and remove without dropping. 2)Remove Cotton Pin behind BackBoard and washer and connector from Post. Pull Post through slot towards Playfield
11. Pull ship back so it comes off horizontal post through front eyelet underneath ship. Then can pull front up. Then jiggle or pull ship forward so it comes off of back eyelet. Watch out for BP VUK on back right as you need to clear that when bringing out.
12. Pull ship up and bring wires through. Careful with underneath of ship. Rest ship on pillow etc ; top side of ship down on pillow.

1. Putting Ship Back gets tricky.
2. Hold Ship and feed cables back through the hole. Make sure they go through the hole.
3. Bring Playfield in. Will be tricky to get posts through the eyelets. Try back eyelet first slide back In then can slide forward over front eyelet. Slide forward to stay on
4. Get shoulder bolt back on . Hold ship forward. This is tricky Try not to drop screw
5. Put washer in against back wood. And put clip back in.
6. Reattach ramp with flap screws. Make sure leaf switch under ramp is not getting caught.
7. Put back wireform. Angle in from top.

I believe the blue cable has an R45 type connector that goes into J908.

Loosening the ramp is not required but is pretty easy and allows for easier access when removing and reinstalling the BP.
Removing the VUK is another option, sounds like it may be a better approach.

Joseph;

The ball trough has optos for each trough ball position. So the machine will know when ball is missing prior to starting a game.

I doubt it. Unless you have a loose wire there. But in all likelihood the problem is in the wire bundle/connections from the connector under the playfield to under the ship. I would reseat (vs Just looking at ) all of the 7 BP connectors under the playfield first before pulling the ship.
Did the J908 connector click when you put it back in?

I would think worst case is you have a broken wire or loose connection under the BP.

Joseph,
Those chrome balls may be magnetized.
Better to go with carbon steel on POTC.

Check your Chest Fork Mechanism under the playfield to see if one of the guide pins came out. You may have 1 or two more parts in the cabinet. The nylon part doesn’t seem like that one but I figured I would mention it

C7EC0831-4941-439E-8C18-41130B862F7F (resized).png

Rob,
The two parts you show are for the Back of The Map Hole and for the front edge of the Depths. The Depths you can snap in place.

For the Tortuga Hole; you don’t need to remove the pop number. You should Tortuga Tom (need a small Allen wrench) and then you can loosen up the Pop Bumper enough to lift up the skirt to get to the screws. Just be carefull of the two small nylon spacers after you take off Tortuga Tom.

For the MAP hole you need to remove the ship.
MicsirTuna has a great Buffalo Pinball Twitch video on removing the ship.
Here are my notes from his video;

Pirate Ship Removal and Replacement

1. Flip Playfield.
2. Disconnect 7 cables;
3. Label connectors: 1 and 2 are larger white connectors (9 and 12 Pin). Next is Ethernet lighting R45( J908), 3 is 2 Pin connector power to right, 5,6,7 all go to board on right; J2, J3, J4 (should have colored dots for connectors as they are not keyed connectors) but write J2,J3,J4
4. Feed through so they do not get tangled
5. Lower Playfield
6. Loosen up right ramp wire form at bottoms of wire form Don’t have to remove nuts
7. Remove right wire form and set aside
8. Loosen right ramp; screw or on right by short side. Don’t remove screw
9. Remove screws at bottoms of ramp by flaps.
10. Ship Removal: 1) Allen Bolt behind BP,- Loosen Screw and then use hand to twist and remove without dropping. 2)Remove Cotton Pin behind BackBoard and washer and connector from Post. Pull Post through slot towards Playfield
11. Pull ship back so it comes off horizontal post through front eyelet underneath ship. Then can pull front up. Then jiggle or pull ship forward so it comes off of back eyelet. Watch out for BP VUK on back right as you need to clear that when bringing out.
12. Pull ship up and bring wires through. Careful with underneath of ship. Rest ship on pillow etc ; top side of ship down on pillow.

1. Putting Ship Back gets tricky.
2. Hold Ship and feed cables back through the hole. Make sure they go through the hole.
3. Bring Playfield in. Will be tricky to get posts through the eyelets. Try back eyelet first slide back In then can slide forward over front eyelet. Slide forward to stay on
4. Get shoulder bolt back on . Hold ship forward. This is tricky Try not to drop screw
5. Put washer in against back wood. And put clip back in.
6. Reattach ramp with flap screws. Make sure leaf switch under ramp is not getting caught.
7. Put back wireform. Angle in from top.

This screw look familiar at all? It looks like it is brass or brass colored.
This rolled down to the right flipper last night with a ball. I think it came from around the ship or FOY area but not sure. I don’t see any similar screws. Not sure if it is from under the ship or the chest.
48780D63-B719-47C2-B817-5DACB6A94ACA (resized).jpeg

As mentioned by gumnut01 there is a very good chance it’s your pitch. Bring it down to 6.5 Degrees and you could also add a washers at the end of the mini subway right before it goes into the VUK.

To confirm it’s your pitch you can do this very carefully when it happens; I have had to do this occasionally.
Lift the front of the machine up about 1-2” , the ball will then roll into the VUK and will be kicked up into the BP.

Be very careful lifting; use your legs! And make sure you have enough room behind the machine so the back of the head doesn’t hit anything when it tilts. Don’t lift anymore than 1-2”.