CRUISING - EVENT REPORTS - 2002

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2002 Seafair Pirates Landing submitted by Scott McCulley

Shiver me timbers!  Thar's pirate ships off Alki Beach!

We gathered our crew of little pirates, Jennifer (13) and Steve with son (7) and daughter (5) at the public ramp on Elliot Bay just to the west of Salty's on the first Saturday of July to witness the annual Seafair Pirates landing.  It is a nice ramp as long as you watch out for ferry wakes while launching or retrieving.

The Seafair Pirates are a group of swashbuckling ne'er do wells with a soft  touch for charitable activities.  The annual landing at the West Seattle Hi-U festival on Alki Beach serves as the official kick-off for Seattle's Seafair activities.

Jennifer missed this trip last year, so she was not sure what the whole thing about adults dressing up in Halloween costumes was all about.  We spent part of the day before tracking through Value Village looking for odd ensembles.  Once she realized that it was just an excuse for adults to act like kids, she got into the spirit of the event.

A light breeze from the North allowed us to cruise slowly through the fleet of private boats assembled to assist / repel the pirates.  It was fun to see everyone dressed as pirates and wenches.  The US Army Reserve landing craft could be seen rounding West  Point then putting in at the Elliot Bay marina to pick up the pirates.  There was a memorial service in the center of the bay for a recently departed pirate, so celebrations were a little more subdued this year.  Then cannon fire roared across the  bay as the landing craft approached.  This year there was a cannon on the beach in addition to the ones at sea.

After witnessing the landing we set out for the short sail to Blakely Harbor to have lunch.  There Tigger's crew found an unsuspecting vessel to "capture".  Randy Bentson had brought Cheshire Cat across for the day.  Steve and I had lunch with Randy while letting the younger set plunder the Gemini cat for booty.

After lunch, we attacked the SSYC raft-up where grog flowed and merriment ensued.  My crew managed to capture a few unattended water cannons and made a general nuisance of themselves.  I'm not sure who won the battle, but we did hoist the spinnaker for the return trip home with more armament than we started out with.