Seafair pirates land and pirate fans abound

The Seattle Seafair Pirates don't know Johnny Depp — "he's a fake pirate, and we don't deal with fakes," according to their captain — but they sure can credit the actor and his popular "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies for driving up attendance at the group's annual Alki Beach landing.

On Saturday, thousands of people carrying plastic swords and wearing skull-speckled bandanas packed onto the West Seattle beach for a glimpse of the rowdy group of pirates, whose entrance kicked off the 58th annual Seafair.

The pirate theme wasn't popular only at the beach landing in Alki — several of the crafts entered in the Baffle Gab Milk Carton Derby in Green Lake on Saturday also had pirate themes or were carrying some sort of skull-related accessory.

"They're really cool, and they know how to fly," said Austin Oliver, 6, who smiled gleefully as he got his picture taken with Seafair Captain Kidd at Alki.

In the last few year years, the Seafair Pirates have seen their attendance at the annual Alki Beach landing grow by thousands, and they have also scheduled far more events during the year to keep up with their popularity, said pirate Mark Jensen.

While the group is hesitant to give credit to Depp and his Capt. Jack Sparrow character, it can't help but acknowledge that the wildly popular movies have inspired their fans since the first one hit the screen in 2003.

If there's any doubt, ask folks in the enthusiastic crowd who waited patiently in the blazing sun to meet the pirates and who piled into clothing booths to buy ruffled shirts.

Justin Yan, 17, of Wedgwood, had never seen the Seafair pirate landing but after he'd seen all three "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies, his interest in the swashbuckling clique flared.

"Definitely, after the movies came out, pirates became pretty hot," said Yan, who was scoping out some new pirate gear at one of the many booths dotting Alki Beach for Seafair.

Speaking of clothes, pirate fashion has become a cottage industry of sorts, and no one has noticed that more than Deedee DeMille, who makes and sells the period clothing at Seafair. Her tent was bustling, with people of all ages inspecting her wares.

"I just had an old guy come in here and buy a complete outfit — it was fantastic," she said.

Over at the crowded Milk Carton Derby, sisters Sara and Jessica Jordan were getting ready to push their hot-pink, skull and-cross-bones-themed boat into the water. Their team name? The Pink Pirates.

"I just kind of like pirates, and since we're girls, it's pink," explained Sara Jordan, 12.

And while it wasn't as flashy as a scene from "Pirates of the Caribbean," a contestant dragon boat carrying a large pirate flag did provide some drama, sinking in the middle of one of the races, forcing its three passengers to jump ship and swim to shore.

Luckily, the day was warm — reaching into the high 70s — and the three cub scouts from Everett had a cheering squad waiting for them when they arrived dripping on the dock.

"I've never swam so far in a lake before," said Justin Sloan, 9.

The boat and its soggy pirate flag were both pulled triumphantly from the lake.

Kirsten Orsini-Meinhard: 425-745-7807 or kmeinhard@seattletimes.com