Thanks to David Hutchinson for that photo from the Seafair Pirates‘ Landing on Alki a few hours ago, and for the next four – avast, er, vastly better than ours, so we’re showing you his first, with ours tacked on at the end. We also shot video and will have that up in a separate post a little later.

Despite the mostly cloudy weather, the event felt more festive than last year, or perhaps our perception came from standing on the beach instead of up on the promenade – who knows. More of David’s photos – pirates up close and personal! – and ours, ahead:

David also sent these three closeups of some of the scurvy dogs:

We got close enough to rub shoulders with the Pirates too – after they came ashore and made their way through the crowd, they took up positions at their landborne ship Moby Duck up on the street, south of the Bathhouse, with some posing for photos with fans nearby:

From the other side of the street, you could really appreciate the scene – Moby Duck, the official Seattle Seafair Pirates (or so said the logo) white SUV, police guards, Seafair personnel, etc.:

Lots of vendors along the promenade; each year, this takes on more of an all-day-festival flavor. Keeping with the theme, the kiddie bounce-toy area to the west included an inflatable appearing to re-enact the “Pirates of the Caribbean 2” scenes where the Kraken sea monster takes down ships:

Video highlights coming up. You will of course see the Seafair Pirates back on this side of the bay for the West Seattle Grand Parade down California Avenue two weeks from today, July 19th (and if you want to join us in the parade, here’s how; West Seattle kids are also invited to join in the Kiddie Parade ahead of the Grand Parade, more on that later this weekend).