Seafair Pirates’ Landing at Alki, report #2: Video (and more pix)

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That’s actually a screen grab from a video clip that we considered too short to use but the scene was irresistible — After the Seafair Pirates came ashore (first round of photos in our first report here), we wandered up to the street-side spot where their land vessel Moby Duck was parked east of Alki Bathhouse, and watched (and videotaped) as they mingled with fans and even brought a lucky few onboard their “ship.” More pirate pix ahead, including video of the scalawags hoisting a young fan onto Moby Duck (which is a modified DUKW amphibious craft), but first, we have video of the actual landing, as the everpopular U.S. Army Mechanized Landing Craft came ashore, preceded by cannon fire, of course (and a bit of a jolt as the vessel hits the beach):

More ahead, including the Moby Duck scene at streetside, the seawall crowd, pix of Pirates and fans, and the fireboat putting on a show:

Watching the crowd and the Pirates interact around Moby Duck put the event in a different perspective. First, looking out onto the bay and watching for sights — and sounds — of impending pirate arrival; then, the mock-fierce storming ashore — then the almost-fuzzy friendliness of posing for photos and even hoisting one young fan aboard:

While we were stationed by Moby Duck, we watched supplies – and swords! – get loaded up into the “vessel” too, along with repeated cries (you may hear them in that previous video clip) of MAKE A HOLE! MAKE A HOLE! to get the crowd to let Pirates and others through. All around, though, many smiles. The next four photos are courtesy of “alkiguy”:

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Once again this year, by the way, those pirate hats were provided to the first 500 kids by the West Seattle Kiwanis Club. Back to the video — a short clip of one of the most popular boats in Seattle — one of the Fire Department’s fireboats, as it put on a show before the Pirates sailed into the scene:

Also before the landing, we scanned the crowd on the seawall for this next video clip; the beach held hundreds, too, since the tide was fairly low:

Here’s a still pic with a slice of the crowd that awaited the Pirates on the beach:

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As mentioned in our previous report, the Seafair Pirates will return to West Seattle in two weeks for the Grand Parade down California SW.

3 Replies to "Seafair Pirates' Landing at Alki, report #2: Video (and more pix)"

  • Eric B July 5, 2008 (5:56 pm)

    Well WSB, you once again prove you’re the best. You called it right as an Army craft; the PI called it a Navy boat, and there isn’t anything on the Times’ site yet. Let’s hear it for WSB! More timely, More detailed, more accurate!

  • WSB July 5, 2008 (6:04 pm)

    Thank you, Eric. A tiny news organization can’t excel at everything – we tend to have more quantity than quality – but one aspect of quality which we can maintain, because it’s been a hallmark of our work everywhere we’ve ever been, is accuracy. Impossible to be absolutely perfect but if you fact-check, if you know how to spell, if you ask the right questions, if you talk to the people who have the right answers (and if you know what to believe in Web searches and what to doubt), it’s possible to be very close!

  • IHF July 5, 2008 (7:12 pm)

    I heard a couple of the Seafair Pirates talking about one of them getting a broken wrist today — I wonder if that jolt when they landed was what did it?

    We had a great time this year — at three, our daughter was really into meeting the pirates (especially when she figured out they had swag). Fun to see the photos other people got.

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