(2016 Seafair Pirates sighting offshore, photographed by Paul Panzl, from the yacht Pearl)

Alki Beach will be awash in pirate fans tomorrow (Saturday, July 7th) as the Seafair Pirates approach for their annual landing. As usual (as previewed here last month), the occasion calls for an all-day festival, 10 am-5 pm, with vendors, kids’ rides, and music. The stars of the show will be ashore sometime in the early afternoon – last estimate we heard is 1:30ish, but that could change … they’re pirates, after all. You’ll usually hear cannon booms offshore as they get close; eventually they’ll pull up in their landing craft and wade ashore, into the crowd that gathers near Alki Bathhouse (60th SW/Alki SW). Their non-seagoing Moby Duck usually awaits them along the street, but not until their arrival has been followed by photos and pillaging. This is the first big event of the four weeks at the heart of Seafair; the Pirates will be back for the West Seattle Grand Parade two weeks later, but this is the one time you get to see them sail in! (Forecast, by the way, looks perfect.)